I just proved the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen is slightly dimmer than the S25 Ultra but it doesn't make me love it any less

Date:
Fri, 13 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Description:
Is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra slightly less bright than the S25 Ultra?
Tests and visual inspection prove it, but it's so minor that most won't
notice or care.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get the TechRadar Newsletter Sign up for
breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is unquestionably a brilliant flagship smartphone with a powerful, AI-ready processor, excellent cameras, a splendid design,
and feature highlights like Super Steady Video and Privacy display. However, it's that last bit that may be responsible for a rather surprising S26 Ultra issue: the screen is ever-so-slightly dimmer than the S25 Ultra, even with
the Privacy display disabled.

There have been online complaints about the Galaxy S26 Ultra screen,
including some claiming it causes eye strain. As someone who spent many days staring at the 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen, I can tell you that I never experienced that. As far as I could tell, the screen looked bright, clear,
and color-rich. Still, I had been hearing about the change in brightness, which some thought might be attributable to the new Privacy display; the technology can make it almost impossible for someone to spy on your S26 Ultra display at off angles. This is not a software feature. Privacy display uses alternating narrow and wide pixels, turning off the latter when you enable
the feature. When I did so, especially with the Maximum Privacy Protection setting enabled, I noticed that even on-angle, the screen looked slightly desaturated, meaning that there was a small concession for that level of screen privacy. Article continues below You may like Everyone was mad at the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but Samsung's just cleared the air Users are complaining about the Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra I tested the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and of course it's the best Android phone ever When I asked
Samsung about this, they confirmed, "When Maximum privacy protection feature is turned on, overall contrast ratio of the display gets lower/dimmer." When
I turned off Privacy Display, however, I did not notice any difference, and the S26 Ultra screen appeared as bright as ever. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra on left and S25 Ultra on right. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) After reading today's story and the concerns of Reddit, however, I decided to take another look.

First, I dug back into the Future Labs benchmarks, focusing specifically on brightness in Nits and color volume. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is rated by Samsung for 2600 peak nits, the same number as the S25 Ultra's screen (other than Privacy display, these panels are essentially identical), but it's rare for any flagship to meet these criteria under all of our test conditions. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

As you can see below, HDR brightness is generally lower than the rated number for both phones. However, you might also notice that there is a very tiny difference between the S26 Ultra and S25 Ultra, and, yes, the S25 Ultra is ever-so-slightly brighter in our tests. It also bests, by a very slim margin, the S26 Ultra in color volume. Swipe to scroll horizontally Display Tests: Color Row 0 - Cell 0

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Color Gamut (sRGB)

151

151.5

Volume (DCI-P3

106.9

107.3 Swipe to scroll horizontally Brightness (HDR) Row 0 - Cell 0

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Adaptive Brightness on

1303

1328

Adaptive Brightness off

1272

1282 The variances are so small as to be negligible, and I'd challenge anyone to notice these differences at a glance. If you happen to be holding an S26 Ultra, I'm sure you see the same bright and colorful screen I did. I,
however, have an advantage. I still have the excellent Galaxy S25 Ultra on hand.

I decided to conduct a simple side-by-side visual test. First, I made sure both phones had all their platform updates. Next, I made sure that all screen settings were the same, including resolution and brightness. I turned off adaptive brightness and, on the S26 Ultra, made sure Privacy Display was off. What to read next The Galaxy S26 lineup makes one thing clear: Samsung wants you in the Ultra Samsung answers our 5 biggest questions about the Galaxy S26 Ultra's new Privacy Display Samsung's new Privacy Display is the best smartphone upgrade I've seen in years

Then, I placed the two phones next to each other, screen up.

Looking dead on, with my eyes perpendicular to the screen, I thought I detected a slight difference, with the S25 Ultra possibly a hint brighter.
The difference is so small, I'm not sure it's evident in this photo. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra on the left and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra on the right.
(Image credit: Future) However, when I shifted perspective to more of an off-angle view, the difference was stark. Granted, I would not normally view my screen this way, but I think this offers some evidence that the difference may be driven by how Samsung is now handling wide pixels. In Privacy display, they are turned off, but perhaps their configuration, even with Privacy display off, is slightly altered as compared to how the S25 Ultra's pixels
are arrayed. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra on the left and Samsung Galaxy S26
Ultra on the right. (Image credit: Future) I have sent Samsung the image and asked for comment. I'll update this post with their reply.

What I think we may have here is a reasonable tradeoff: an almost imperceptible screen adjustment on brightness (and maybe color saturation)
for a powerful and currently unmatched mobile phone privacy tool.

I have suffered zero eyestrain using the Galaxy S26 Ultra and stand by my original review. It's still the best Android out there. That said, Samsung should step forward and outline exactly what the Privacy display technology does or does not do to the screen in default mode and address the small changes in screen brightness. We test MacBook Neo, unpacking Sam Altman's QuitGPT controversy, and how Sonos got its groove back - YouTube Watch On 1,279 at Amazon 1,279 at very.co.uk (512GB) 1,279 at Samsung UK 1,279 at Mobiles.co.uk (256GB) Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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