Galaxy S26 Ultra display review: Privacy at the expense of everything else
Android Central Labs
Android Central Labs is a weekly column that focuses on in-depth, experimental, and in-depth looks at the technology it uses. It includes phones, tablets, and everything in between.
For the past five years, display engineers at Samsung have been working on what looks like a miracle from many angles. The Privacy Display has been the talk of the town since the February 25 unveiling of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and for very good reason. It is very unique and, probably, the new concept of the new display in ten years. And it’s the most fun I’ve ever had testing a display.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Privacy Display is bad, but when the shiny new experience is grown and you look a little closer, it’s clear that you’ll have to deal with a few trade-offs to enjoy what could be Samsung’s OLED success. I asked Samsung to explain how they developed the Privacy Display and whether they feel there is room for improvement in the future. I was yet to hear it at the time of writing, but for now, let’s take a closer look at what’s available today.
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Privacy Screen or explosion
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If there’s one reason to get the Galaxy S26 Ultra this year, it’s the privacy display. This new type of OLED panel redesigns the pixels, dividing them into two types: wide angle and narrow angle. This display departs from the PenTile diamond matrix design of most AMOLED displays and selects a square of two green, one blue, and one small red pixel to make up each pixel.
This is important because it plays a key role in how the Privacy Display works and why its design affects the display’s quality metrics. When Privacy Display is disabled, all pixels are on. When Privacy Display is on, the wide-angle pixels are completely turned off.
The genius of this design is that it doesn’t just work as a privacy screen protector; works on everything angles can also be used to hide certain content that you choose with granular detail. And you can choose specific apps or situations to show Privacy, so even if the function is enabled, it will only log in for certain events or apps you choose (or you can just turn it on all the time).
Since pixels with a narrow angle emit light in a small cone, it is difficult to see the content of the screen at certain angles. Only time does the Privacy Screen render the content it is impossible seeing from extreme angles. Even a moderate tilt dims the light from an angle. No, it doesn’t work nearly as well as the marketing might say, but it’s amazing, and enabling Advanced Privacy Mode will produce the most obvious effect.
The less-obtrusive Privacy mode only uses specific apps, PIN/pattern/password, and notification pop-ups. This leaves the screen looking normal most of the time, with only certain sections showing any change. Turning on the Privacy Screen for everything will immediately bring up the brightness and resolution, a direct side effect of the turn part the pixels are closed.
If this appeals to you, it will be the best reason to buy the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the only thing you should care about going in. Otherwise, I describe the possible trade-offs below.
Side effects
The Privacy Shield cleverly achieves the goal, but like any big change or new idea, some common standards or principles had to be dropped. Privacy Display seems to negatively affect light output at any angle, viewing angles in general, display clarity and pixel density, color richness and volume, and the anti-glare layer that people love on the S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra. Yes, even if the feature is disabled.
Will you notice this difference without comparing it side by side with another phone? Maybe, and maybe not. It depends on how much you care about each of these features. As a result, I don’t think this display can be considered “best” in any traditional sense of measuring display quality. Obviously, this is great if privacy is something you prioritize above all else.
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Now, does this display look bad? No. Does it look worse than the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s? Yes. My measurements show that it’s at least 300 nits dimmer in the brightest setting, although Samsung claims it has the same high-brightness effect. With Privacy Display enabled, that number is significantly reduced, meaning you probably won’t use Privacy Display at the beach.
Privacy Display also has a slightly negative effect on brightness when disabled, an effect that becomes more noticeable as the brightness drops and, especially, if you use the Extra Dim accessibility feature.
The new pixel structure also means things look sharper than any other flagship phone you can buy. To reduce this, Samsung seems to use a sharp filter, which will annoy some people, but I didn’t notice it all the time. Often, I saw this effect while looking at photos in the built-in gallery app. Samsung also appears to have dropped the anti-reflective layer compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which you can see in the gallery above.
A questionable luxury
Watch it open
Part of my display testing always includes comfort ratings, and Samsung rarely does well in this category. The company’s use of low PWM dimming has been a source of discomfort for many people, including myself, for years, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display doesn’t change this at all. It still uses the same low 480Hz frequency that the company has used for a few years now, while other companies are pushing PWM rates to 5,000Hz and higher.
The lack of change surprised me a lot, as both Apple and Google introduced new PWM-sensitive accessibility features last year, but Samsung hasn’t said anything about whether it works in the same way or not. Samsung too still an 8-bit display is used here, while many competitors have moved to true 10-bit displays, which means the company has to use temporal dithering to create fake 10-bit colors.
Although generally not a good fit for people sensitive to LED flickering, the paradox of reduced light output means that some sensitive users it is possible find this release more comfortable. See the difference in light output in the image below.
What may be more surprising is that a new group of users are now reporting eye strain with the S26 Ultra, and it seems to be caused by the way Privacy Screen works. Several posts on social media are from people noticing that the new display is giving them eye strain, and it’s not related to the PWM level.
Instead, it appears to be related to the idea that the directional pixels create alternating patterns of contrast, causing the eyes to strain in a way similar to a 3D screen that can be arbitrarily calibrated. Since there is no way to measure the screen of the S26 Ultra, it is possible that we will see another group of people emerge who cannot use the Galaxy S26 Ultra without pain.
New, but not without potential trade-offs
From a traditional point of view, this may be one of the worst displays in recent years, and certainly the worst Samsung has ever put on a phone relative to the competition. However, as I said before, it is not a it’s bad show in many ways, but it is even worse there are other phones, including many of Samsung’s older flagships.
But Privacy Display can cover that for the average person who probably doesn’t care much about displaying “niceness,” anyway. Light output is good, colors look good, and other metrics are more than “good enough.” The thing that will blow people’s minds is the headliner feature, though, and that’s enough to sell people on the idea of switching to the S26 Ultra.
Samsung is doing something different with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it may be the most innovative display we’ve seen in over a decade. Try Privacy View and keep an eye on your personal information.
