is a senior reviewer with over a decade of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.
Maybe it’s a reflection of just how slow hardware innovation has been, but the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new Privacy Display, which limits the screen’s viewing angle to keep any would-be peepers away, left me totally impressed.
It’s not a brand-new technology — we’ve seen it before in laptops — and it was leaked thoroughly before Samsung’s announcement. But seeing it work on the S26 Ultra for the first time was cooler than I expected, especially given that hardware thrills are hard to get these days.
It’s not just one of those special screen protectors; you can turn it on or off. There are two sets of pixels in the display: one that projects the image straight ahead toward the viewer and one that projects light off to the sides, so you can see the screen from an angle. By turning off that second set of pixels, the screen looks basically normal to the person holding the phone, while looking very dim from an angle. Someone directly behind you with a good view over your shoulder might still see a bit of what’s onscreen, but the effect is stronger just off to the sides.
There’s also a setting to make the effect even greater if you want to be really sure nobody can peek at what you’re seeing. I flipped the feature on and off while looking at the screen from an angle; it seemed to reduce the image’s contrast, making text very difficult to read.
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1 / 3 You engage Privacy Display in the display settings. Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge
What’s really cool is that in true Samsung fashion, you can customize this a hundred different ways. You can obscure only notifications as they pop up at the top of the screen, or have it automatically turn on when you enter a PIN or use a specific app. It can also tie into routines, so you could have it turn off when you arrive home and turn back on when you leave. The effect works the same way whether you’re holding the phone horizontally or vertically, too.
Otherwise, the S26 Ultra is mostly a software update. The phone is slightly slimmer and lighter than its predecessor: 7.9mm thick down from 8.2mm, and 214 grams down from 218 grams. Part of that weight difference is due to a switch back to aluminum from titanium as Samsung follows Apple’s lead. It’s still a big phone, but it looks and feels more like an S26 Plus Plus than something entirely different.
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