- Samsung has announced 5 new products at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event.
- These include the Agentic AI Phone Samsung Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Buds 4, Buds 4 Pro, and One UI 8.5 with upgraded Galaxy AI.
- Here’s every major announcement at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event.
A little late, but finally, Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 has just wrapped up, and Samsung had a lot to show us this year. The company unveiled the Agentic AI Phone Galaxy S26 series, introduced a smarter One UI 8.5 with upgraded Galaxy AI, and the new Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro. We also got a look at a new privacy display technology and deeper AI integration across devices. Here’s every major thing announced in the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy S26 series
The spotlight of the Galaxy Unpacked event clearly was the S26 lineup. Like last year’s Galaxy Unpacked 2025, Samsung introduced three models this year: the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. No “Edge” model. No surprise “Pro” rebrand.
Design and Display
Design-wise, Samsung didn’t completely reinvent the model. But there is a minor change. The phones now feature a more noticeable camera bump (like in the Z Fold 7), and the Ultra gets slightly rounder edges so it feels more in line with its smaller siblings. The Galaxy S26 also gets a slightly bigger 6.3-inch display, while the Plus sticks to a 6.7-inch panel.
The thickness of the S26 Ultra is reduced to 7.9 mm. This makes it 0.3 mm thinner than the 8.2 mm Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It also weighs less than the previous flagship. Whereas the other two models will have the same thickness as the S25 and S25 plus.
Processor
Samsung is powering the Galaxy S26 series with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in select markets like the US, while others get the Exynos 2600 chip. All models now start with at least 12GB of RAM, and the Ultra goes up to 16GB. The entire lineup ships with Android 16 out of the box, running One UI 8.5.
The main highlight
The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a new privacy display. This is hardware-based technology that adjusts the light direction, giving you control over the display’s privacy. It means that the person sitting next to you won’t be able to get a peek at what you are doing on your device. It’s a pretty helpful feature, especially in public places, like banking apps, making payments, messaging, gallery, and more.
The best part is that you can even set particular apps to trigger this feature when opened, while not affecting the other apps. Not only that, you can even turn on privacy display’s Partial Screen Privacy for only selected areas like the Notification banner, floating windows, etc.
Samsung also upgraded the Ultra’s display to support 10-bit colors. It means that the display will slightly look richer and more vibrant.
Battery
Battery sizes see slight adjustments. The base Galaxy S26 gets a 4,300mAh battery, the Plus keeps a 4,900mAh unit, and the Ultra retains its 5,000mAh battery, which is the same as previous years’ ultra models. But now it supports super fast charging 3.0, 60W wired charging. And yes, the S Pen is still here on the Ultra.
One UI 8.5: Smarter Galaxy AI
The Galaxy Unpacked 2026 was not just about hardware. Samsung also officially introduced One UI 8.5, and honestly, this update feels like a big step forward for Galaxy AI.
One UI 8.5 is built on Android 16, and Samsung is clearly leaning heavily into AI this year. One of the additions is Notification Summaries. Similar to Apple Intelligence’s notification summaries, it will summarise long messages.
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Samsung also made cross-device usage smoother. You can now easily access files from other Galaxy devices. The universal cursor makes working with external displays feel more seamless. There’s also an expanded dark mode, forced icon theming, lock screen widgets, and a cleaner photo editing experience.
Now there’ a Private Album in Gallery. With this, you can easily hide selected photos and videos without creating a separate folder or signing into a Samsung Account.
On the camera side, One UI 8.5 introduces preset controls in Pro mode. You can now save your preferred ISO, shutter speed, and white balance and quickly switch between them. This is going to save you a lot of time if you’re into mobile photography.
Bixby Gets a Major Upgrade
The latest version of Bixby feels much closer to a true conversational assistant now. Something that Apple is still trying to implement in Siri. It supports multi-turn conversations, so you can ask follow-up questions naturally without repeating yourself.
It can also perform live web searches, guide you through system settings, and even integrate better with apps like WhatsApp for messaging and calls. Samsung has also expanded multilingual support and improved contextual understanding. In simple terms, Bixby is finally smarter and more useful in daily life.
Galaxy AI: Integrated AI Agent
Samsung is not just stopping with the Bixby upgrade; a new AI agent is also going to be packed inside the Galaxy AI. It is a part of Samsung’s partnership with Perplexity. The agent “Hey Plex” is powered by Perplexity’s Sonar API. This AI agent will be able to work directly with the pre-installed apps like Notes, Calendar, Gallery, and more.
This agent can do all of your daily tasks by itself. For example, it will be able to book an Uber ride for you, can check your calendar for any upcoming events and a lot more than that. Many third-party apps also support this agent, so your work will be more automated. It feels like you will be able to control your device like Jarvis in Iron Man.
You might be concerned about your privacy, but Samsung has thought about it as well. Samsung has introduced Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection (KEEP) that encrypts each app’s data. The Knox Vault also adds a physical layer of protection that separates sensitive data in its own hardware. So your data will be safe.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 series: New Design and Smarter Audio
Keeping aside the smartphone, Samsung has also introduced the new Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. The company has refreshed the design this year. Stems now feature metal accents, giving a more premium look. The regular Buds 4 stick to a lightweight plastic build, while the Buds 4 Pro come with silicone eartips like the previous generation.
Samsung is also adding smarter controls. Similar to Apple AirPods, you now get Head Gestures. It lets you perform nodding and shaking gestures to answer or dismiss calls, interrupt notifications as they’re read, and more. The Interpreter mode also returns with better real-time translations when paired with Galaxy phones.
And how can we forget AI? The Galaxy Buds 4 series integrates deeper with Galaxy AI, which includes clearer calls, smarter noise management, and more personalised sound tuning based on listening habits.
Pricing and Availability of Samsung S26 and Galaxy Buds 4 series
At the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event, Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy S26 series and the Galaxy Buds 4 lineup will be available for pre-order starting today in the United States. You can reserve on the official website to get a $30 Samsung credit during pre-order.
Here are the official prices of the S26 and Galaxy Buds 4 lineup:
- Galaxy S26 starts at $899.99
- Galaxy S26 Plus starts at $1099
- Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1299.99 (up to 1TB storage option available)
- Galaxy Buds 4 start at $179.99
- Galaxy Buds 4 Pro start at $224.99
Pre-orders begin today in the United States, and the official sales start on March 11, 2026. Make sure to check out the official website, as Samsung is also offering trade-in deals and limited-time pre-order bonuses for early buyers.
So, this is it, peeps! That’s everything Samsung announced at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event. Share your views about this on X and stay tuned for more updates like this in future.
