You'd think that with the number of leaks and early reveals of Samsung's new Galaxy S26 phone lineup, the actual Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event would be just a formality. But seeing official announcements is different from piecing and parsing rumors. Today's event had its share of big news and a few surprises.
Watch this: Samsung Unpacked 2026: The Future of AI Has Arrived (Highlights) 10:34
Galaxy S26 Ultra
One expected announcement was the reveal of the flagship Galaxy phone, the S26 Ultra. In fact, Samsung barely mentioned the other two phones being rolled out today: the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus.
Samsung/Screenshot by CNET
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is slightly lighter and thinner than the S25 Ultra, features the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor for Galaxy, has an aluminum frame instead of titanium, and incorporates new display technology, including Privacy Display.
The S26 Ultra became the hook on which almost everything else announced at the event hung, from AI features to camera technology.
CNET's Abrar Al-Heeti wrote about her first hands-on experience with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and we'll follow up with full reviews of it and the other S26 phones as we have more time to test them out.
S26 Ultra Privacy Display
Phone display news typically centers on brightness and resolution, but Samsung Unpacked revealed a new technology that looks genuinely useful in everyday situations.
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