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Denise chevron_right
We've all been there. You're on the MRT, tapping away at your banking app or reading a sensitive work email, and you can practically feel the person next to you leaning in for a look. It's uncomfortable, it's invasive, and until now, the best solution was slapping an ugly privacy screen protector onto your phone and hoping for the best.
Samsung has finally decided to solve this problem properly, and with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, they've done it in a way nobody else has managed before.
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What Is Privacy Display?
The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces the mobile industry's first built-in Privacy Display, which Samsung describes as a breakthrough in display technology that protects privacy at the pixel level. No adhesive film, no third-party accessory, no compromise, as it's built directly into the screen itself.
According to Samsung, the technology has been five years in the making. It works by controlling how light is dispersed by pixels. The panel features a hardware technology called Flex Magic Pixel, which consists of two types of pixels: Narrow and Wide. In normal mode, both types are active, allowing light to spread across a wide range of angles so the screen looks clear from almost anywhere. When Privacy Mode is enabled, the display prioritises the narrow pixels that emit light straight forward, while the wide pixels are reduced to a minimal level, significantly limiting how much light escapes to the sides.
In plain terms: you see your screen perfectly. The person next to you sees next to nothing.
How Do You Turn It On?
The easiest way to activate Privacy Display is via the Quick Settings toggle, which turns it on instantly. Alternatively, you can double-press the side key for the same effect. It's designed to be quick and frictionless, because the last thing you want is to fumble through menus while you're in the middle of a transaction.
Users can also set additional triggers for when the feature activates automatically - such as during PIN, password, or pattern entry, or whenever notifications appear. You can even set it to switch on automatically within specific apps, like your banking app or email client.
Two Levels of Privacy
Samsung doesn't just give you a single on/off toggle. There are two modes:
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Standard mode: adds a touch of shadow at off-angles.
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Maximum Privacy Protection mode: makes the screen even more difficult to view from the side, though it may also affect viewing at normal angles.
For most situations — a crowded LRT, a busy cafe, an open-plan office — the standard mode will do the job just fine. Maximum Privacy is there for when you really need it.
The Feature That is Really Impressive
Beyond the full-screen privacy mode, Privacy Display can hide notification pop-ups specifically, without affecting the rest of the screen. The masking around the notification ensures the content behind it isn't affected, and the effect works incredibly well.
This means that even when your screen is on and visible to those around you, an incoming message or notification can pop up and disappear without anyone next to you being any the wiser.
Does It Affect Your Viewing Experience?
Importantly, Privacy Display does not affect brightness, colours, or image quality for the user. The feature also works seamlessly in both portrait and landscape orientations.
That said, when Privacy Display is activated, some information may still be visible to others depending on the viewing environment, such as the angle or brightness of the surroundings. It's not a magic cloak, but it's a significant step up from anything that's been available before.
Is It Worth Getting Excited About?
Smartphones have felt somewhat stagnant in terms of hardware innovation over the past several years, with truly new features being fairly rare. Privacy Display stands out as one of those genuinely novel additions that solves a real, everyday problem in a way that feels both elegant and practical.
Samsung has said it will monitor customer feedback for Privacy Display, and if it proves popular, the company will consider expanding the technology to future devices. For now, it remains exclusive to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, making it one more reason this particular model sits at the top of the range.
If you've ever felt uneasy about what strangers can see on your phone in public, this feature alone might just make the Galaxy S26 Ultra worth a serious look.