Samsung Galaxy S26 Launch Highlights: Galaxy S26, S26+, S26 Ultra launched with new AI features

The base Galaxy S26 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at $899.99 (approximately ₹81,800), while the 512GB model costs $1,099.99 (approximately ₹1,00,000). The Galaxy S26+ starts at $1,099.99 (approximately ₹1,00,000) for the 12GB RAM/256GB variant and goes up to $1,299.99 (approximately ₹1,18,200) for the 12GB RAM/512GB model.

Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with a 6.9 inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with 120Hz refresh rate. The Samsung flagship has become the first ever device to come with a Privacy Display. The feature works by controlling how the pixels disperse light and Samsung says that the display keeps the content clear and bright for users in everyday use while limiting what bystanders can see.

Samsung S26 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile. The phone is said to come with a CPU boost of 19% over its predecessor and a 39% improvement in NPU performacne.

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S26 Ultra at the Galaxy Unpacked event. The company is focusing on the new AI features that the phone will come with. The current focus is on the integartion with Bixby.

Samsung Electronics CEO TM Roh has taken the stage in San Francisco and the company has begun showcasing the AI features in the new S26 series.

The Galaxy S26 series launch event has begun in San Francisco. The new devices along with the Galaxy Buds 4 are likely to be revealed soon.

The Unpacked Event will begin at 11:30PM India time. In just 10 minutes we will have glimpse of the new devces. The live-stream of the event will be available on the official Samsung YouTube channel, Samsung Newsroom and Samsung.com.

The focus will be on Galaxy S26 series during the Galaxy Unpacked Event today. However, the company could also unveil Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro during the event today.

Tipster Sahil Karoul shared benchmark scores of the Galaxy S26 Ultra in a latest post. As per the leaked scores, the phone is said to get a score of 37,20,209 on Antutu. The phone could come with a GeekBench 6 score of 3,648 (single-core) and 10,898 (multi-core). On 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, the phone is said to come with a best loop score of 6,849 and lowest loop score of 3,455 with a stability of 53.2%.

We are just minutes away from the Galaxy S26 series unveiling the official event goes underway at 11:30PM India time. The three Galaxy S26 series devices along with Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro are expected to make their appearance at the event.

Galaxy S26 is expected to come running on the OneUI 8.5 based on Android 16 with a promise of 7 years of OS updates and security patches. The phone is tipped to come with a 6.9 inch QHD+ Dyanmic AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate.

The phone could come with an aluminium frame with a thickness of 7.9mm and weigh around 214 grams.

The phone could run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and pack the same 5,000mAh battery as last year. However, Samsung could bump the charging speeds from 45W to 60W this year. Don’t expect the phone to come with a charging bring anytime soon though.

As for optics, the S26 Ultra could come with a 200MP primary shooter, a 50MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 10MP telephoto lens and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens. On the front, it could house a 12MP shooter for selfies and video calls.

A recent leak has revealed that the Galaxy Ultra could begin at $1,299 for the 256GB model. The phone could begin at over ₹1,30,000 price point in India. However, the exactly price isn’t clear at this point and more clarity is only expected after the new device launches in around an hour.

The S26 Ultra’s privacy display is expected to be a hardware level feature which could make the display dark or unreadable to anyone who isn’t looking directly at it. The feature may also offer precision in privacy protection, meaning only specific portion of the screen that is carrying the sensitive content may be able to go dark to bystanders.

Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed this yet but for all practical purposes the S26 Edge is not likely to arrive with the other S26 series devices at the Galaxy Unpacked event today. Some leaks say that the phone has been shelved due to low sales but it’s hard to predict the future of Samsung’s thin and light flagship at this point.

A new leak has revealed that the Galaxy S26 series will come with support for sharing files directly with iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. The feature would also work with Apple devices that may be able to share files directly to Android via Quick Share.

The feature is said to be a part of the latest build of One UI 8.5 and could be brought to older Samsung devices soon as well.

Ahead of the launch, various leaks have emerged of the new devices. The latest leak has showcased the S26 Ultra and other S26 variants in all new colour variants. The box of the device seems very similar to what we have seen from Samsung in the past but it’s hard to tell if these are real images or AI generated ones.

While Samsung is getting ready to introduce the anti-peeping technology on the S26 Ultra, it seems like Chinese smarthone makers are already ready to copy the feature. As per tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Chinese smartphone brands could adopt the anti-peeping technology on their phones by September. This also cooroborates with the time when most Chinese flagships get a launch date in China before becoming more widely available a couple of months later.

Perplexity wil be an integral part of the Galaxy S26 series when the new phones launch today. Users would have the ability to summon Perplexity with the ‘Hey Plex’ hotword and the AI assistant will have access to different system apps like Samsung Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminder, and Calendar along with a slew of third-party apps as well.

Galaxy S26 Ultra will have a new Privacy Display. The feature has been one of the most talked about elements of the upcoming Samsung device. However, a leaked video has revealed how it might work in reality. The video from Sahil Karoul shows that the phone will be fully visible from the front while the display won’t be legible from the sides.

Samsung annoyed a lot of its loyal fanbase with the S25 Ultra as it removed bluetooth connectivity with the S-pen on last year’s flagship device. While loyal Samsung users would have hoped for the S26 Ultra to bring back the bluetooth connectivity, it seems like that will not be the case. According to Sahil Karoul, the bluetooth connectivity is still lacking on the S-pen with S26 Ultra.

While reports have suggested that Apple is working on adding a bigger 5,200 – 5,300 mAh battery on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, Samsung could keep the battery on the S26 Ultra constant as last year at 5,000 mAh as last year. Meanwhile, Chinese flagships are already going over 7,000 mAh battery in capacities and this is only likely to increase in the coming year.

A leaked video of the Galaxy S26 Ultra has gone live on X where the tipster claims to have bought the phone via black market in Dubai for around ₹3,00,000 (converted). The tipster then went on to showcase the various features of the S26 Ultra in the subsequent posts.

Galaxy Unpacked 2026 is being held as an on-ground event in San Francisco, California. The event will start at 11:30PM (India time) and will be live-streamed via Samsung Newsroom, Samsung website and the company’s YouTube channel