Samsung Debuts Galaxy S26 Series: The Era of the “Agentic AI” Phone Begins

Tech News, San Francisco, 26 February, 2026: Samsung has officially pulled back the curtain on its highly anticipated Galaxy S26 Series, marking a pivot from “smartphones” to what the company calls the world’s first Agentic AI phones.

Unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event, the new lineup—comprising the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra—is designed to move beyond simple chat responses toward autonomous task execution.

Unlike previous generations that required manual prompts for every action, the Galaxy S26 utilizes Galaxy AI as an orchestrator. Through deep integration with Google Gemini and Perplexity, the phone can now:

• Execute Multi-step Tasks: Book rides, reorder your last meal, or summarize emails in the background while you use other apps.

• Now Nudge: Proactively suggests actions based on your conversations (e.g., if a friend asks for trip photos, the AI automatically gathers them from your gallery).

• Conversational Bixby: An upgraded assistant that understands natural intent—like “my eyes are tired”—to automatically trigger system settings like Eye Comfort Shield.

The Ultra Exclusive: Privacy Display

The flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a world-first hardware innovation: the Privacy Display.

• Flex Magic Pixel: Using pixel-level technology, the screen obscures side-angle viewing to prevent “visual hacking” in public.

• Dynamic Control: Users can set the privacy filter to activate only during sensitive moments, such as entering a PIN or viewing banking notifications.

Camera & Hardware Upgrades

Samsung continues its dominance in mobile photography with an upgraded ProVisual Engine.

• 200MP Main Sensor: The S26 Ultra’s primary camera is now 47% brighter than its predecessor, significantly improving “Nightography.”

• AI Photo Assist: A new “Scene Change” feature allows users to describe a different time of day or even change their outfit in a photo using simple text prompts.

• 2nm Powerhouse: The series debuts the Exynos 2600 (and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in select regions), the industry’s first 2nm chipset, delivering a 39% boost in NPU performance for on-device AI.

Global Pricing & Availability

The Galaxy S26 series is available for pre-order starting today, February 26, 2026, with shipping expected to begin in early March.

Launch Offer: In many regions, Samsung is offering a “Double Storage” promotion, giving customers the 512GB model for the price of the 256GB variant during the pre-order window.