It looks like Samsung is preparing to release a pretty major upgrade with the upcoming Galaxy S26 range, and for once it’s actually something that could change the way we use our phones on a daily basis. According to a new report from FNNews, the alleged AI-powered “Privacy Display” will no longer be hidden behind the most expensive model. While previous rumors suggested that you would have to pay for the Ultra to get this, it now appears that the standard Galaxy S26 and S26+ models are also invited to the party.
Honestly, this is a feature we’ve needed for years. We’ve all been there – standing on a crowded subway or sitting in a cramped cafe trying to check a bank account balance or enter a password while feeling a nagging suspicion that the person next to us is taking a look. This new feature essentially eliminates the fear of “shoulder surfing.” The concept is surprisingly simple but technically brilliant: when you turn on the device, the screen looks perfectly sharp when you stare directly at it, but when you look from the side it becomes dark or unreadable.
What’s really exciting about it is that it’s not just a software trick or a cheap plastic filter you throw on top
We all know that those third-party privacy films are pretty terrible – they darken your screen, distort colors, and make sharing a photo with a friend a nightmare. Samsung is reportedly solving this problem at the hardware level using a so-called “Flex Magic Pixel OLED” panel.
By using AI to physically control the direction of light at the pixel level, they can narrow the viewing angle when necessary without compromising the display quality for you. Since this requires special screen technology, you can’t expect an update to carry this over to your older S24 or S25. This is pure new hardware territory.
However, the real magic here lies in the flexibility. It sounds like Samsung is making this “context aware.”
Imagine opening your banking app or a password manager and the phone automatically switches to privacy mode. Then, when you switch to YouTube to show a friend a funny video, the viewing angle immediately widens again. This kind of seamless switching is something current phones simply can’t do, and it gives the S26 a significant advantage in a market where “innovation” lately just means slightly better cameras.
Of course, this raises a big question about the S26 Ultra. If the standard models get this state-of-the-art privacy screen, what else is left to make the Ultra feel special? It’s still unclear whether the anti-reflective Gorilla Glass Armor will remain an Ultra exclusive, but Samsung will need something big to justify the “Ultra” price if its little siblings are so capable. Either way, as we get closer to launch, this is shaping up to be one of the handiest features we’ve seen in a long time.
