Samsung Launches Galaxy S26 Series With AI Features, Privacy Display and Faster Snapdragon Chips

At tonight’s Galaxy Unpacked(the first Unpacked for 2026), Samsung introduced its flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S26 series.  The company has refined its premium smartphone lineup by integrating upgraded AI software, installing faster processors, and making a few hardware changes across the three models, namely the base S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra.

During the event, the company leaned heavily on software intelligence and improvements to the cameras instead of radical design tweaks.

Pre-orders are already live for the three devices, and they’ll be available globally, including in Kenya, from 11th March.

Design

In terms of design, the S26 series looks just as similar as the S25 series, with a few hardware tweaks, but still keeping the familiar design. The entry-level S26  has a bigger 6.43″ AMOLED screen and a bigger 4300mAh battery, a step up from the S25, which had a 4000mAh battery. The Plus model keeps its 6.7-inch screen and the 4900mAh battery.

You do however, get rounded corners just like the Ultra model. The base and the Plus come with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of starter storage. Last years devcies came with 128GB storage for teh enetry level stirage for the base and Plus models.

The phones are now more expensisve starting form $899 and $1099 for the S26 and the S26+ model. Samsung Mobile Kenya has yet to announce local prices so we’ll update this article when they do.

Processor

Performance improvements are noticeable thanks to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor.  In other markets, you get their in-house Exynos 2600 chip,s which was built using the 2-nanometer manufacturing process.

The new processors bring faster CPU and GPU performance while also boosting AI processing capabilities, which is now a fast-growing priority across the smartphone industry.

The company mentioned that the Snapdragon processor delivers a 39% faster NPU and CPU, and GPU gains 19% and 24%, respectively.

AI as Centerpiece

If you’ve been following the Unpacked events in recent years, Samsung has been putting software, especially AI, at the centre of its pitches.

Galaxy AI  now comes with expanded features to help users automate their everyday smartphone tasks.

You get Automated App Actions that allow users to issue a command, for example, booking a ride through Uber while the smartphone completes the task in the background.

Now Brief also gets enhanced and now can pull information from a wider range of apps to give users personalized updates.

Another feature that gets enhanced is Audio Eraser, which Samsung has expanded to work with video from streaming platforms such as Netflix, and lets users remove background noise and amplify dialogue.

Cameras

The S26 and the S26 Plus keep their familiar camera design, which includes the 50MP primary, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom. So, no new sensors here, just upgraded image processing.

What we get is a new Object Aware Engine that improves portrait photography by rendering skin tones and hair textures. When it comes to video, Super Steady mode gets upgraded and delivers a 360-degree horizon lock to help stabilize footage even when the phone is rotated.

Samsung also introduced a new feature called Auto Framing, which uses machine learning to track subjects and dynamically adust framing while recording 4K or 8K video.

Features on the Ultra Model

Samsung kept its tradition of keeping its advanced features on the Ultra model that goes for $1300.

The S26 Ultra comes with a 6.9-ich AMOLED screen that also features a new Privacy Display mode, which is meant to block side-angle viewing, which prevents nearby people from reading your screen.

The Ultra model’s cameras also get bumped up. The company kept the same resolution for the 200MP sensor and the telephoto lenses. The primary and 5X zoom lenses now use wider apertures that allow significantly more light into the sensor for improved low light photograpghy.

Charging is faster now, reaching up to 60W wired and 25W wireless charging when charged by compatible Qi2 accessories.

The whole S26 lineup just showcased Samsung’s continued shift to iteration instead of reinvention by delivering slight hardware changes alongside increasingly capable AI software.

For those upgrading from the S24 and S23 series, the new lineup offers consumers faster chips, more storage, and smarter automation features thanks to Gemini, Perplexity, and Galaxy AI. For S25 series users, the improvements will feel evolutionary instead of transformative.

All in all,  it is pretty evident that Samsung is a lot more confident that refining its formula while at the same time embedding more intelligence into everyday smartphone tasks will keep the flagship Galaxy S series competitive in an increasingly crowded flagship market.

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