Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco this Wednesday featured the Korean tech giant unveiling its new S26 series of smartphones, a pair of new earbuds, and a strong focus on AI assistants and agents. Here is a quick recap of everything announced.
The company introduced three new smartphones for the year: the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Galaxy S26 Plus, and the Galaxy S26. All three feature iterative updates compared to their predecessors.
As the flagship model, the S26 Ultra comes equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a 6.9-inch QHD+ display, and a 5,000 mAh battery. Samsung states the phone can charge from zero to seventy-five percent in thirty minutes using a 60W charger. It also continues to support the S-Pen stylus.
While the S26 Ultra’s wide 200-megapixel and telephoto 50-megapixel lenses retain the same pixel count as before, Samsung notes the new wide camera has a bigger aperture of f/1.4. The telephoto lens also features a larger aperture of f/2.9.
The other two phones, the S26 and S26 Plus, share the same processor as the Ultra. However, Samsung will use its own Exynos 2600 processor for these devices in some regions. The standard Galaxy S26 receives a battery capacity increase from last year’s model, and the S26 Plus can charge wirelessly at 20W.
Pricing for the new lineup sees an increase. The Galaxy S26 starts at $899, which is $100 more than last year’s model. The Galaxy S26 Plus starts at $1,099, also a $100 increase. The Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,200.
A marquee feature for the Ultra is its new privacy display. This update prevents people nearby from reading what is on the phone’s screen. Users can choose to hide specific parts of the screen, such as the notification area or password fields, or conceal the entire display. The privacy display can be configured individually for each app. Samsung also mentioned a maximum privacy protection feature that adjusts screen brightness and contrast for further security.
Google made two significant announcements at the event. First, it previewed a new agentic version of Gemini that can perform multi-step tasks on your behalf, such as hailing a ride or placing a food order after reading a group chat. Second, it introduced a new version of Circle to Search that uses multi-object recognition to search for anything a user highlights on their display.
Regarding AI features, Samsung recently announced a partnership with Perplexity to pre-load the AI company’s app on its smartphones. The partnership will allow Perplexity’s APIs to handle tasks like setting alarms and taking notes, and will power the browser’s search capabilities. Samsung smartphones now come with three AI assistants: Bixby, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. The company is also using its Galaxy AI to screen calls and provide summaries of what a caller said.
Samsung also released two new earphones: the Galaxy Buds4 and the Galaxy Buds4 Pro. These feature a flatter stem design compared to earlier models and carry IP54 and IP57 ratings for dust and water resistance. Samsung says the Buds4 Pro includes a new 11mm woofer that widens the speaker area by twenty percent. The Pro models also offer a slightly longer battery life per charge than the regular version, when used without the case. The Buds4 are priced at $179, while the Buds4 Pro cost $250.