Everything Samsung announced at the Unpacked event
Samsung introduced the Galaxy S26 series smartphones, Galaxy Buds 4 earbuds, and several AI software features at an Unpacked event held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The company announced the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, alongside the Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro, with pre-orders beginning immediately and general availability scheduled for March 11. The event took place ahead of Mobile World Congress, detailing hardware specifications, pricing changes, and new integrations with Perplexity and Google Gemini.
The Galaxy S26 and S26+ start at $900 and $1,100 respectively for 256GB storage models, representing a $100 increase over their predecessors. Samsung attributed the price hike to ongoing RAM shortages affecting the industry. The design of the base models has been updated to round the corners, aligning the aesthetic with the S26 Ultra. The standard Galaxy S26 features a 6.3-inch display, slightly larger than the previous generation, and a 4,300mAh battery. The S26+ retains a 6.7-inch screen but with a higher resolution than the base model.
For North America, China, and Japan, Samsung is utilizing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset across the entire S26 lineup, opting not to use the Samsung Exynos 2600 in these regions. While the physical camera hardware remains unchanged from the previous year, Samsung introduced software enhancements to improve image quality. These include ProScaler image upscaling and a new MDNIe chip designed to enhance color precision. Video recording benefits from a horizon-leveling stabilization feature intended to keep the frame steady during action shots. An Object Aware Engine aims to refine skin tones and hair textures in selfies. Additional AI features, such as Now Brief and Auto Eraser, have been expanded to function across more applications.
Color options for the S26 and S26+ include purple, blue, black, and white, with silver and rose gold available as online exclusives. Pre-orders are currently open, with general retail availability set for March 11. The devices run on the updated Android operating system with Samsung’s One UI overlay, incorporating the newly announced AI capabilities.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,300, maintaining the price point of the S25 Ultra despite the price increases on the lower-tier models. It features a 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution of 3120 x 1440 and a 120Hz refresh rate. The battery capacity is 5,000mAh, supported by Super Fast Charging 3.0. Storage options include 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, paired with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
A standout hardware feature of the S26 Ultra is the Privacy Display, which Samsung describes as the first of its kind on a smartphone. The technology restricts screen visibility from acute angles to prevent onlookers from reading the display. Users can configure the feature to activate automatically when entering passwords, PINs, viewing notifications, or opening specific applications. The active Privacy Display results in a slight reduction in screen brightness.
The camera system on the S26 Ultra includes a 50MP ultrawide lens, a 200MP wide lens, a 10MP 3x telephoto sensor, and a 50MP 5x telephoto sensor. While the resolutions match the S25 Ultra, the main 200MP and 5x telephoto sensors have been upgraded with wider apertures to allow increased light intake. The device does not include built-in Qi2 charging magnets.
Samsung also redesigned the Galaxy Buds lineup, releasing the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. The new design removes the angular stems and stem lights found on previous generations. The earbuds feature a “computationally designed fit” with smaller earbud heads intended to provide a more secure and comfortable fit. The Galaxy Buds 4 utilize an open-fit format, while the Buds 4 Pro use a canal-fit design. Both models offer improved audio quality, active noise cancellation (ANC), ambient sound modes, and adaptive EQ.
The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro include specific hardware upgrades, such as a wide woofer that increases the effective speaker area by nearly 20 percent compared to the previous generation. They support high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz audio. A siren detection feature on the Buds 4 Pro automatically enables ambient sound to alert users to alarms or emergency vehicle sirens. Both models support head gesture controls for managing calls and interactions with Bixby.
Hands-free voice control is available on both Buds models when paired with Galaxy devices. Users can access Bixby, Google Gemini, and Perplexity using voice commands, including the “Hey Plex” wake word for the Perplexity AI agent. The Galaxy Buds 4 are priced at $180, while the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are priced at $250. Both are available in white and black, with an online-exclusive pink color option for the Buds 4 Pro.
Samsung confirmed the integration of Perplexity as an AI agent option within Galaxy AI on the S26 series. The “Hey Plex” wake phrase activates the assistant, and Perplexity’s features are embedded into the Samsung Browser app. This integration provides users with an alternative AI assistant alongside the existing Bixby and Google offerings.
Google announced that the Gemini app will soon offer a beta feature enabling multi-step agentic tasks on the S26 series and Pixel 10 devices. This functionality allows users to delegate complex requests, such as booking a ride or ordering groceries, to the AI. The feature is triggered by long-pressing the power button. Additionally, Circle to Search is gaining the ability to identify multiple objects simultaneously within a single search query, such as an entire outfit. This multi-object search capability is launching first on the Pixel 10 and will arrive on the S26 series soon.
Google also detailed a Gemini-powered on-device Scam Detection feature for phone calls. This tool analyzes conversation patterns in real-time to warn users of potential fraud. It will be available on the S26 devices in English within the United States. These software features complement the hardware announcements, creating a comprehensive ecosystem update for Samsung’s flagship release.