Top four takeaways from the Samsung Unpacked 2026 event

By the time Samsung execs took to the stage at Unpacked 2026 this Wednesday, the internet had, quite literally, already done the unboxing, leaving some of us feeling a sense of déjà vu upon seeing the main announcements. Where was the element of surprise, one wondered, that X-factor that drew even this jaded tech columnist back for the event?

And yet, live events have a way of revealing what leaks can’t—the hows and whys behind the latest features, right from the first hands-on to the deep dives into what makes the latest devices tick—and stand out. And of course, how AI is being folded into everything you currently do with your phone. Here’s what actually stood out from the event, once the famous San Franciscan fog of familiarity cleared, and why it should matter to you.

Privacy by default

The Galaxy S26 Ultra may look, at first glance, quite like the outgoing flagship S25 Ultra, albeit with more vibrant violet, sky blue, pink gold colorways and a new bumped up starting price of Rs. 1,39,999. Look closer past the Gorilla Armor 2 and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front and rear, Samsung has switched back to aluminum for the Ultra and shaved off the slightest (0.3mm, 4g) in terms of thickness and weight, yielding a slightly more pleasant in-hand experience. Elsewhere, the S26 Ultra runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, with 12 or 16GB of memory and 256/512/1TB of storage, with faster charging support (60W) on the battery as well.

Cameras see wider apertures to let in more light as well, but no changes in sensors. The screen—a 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED display hides (operative word here) the S26 Ultra’s marquee feature— Privacy Display. When you turn on Privacy Display, people sneaking peeks at your phone from the sides will see just a darkened screen. The idea is to prevent people from ‘shoulder surfing’—seeing what’s on your screen from the sides, something that custom screen protectors have enabled in the past, but Samsung has outdone itself in how the feature has been implemented.

Samsung’s solution is enabled through both hardware and software, and operates at a pixel level, which allows for lots of different ways you can use it—you can set up Privacy Display to activate when you're asked for a password or PIN, or when you get a notification from or open certain apps. For instance, if you open up your stock trading or banking app while on the metro, your neighbors won’t be able to see how much cash you have. It’s a very handy feature, one that I hope more brands get cracking on copying.

Agents, agents everywhere

One couldn’t help but notice the surfeit of billboards in San Francisco screaming “Agents” at every corner and Unpacked signaled a similar move for Android phones at large. Ahead of Unpacked, Samsung confirmed it would offer Perplexity as an AI Agent option in Galaxy AI on the S26 series, with Perplexity’s features embedded in the Samsung Browser app.

At Unpacked, Google’s Sameer Samat took to the stage and showed off the way forward—how an agent could, for instance, act on a raucous and chaotic family message group to understand who wants to order what, and adds it to a cart in a food delivery app, ready to review and submit. Arriving in beta on the S26 series first, the Gemini app will handle such multi-step tasks in the background and initially only work with certain food, grocery or rideshare apps.

While we weren’t able to try this feature out, the idea that you can hand off everyday tasks to an agent is something one can't wait to try out. The feature almost overshadowed the upgraded Circle to Search feature, available now, which can now search for multiple objects seen on screen at once—such as when you want to "find the look" in a movie scene. Once the app has found all the individual pieces of the circled outfit, users can try them on virtually.

Even Galaxy AI features saw an upgrade, with Now Nudge analyzing what’s on your screen to give you suggestions before you ask, and AI-assisted image editing tools allowing you to use prompt-based generative fill effects right in your gallery app without having to head out to other apps.

Same bottle, new wine

The base S26 and S26+ both see bumped up prices and now start at Rs. 87,999 and Rs. 1,19,999 for the base 12GB/256GB models, and for the premium, you get a tweaked design that is aligned closer to the Ultra’s look and a larger 6.3-inch display on the S26 (the S26+ still has the 6.7-inch display of the S25+). Same colour options as the Ultra, although unlike the Ultra, you get Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chip powering these devices. Cameras are much the same as last year, but Samsung aims to boost them via upgrades such as ProScaler image upscaling and an MDNIe chip that's said to improve color precision.

There’s also horizon lock, a video stabilization feature that keeps the horizon level while you're following a moving person or pet, very handy for action shots with unpredictable subjects. Elsewhere, Samsung has reworked some AI features too, such as making Now Brief and Audio Eraser compatible with more apps like YouTube, Instagram. We’re yet to take these devices through their paces, but the incremental nature of the updates turns the spotlight even more on the S26 Ultra’s new features.

Buds forever

No iterative upgrades on the earbuds, though—the open-fit Galaxy Buds 4 and the canal-fit Buds 4 Pro get a refresh, with a revamped shape and design that does away with the angular look from last year’s buds (and sadly loses the lights that made them distinct). Now with a more refined, “computationally designed fit”, the latest earbuds have smaller earbuds heads that allow for a better, more secure fit for all-day wear. The latest buds also claim improved audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC), with an ambient sound mode, adaptive EQ and adaptive ANC…plus a new siren detection feature on the Buds 4 Pro that enables ambient sound to let you hear things like alarms or emergency vehicle warnings.

From my limited time listening to the two buds, the Buds 4 Pro impressed with its bass output courtesy the wider woofer, but will it be worth the Rs. 22,999 asking price (the Buds 4 will retail at Rs. 16,999 when it goes on sale with the rest of the launches in March)?

The writer was at Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in San Francisco at the invitation of Samsung India