C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR The Galaxy S26 Ultra may feature a new, brighter, and more power-efficient display.
The display is rumored to use the new M14 material set and a special CoE technology that removes the polarizer layer, a first for a conventional Galaxy phone.
This upgrade is expected only on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, leaving the S26 Pro and S26 Edge with older display tech, even though the newer iPhone 17 series uses M14 OLED.
We’re looking forward to Samsung’s next set of flagships, the Galaxy S26 series, and most leaks indicate that we’re in for some shakeup. There’s likely to be a Galaxy S26 Pro (instead of the base Galaxy S26), the Galaxy S26 Edge (no Galaxy S26 Plus), and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. We recently spotted clues for Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new Private Display feature, and now new leaks are shedding light on the display technology used on the upcoming flagship.
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Galaxy S26 Ultra could get M14 OLED panel and CoE tech South Korea’s ET News reports that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to have a brighter and thinner display as it will use an OLED panel with new materials and display technology. Citing industry sources, the report notes that the Galaxy S26 Ultra could sport Samsung Display’s new M14 material and CoE technology, eliminating the polarizer on the display. This is expected to improve luminous efficiency, resulting in a brighter display and a longer lifespan.
The report notes that Samsung had been using the previous generation M13 material for the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25 series, and says this is the first upgrade in three years (which is a bit misleading since the S24 did upgrade to M13 from the S23’s M12, and the phone was released in 2024, which would be about two years, and not three, when the Galaxy S26 series releases).
The Galaxy S26 Pro and Galaxy S26 Edge will miss out Don’t celebrate just yet, though. The report notes that the Galaxy S26 Pro and the Galaxy S26 Edge are expected to continue using the same M13 material as the previous generation. Also note that all the iPhone 17 series phones have long been rumored to use the M14 panels, though we haven’t been able to confirm yet on the retail units that have freshly gone on sale. In a way, the Galaxy S26 Pro and Galaxy S26 Edge will be a step behind the iPhone 17 series, while only the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be at par or ahead.
We’ve heard the CoE tech rumors before for the Galaxy S26 Ultra This report isn’t the first time we have heard of CoE tech adoption on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. A different report from earlier in the year noted that Samsung plans to apply Color-filter-on-thin-film-encapsulation (CoE) technology to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. CoE is a tech that replaces the polarizing plates in OLEDs with a color filter and changes the general Pixel Define Layer (PDL) to a black one.
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