One of the most interesting features rumored to be arriving with the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the privacy display. The leaks and rumors we’ve seen so far suggest that the phone will be able to hide the contents of your screen from certain viewing angles. That way, it’s only visible for the user and not from anyone watching from a distance.
Now it looks like someone managed to get hold of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and show off how it works before Samsung could make its official announcement. Sahil Karoul posted a video of what is alleged to be the phone on X, and it shows how the privacy display actually works.
The privacy display looks like an optional setting, restricting the visibility of your screen from anything other than a direct viewing angle. Interestingly, the privacy display has an extra setting called “Maximum privacy protection,” though we don’t get to see what that looks like in action.
I did notice that the privacy display doesn’t completely cover up all the contents of the screen. It may be the camera, but you can still see some remnants of what’s being looked at. Not enough to easily make it out, but enough that you can tell this is a settings menu of some kind.
My guess would be that maximum privacy protection just turns up the privacy an extra notch, and further decreases what people can see from side angles. I’d also guess that it might affect the forward viewing experience, considering Samsung has added this as an optional extra.
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In this video, at least, the privacy display doesn’t appear to affect the quality of the screen when faced head-on — but there’s a chance the Maximum setting might. Which would explain why Samsung gives people a choice. But that’s just speculation on my part.
Sahil also posted a video of the S26 Ultra’s stylus in action, showcasing that Samsung has skipped the Bluetooth functionality for another generation. So there’s no option to use it as a remote shutter or any of those other features that Samsung had until the release of the S25 Ultra last year.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is set to be unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on February 25 — just two days away. We’ll be reporting on all the biggest news at the event, but in the meantime, you can stay up to date with all the latest news and rumors by checking out our official Samsung Galaxy S26 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra hubs.
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