Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S26 series, with all three models, the S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra, available to pre-order from 25 February and on sale from 11 March. Prices start at €1,019 for the base S26, €1,289 for the S26+, and €1,499 for the Ultra.
The Hardware Rundown
The S26 and S26+ run Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chip, while the Ultra gets a customised Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Samsung claims the Ultra’s processor delivers a 19% CPU improvement, a 39% NPU bump, and a 24% GPU gain over the S25 Ultra. The Ultra also gets a redesigned vapour chamber for better heat management, which should matter during sustained workloads like gaming or extended video capture.
Battery sizes are 4,300 mAh (S26), 4,900 mAh (S26+), and 5,000 mAh (Ultra). Charging speeds vary across the range; the Ultra supports 60W wired charging and can reach 75% in around 30 minutes, the S26+ goes up to 45W, and the base S26 is limited to 25W. Adapters are sold separately across the board.
All three models ship with Android 16 and One UI 8.5, and Samsung is committing to seven years of security updates.
Camera Changes
The Ultra’s main camera gets wider apertures across the board; the 200MP wide sensor now lets in 47% more light compared to the S25 Ultra, and the 50MP 5x telephoto gains 37% more light. There’s also a 10MP 3x telephoto and a 12MP ultra-wide. The S26 and S26+ keep a more modest triple-camera setup anchored by a 50MP main sensor.
On the video side, the Ultra is the first Galaxy device to support APV, a professional-grade codec aimed at high-quality production workflows where repeated editing would otherwise degrade quality. The Super Steady mode also picks up a new horizontal lock option, useful for keeping framing consistent during fast movement.
The Privacy Display Feature
This is the one worth paying attention to. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the first mobile phone to include a built-in hardware privacy display, meaning it’s integrated directly into the screen rather than relying on a stick-on film. When activated, it limits what people beside or behind you can see, while keeping the display clear and bright from your own viewing angle. It works in both portrait and landscape.
It’s a genuinely useful feature for anyone using their phone on public transport, in a café, or anywhere else with people in close proximity. Checking your banking app, reading messages, or entering a PIN without a stranger getting an eyeful is the kind of practical privacy protection that actually makes sense in daily life. You can set it to trigger automatically for specific apps or when entering passwords, and adjust the level of obscuring depending on the situation.
Unlike after market privacy screen protectors, which typically reduce brightness and introduce a noticeable colour shift, the integrated version is designed to preserve normal display quality when privacy mode is off. It’s worth noting that the feature requires manual activation in settings rather than being on by default.
AI Features
Samsung is pushing Galaxy AI heavily across the range, including proactive suggestions (Now Nudge), a personalised daily summary (Now Brief), upgraded Circle to Search with multi-object recognition, and an enhanced Bixby alongside Gemini and Perplexity integration. The Photo Assist suite now lets you describe edits in plain language, including scene changes and outfit swaps in photos. These features generally require a Samsung account and a network connection to function.
Galaxy Buds4 Series
Launching alongside the S26 range, the Galaxy Buds4 series comes in two models: the Buds4 Pro and the standard Buds4. Samsung says the design was arrived at by analysing hundreds of millions of ear data points and running over 10,000 fit simulations, which is a very elaborate way of saying they’ve tried to make them comfortable for more people. The Buds4 Pro includes improved active noise cancellation and an enhanced adaptive equaliser. Both models pair with the S26 to allow hands-free AI agent access and, on the Pro, head gesture controls for managing calls.
Colours available are White and Black with a matte finish, plus an online-exclusive Pink Gold for the Buds4 Pro.
Pricing and Current Offers
The pre-order double storage deal (512GB for the price of 256GB, worth €190) has now closed, but a number of offers remain. Trade-in on samsung.com/ie is still available, with up to €600 off depending on your current device. Buying the Buds4 or Buds4 Pro alongside an S26 gets you 15% off the earbuds. Samsung and selected Irish retailers are also offering a 100-day return window on the Buds4 range if you decide they’re not for you, which is a reasonably confident move for a new product line.
