Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 series

Nice to meet you, the next generation: At Samsung’s traditional Unpacked event, held in San Francisco, the South Korean giant unveiled the new Galaxy S26 series. So what’s new (spoiler: There is no design revolution), what stayed the same, and will the news come especially from the price?

The Galaxy S26 Ultra retains the familiar design lines of the previous generation, with the only external change being in the rear camera array, which now protrudes slightly more from the device body. Beyond that, the structure remains identical: The S-Pen is integrated into the device body without hardware updates, and the battery capacity remains 5,000 milliampere-hours.

The central innovation in this model is the Privacy Display, a screen technology that embeds the familiar capability of “privacy screen protectors” directly into the display panel itself. The idea is simple: While the user looks at the device from the front and enjoys a completely normal display, anyone looking from the side will see only a darkened or blurred screen. Samsung allows great flexibility in activating the feature, so that the privacy protection can be set to activate automatically the moment you begin typing a password or open sensitive applications such as bank and insurance. The user can even choose to hide only a specific part of the screen, for example the notification area, to prevent glances at incoming messages.

In addition to the privacy layer, the device includes significant upgrades under the hood with a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, which presents a 39% leap in AI performance and a 24% improvement in graphics performance. The camera array has been upgraded by enlarging the aperture openings, allowing more light to reach the sensor and dramatically improving the quality of photos and video in low-light conditions.

To support these performances, a larger vapor chamber has been implemented for efficient heat dissipation and Super-Fast Charging 3.0 fast charging technology, which allows reaching 75% battery within just 30 minutes. The viewing experience itself has also been improved with ProScaler technology for real-time text sharpening and an mDNIe engine that delivers color accuracy four times higher compared to the S25 Ultra model.

In the photography segment, the most significant upgrade is the enlargement of the aperture openings (such as an f/1.4 aperture in the main lens), allowing more light to reach the sensor and improving the sharpness of photos and video in low-light conditions. The camera array includes a 200-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and two telephoto lenses (10 megapixels and 50 megapixels) that enable optical zoom of up to 10x. In addition, Samsung has implemented the APV standard for professional video shooting and upgraded SuperSteady capabilities with horizontal lock for maximum stability.

Alongside the Ultra model, Samsung also presented the base models – the Galaxy S26 and the S26 Plus. The design language of the two devices remains very similar to that of the Ultra, but (as expected) they do not include the S-Pen or the advanced camera array of the flagship model. In addition, it is important to note that the unique Privacy Display feature is not present in these models.

In the battery segment, users will find a difference between the two models: While in the standard S26 model an increase in capacity to 4,300 milliampere-hours was recorded (an addition of 300 milliampere-hours compared to the previous generation), the Plus model retains an identical capacity of 4,900 milliampere-hours. Regarding performance, in the Israeli market both devices will arrive with Samsung’s Exynos 2600 processor, instead of the Snapdragon chip found in the Ultra model.

Despite the hardware differences, Samsung has upgraded a considerable portion of the AI capabilities here as well. The new models include advanced editing tools such as Photo Assist, allowing users to perform complex tasks such as changing scenes from day to night or completing missing details in images using generative artificial intelligence. The AI capabilities in everyday applications, such as the automatic document scanner that removes flaws and wrinkles from paper, have also been fully implemented across the entire series.

The Galaxy S26 series will be available for purchase in Israel starting March 11. Thanks to the low dollar exchange rate, the prices this year are more accessible for the Israeli consumer and start at NIS 3,199 for the base S26 model with 12/256GB memory. For the 512GB version of the same model, you will pay NIS 3,899.

The Galaxy S26 Plus model will be offered for sale at a price of NIS 3,799 for the 256GB version, while the 512GB model will cost NIS 4,499. The flagship model, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, starts at a price of NIS 4,549 for the 12/256GB version. For the 512GB version of the Ultra, the price will stand at NIS 5,199, while the premium model with 1TB of storage and 16GB RAM will cost NIS 6,149.