MANILA, Philippines — Korean technology company Samsung released the newest phone under its flagship Samsung Galaxy series, the S26, with improved hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
The new series composed of third-generation AI phones Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra are all capable of handling complex tasks in the background thanks to advanced engineering.
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"We believe AI should be something people can depend on every day, designed to work consistently for everyone and without the need for expertise," said Samsung Electronics' head of device experience division TM Roh in a statement, stressing on making AI feel effortless.
Hardware performance
The S26 phones makes use of the most powerful hardware ever on Samsung's flagship series, engineered for AI performance, power efficiency, and thermal management.
The S26 Ultra, in particular, uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile processor, which majorly improves its central, graphic, and neural processing units (CPU, GPU, NPU).
CPU performance is up by as much as 19% for the phone to respond faster and handle complex workloads smartly even with multiple tasks simultaneously running.
An even higher 39% performance improvement for the NPU powers the always-on Galaxy AI — Samsung's AI features for its Galaxy devices — features to run seamlessly while a 24% in crease in GPU performance gives richer visuals and more fluid gameplay.
Aiding these performance levels is a redesigned vapor chamber with thermal interface material positioned along the processor's sides of the processor, making heat spread more efficiently across a larger surface area, improving heat dissipation to keep the phone cool even during high-performance tasks.
The ProScaler 6 feature, available also in the S26+, improves image scaling so media appear richer and clearer by sharpening text and fine detail while smoothing textures.
The mobile Digital Natural Image engine gives more subtle, lifelike colors through image processing four times the precision compared to the previous generation.
A third version of Super Fast Charging, limited to the S26 Ultra, minimizes downtime by reaching up to 75% charge in just half an hour.
Related: Smart opens pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy S26 Series
AI assistance
Galaxy AI minimizes the actionable steps for the new series to be more user-friendly, automating tasks with minimal manual input.
The Now Nudge feature gives suggestions when receiving notifications involving a request while the phone systems can go through Calendar entries to see any schedule conflicts.
The Now Brief feature is more proactive and personalized on the new series compared to past models as it surfaces reminders for important events based on personal context.
Google's popular Circle to Search feature has been upgraded in the new series with enhanced multi-object recognition.
The S26 series upgrades the Bixby feature to become a conversational device agent to make interactions with other Galaxy devices easier. This feature enhances phone usage on top of its other AI agents, Gemini and Perplexity.
These AI tools make carrying out complex tasks more seamless across applications, laying the foundation for more agentic AI experiences.
Privacy priority
With AI becoming more prevalent each day, user privacy remains a critical focus of Samsung in the S26 series.
The S26 Ultra is the first mobile phone to have a built-in Privacy Display feature, controlling how pixels disperse light and keeping content clear and comfortable for users while limiting the view of others in public.
In contrast to stick-on protectors, this feature preserves full viewing quality from all directions when off and limits visibility for others from side viewing angles when activated regardless of orientation.
This feature is customizable, say for when entering passwords. Partial Screen Privacy can limit visibility for notification pop-ups, while Maximum Privacy Protection even blocks side views.
Related: Apple chooses Google's Gemini AI to power Siri
Privacy Alerts use machine learning to notify users in real time there are attempts to access sensitive data while the AI-powered Call Screening features identifies unknown callers and summarizes intent.
Built into the phone's Gallery is a Private Album which hides selected media without the need to make another folder. The new series also extends Samsung's post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to critical system processes like software verification and firmware protection.
Knox Matrix feature updates strengthen protection across connected Galaxy devices by adding PQC-enabled end-to-end encryption for more services like eSIM transfers.
The Personal Data Engine, supported by multi-layer security platform Samsung Knox, enables context-aware, personalized AI experiences made safe by Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection encrypting data while Knox Vault adds a physical layer of protection isolating sensitive data within the hardware.
Other existing security and privacy portfolio by Galaxy in the series include the Auto Blocker, Theft Protection, Private Sharing, and Secure Wi-Fi features.
Camera features
The new series maintains the creativity and productivity of the Galaxy camera system.
The S26 Ultra has wider camera apertures — 47% more light on 200MP Wide camera and 37% on 50MP Telephoto, compared to previous generation — allowing more light to reach the sensor, giving clearer pitcures with richer details in low-light conditions.
The same phone is also the first in the whole series to support a new professional-grade video codec called APV, designed to deliver efficient compression for high-quality production workflows, ideally for advanced creators as the feature ensures visually lossless video quality remains even after repeated editing.
The Enhanced Nightography Video feature keeps videos clearer and more vibrant even when dim, though results will still depend on ligh and shooting conditions (multiple or moving subjects, out of focus, etc.).
Upgraded capabilities on the Super Steady feature improves video capture by adding a horizontal lock option for better stability, again depending on shooting conditions as well as editing methods.
The AI Image Signal Processor is extended to the selfie camera, the upgraded Photo Assist feature allows users to describe the changes they want to make, and the Creative Studio feature brings creation and customization into a single integrated space
The new series also simplifies frequent visual tasks with AI-powered tools like the Document Scan feature, removing distortions and distractions for instantly cleaner scans as well as automatically organizing multiple images into a single portable document form or PDF.
Prices for the newly released S26 series are:
S26
- P58,990 (256GB)
- P72,990 (512GB)
S26+
- P74,990 (256GB)
- P88,990 (512GB)
S26 Ultra
- P86,990 (256GB)
- P100,990 (512GB)
- P121,990 (1TB)
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