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Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: Privacy display leads monumental upgrades

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: Privacy display leads monumental upgrades

by | Mar 16, 2026 | Technology



In 2024, Samsung shifted the focus of its Galaxy S-series flagship smartphones towards software and artificial intelligence. That was also the year it introduced Corning Gorilla Glass Armor on the Ultra model — a display technology with anti-reflective and anti-glare properties. The feature was widely appreciated by enthusiasts, even though Samsung’s marketing largely emphasised software and AI improvements.

 


That approach makes this year’s narrative notable. In contrast to 2024, when display innovation remained in the background amid the focus on AI and software, the Galaxy S26 Ultra places the display itself at the centre of attention.

 


What is Privacy Display

 
 


The Privacy Display aims to prevent people around you from seeing what is on your screen. Unlike the anti-peeping tempered glasses commonly sold as accessories, this is integrated display technology. Samsung said it has altered the behaviour of the display panel itself, including glass refraction, pixel behaviour, and power flow, to achieve the effect.

 


The result works as advertised. Viewing angles are significantly restricted when the feature is enabled, preventing onlookers from reading the screen.

 


Importantly, it is not an always-on feature. It can be enabled or disabled from the quick settings menu. You can also configure it to activate only for certain apps or for notification previews, which makes the feature more practical.

 


However, the trade-off is visible. Enabling Privacy Display lowers brightness and reduces contrast. Much like traditional privacy screen protectors, there is a compromise in visual quality.

 


Living with the phone day to day

 


The Galaxy S26 Ultra is not defined by the display alone. The device continues Samsung’s push into AI-driven features.

 


Google’s Gemini remains central to the experience, but Samsung has revived Bixby with a new AI-driven approach designed to help users understand and manage their phone better. In practice, the addition did not significantly change my experience.

 


Samsung has also expanded the Galaxy AI ecosystem by integrating Perplexity alongside Gemini. Both assistants are capable of handling similar queries, but Gemini is offered as default and I liked to keep it that way.

 


Where AI proved more useful was in multimedia features.

 


The Audio Eraser tool now works across third-party platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. For the uninitiated, it isolates and reduces background noise, making spoken audio clearer. Considering how much user-generated content exists on these platforms, the feature is useful.

 


Another AI tool, Photo Assist, now supports text-based editing. Users can circle an area in an image and describe the desired change using a text prompt. The concept is useful, although the feature occasionally fails to process requests.

 


Software, cameras, and everyday improvements

 


The Galaxy S26 Ultra ships with One UI 8.5. The update is mostly cosmetic but introduces practical additions such as Call Screening. With support for Indian languages including Hindi, the feature works well and proved more reliable than my experience with call screening on the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

 


Cameras remain central to Samsung’s Ultra series, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra refines the imaging system rather than overhauling it.

 


The wide and telephoto cameras now feature wider apertures, improving low-light performance. The telephoto module also uses Samsung’s ALOP (All Lenses on Prism) sensor design, which improves light sensitivity and image clarity, but hampers zoomed macro shots.

 


In video recording, the standout addition is Horizon Lock. Similar to action cameras, this mode keeps the horizon level even if the phone rotates significantly during recording. It is a practical feature and works well in stabilising footage.

 


Samsung has also upgraded charging speeds. The phone now supports 60W wired charging and 25W wireless charging, although magnetic wireless charging is still absent.

 


What I think after using it

 


The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces several refinements, but the most distinctive addition remains the Privacy Display. It works well and offers genuine protection against shoulder surfing, although the reduction in brightness and contrast means it will not appeal to everyone.

 


Beyond that, the device continues Samsung’s broader strategy of expanding its AI ecosystem while refining camera performance and software features. The improvements are meaningful but incremental.

 


For users who value privacy and multimedia tools, the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers something different. For others, the experience may feel like a steady evolution rather than a dramatic leap.

 


Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Pricing

 


12GB RAM + 256 GB storage: Rs 139,999


12GB RAM + 512GB storage: Rs 159,999


16GB RAM + 1TB storage: Rs 189,999

 


Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Unboxing

 



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Soon, Instagram will stop supporting end-to-end encrypted DMs: Details

Soon, Instagram will stop supporting end-to-end encrypted DMs: Details

by | Mar 16, 2026 | Technology



Meta has announced that it will discontinue support for end-to-end encryption in direct messages on Instagram. According to an Instagram support page, the feature will be removed after May 8. A report by 9To5Google also stated that the company has begun notifying users about the change through an in-app pop-up.


What’s changing


On an Instagram support page, Meta stated that end-to-end encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after May 8, 2026, and users with affected chats will be provided instructions to download any media or messages they want to keep. It was also noted that users on older versions of the app may need to update Instagram before downloading their affected chats.

 
 


According to 9To5Google, while providing the reason for this action, Meta’s PR team said, “Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we’re removing this option from Instagram in the coming months. Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp.”


What is end-to-end encryption and how does it work

 


According to Meta, end-to-end encryption ensures that messages and calls can only be read or heard by the people involved in the conversation, meaning that no one else, including the company itself, can access their contents. However, Meta noted that messages may still be shared with the company if a participant chooses to report a conversation or uses certain optional features.

 


Meta explained that end-to-end encryption works through unique security keys assigned to each device participating in a conversation. When a message is sent in an encrypted chat, it is locked on the sender’s device and can only be unlocked by a device that holds one of the keys linked to that conversation. The same process applies to audio and video calls. Meta added that messages or calls can still be seen or heard by others if a participant in the conversation chooses to share them outside the chat.


Will you be affected by this


This will only affect users who have opted in to encrypted chats on Instagram, as end-to-end encryption is not enabled by default. Users have to start a separate encrypted conversation to opt in to the feature. By comparison, apps like WhatsApp automatically apply end-to-end encryption to all chats.



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China readies 7nm chip production in efforts to boost tech self-sufficiency

China readies 7nm chip production in efforts to boost tech self-sufficiency

by | Mar 16, 2026 | Technology



China’s Hua Hong Group has developed advanced chip manufacturing technologies that can be used to produce artificial intelligence chips, four people familiar with the matter said, a major milestone in Beijing’s efforts to boost tech self-sufficiency.

 


The group’s contract chipmaking business, Huali Microelectronics, is readying a 7-nanometre (nm) chipmaking process at its plant in Shanghai, the people said, which would make it the second Chinese chipmaker with such advanced technologies. Hua Hong is China’s second-largest chipmaker.

 


China’s largest contract chipmaker, SMIC, is at present the only domestic producer capable of making chips with 7 nm technologies.

 


The development comes after Washington eased some of its tech export controls since last year, allowing Nvidia to sell its second-most-powerful AI chips to China.

 
 


Despite the easing, Beijing has encouraged domestic firms to purchase homegrown alternatives, as it seeks to wean itself off foreign suppliers.


Reuters could not determine how Hua Hong achieved the advanced manufacturing capability, its manufacturing efficiency and which major equipment suppliers were involved in the development. Hua Hong’s development of a 7 nm chipmaking process has not been previously reported.

 


But Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies has been in collaboration with the chipmaker for the 7 nm technologies, three of the sources said. All of the sources declined to be named, because the information is not meant to be public.

 


Hua Hong Group, Huali, its sister company Hua Hong Semiconductor and Huawei did not respond to requests for comment.

 


SMIC uses Dutch chip equipment maker ASML’s immersion machines to make 7 nm chips, but production yields – the number of good chips made per silicon wafer – have remained weak, analysts have said.

 


ASML said it does not comment on questions related to deliveries.


Test production under way


Huali’s research and development on 7 nm chips at its Hua Hong Fab 6 began last year, with support from domestic equipment suppliers including Huawei-backed SiCarrier, which tested its equipment at a facility in Shenzhen last year, a separate source said. SiCarrier did not respond to a request for comment.

 


The development followed an announcement by Hua Hong Semiconductor in December that it planned to acquire a controlling stake in Huali and raise a further 7.56 billion yuan ($1.10 billion) to fund technological upgrades and research at the foundry.

 


Huali is planning initial 7 nm chip production capacity of a few thousand wafers per month by the end of the year, with a goal to ramp up more later, two of the sources said.

 


Chinese graphics processing unit designer Biren is using Huali’s 7 nm line for tape-out, a process in which a chip design is committed to a physical prototype for testing before mass production begins, one of the sources said.

 


Placed on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2023, Biren lost access to TSMC’s contract manufacturing service shortly after. Biren did not respond to requests for comment.


The Hua Hong Fab 6 is the most advanced of seven foundries within the Hua Hong Group and currently manufactures logic chips using 22 nm and 28 nm process nodes, according to the company’s website.

 


By contrast, its Fab 5 produces chips using mature technologies ranging from 40 nm to 55 nm.



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MacBook Neo emerges as Apple's most repairable laptop in more than a decade

MacBook Neo emerges as Apple's most repairable laptop in more than a decade

by | Mar 16, 2026 | Technology



Apple’s MacBook Neo, the laptop it announced last week that starts at $499 for students, is the most repairable laptop the company has released since 2012, according to an analysis released Friday by iFixit.

 


iFixit publishes repair guides and sells parts and tools for consumer electronic devices, but also provides ratings for how easy items are to fix and keep running. Laptop makers such as Dell Tech and Lenovo Group have used those ratings to improve the repairability of their products.

 


In the teardown published on Friday, iFixit found that Apple had made key changes from previous laptops, such as attaching the computer’s batteries and keyboard with screws rather than glue or rivets, and making it easy to swap out parts such as the device’s camera and fingerprint sensor.

 
 


Apple is widely believed to be targeting the same education markets with its MacBook Neo that Google targets with its low-cost Chromebooks. Kyle Wiens, iFixit’s chief executive, said Chromebooks are frequently repaired, with some school districts such as those in Oakland, California even tapping student interns to fix them.

 


But Apple’s MacBook Neo still scored only a 6 out of 10 on iFixit’s scale, where other machines such as a recent Lenovo ThinkPad have scored 9s and 10s. Apple, which has prioritised thinner and lighter devices over the past decade, has made its products harder to repair.

 


Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wiens said one of the reasons is that MacBook Neo’s 8 gigabytes of DRAM are directly soldered to the circuit board of the machine as part of a package with the machine’s main processing chip, which is similar to all of Apple’s Mac designs in recent years but will make MacBook Neos impossible to easily upgrade with more memory.

 


Wiens said that could make it hard for the MacBook Neo to run artificial intelligence applications as they grow in complexity in the coming years, even as Apple has publicly cited the privacy benefits of running those applications on a laptop instead of in the cloud. He said Apple could improve its offerings by including an additional layer of memory chips that users can upgrade.

 


“Apple’s future for privacy-centred AI has to be local models,” Wiens said. “I would argue this is a flaw across Apple’s entire Mac product line.”

 


(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

 

 



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Samsung's Choi says AI revolution is unavoidable, urges preparation

Samsung's Choi says AI revolution is unavoidable, urges preparation

by | Mar 15, 2026 | Technology



The Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution is ‘unavoidable’, and it is going to impact every aspect of human life, and people need to be prepared for this transformation, said Samsung Electronics Mobile Experience Business COO Won-Joon Choi.


This will be different from the previous revolution that happened through the internet and mobile, which impacted human life, said Choi in a media roundtable here recently, after the launch of S26.


“AI is different in the sense that it will impact every area, you name it, medical, law, everything. Everything will change through AI. It’s not just the IT sector. I think we need to be prepared. Not just IT companies, but legal, HR, medical, everything. Everyone needs to be prepared,” he said.

 


Choi also acknowledged the large investments being made by big tech companies into AI research and development.


“I think there can be some adjustments along the way, but at the macro level, we still need to invest. We still need to bring resources. And we still need to do a lot of research. I think it’s still the beginning, in my opinion. It’s not done,” he said.


While replying to a query about whether excessive marketing of AI features is creating a sense of unease among consumers, Choi said that every new technology looks overwhelming at first.


“I think as time goes on and as these AI features get integrated more deeply into the device and UI applications, people will not feel this (AI) is special, and we would not need to even call this AI. I think people will just naturally accept this is something that I can use, something that can help. I think that time will come,” he said.


Choi said Samsung is working on three big areas on AI, which include the democratisation of the technology.


As part of Samsung’s plans to bring AI features to 800 million devices by the end of this year, double from 400 million devices last year.


Samsung has adopted a Hybrid AI model, which is a combination of on-device and on-cloud. Choi said Samsung is open to integrating third-party AI solutions into its devices.


“We announced the partnership with Perplexity in addition to Gemini. At the end of the day, our goal is to provide the best AI technologies or solutions to Galaxy users,” he said.


Samsung is also ensuring that sensitive information is stored on devices, not in the cloud, to ensure privacy and security in the era of AI.


“We want to make sure that when you use Galaxy AI, you have peace of mind,” he said, adding, “At the platform level, at the hardware and software and even the application layer, we try to provide a mechanism so that people know how they are using AI and how all this information is being used. We will be very transparent and build the core hardware functionality.” 
Over Samsung’s future objectives, Choi said the brand is working to expand the support for local languages and is looking to partner with more brands for the newly-launched Agentic AI play.



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