Why The Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display Is A Game-Changer

Bizon is relaxed and confident, perhaps because of the extensive interest in the new Privacy Display. If you haven’t come across it, and you probably have, because it’s caught the headlines, it’s a new feature on the company’s flagship phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It means that nobody peeping over your shoulder can see what’s on your screen.

But where a traditional privacy screen is a stick-on filter that’s there for good, Privacy Display is a combination of hardware and software that means it can be toggled off and on at will. It can even make specific parts of the screen invisible when viewed over a shoulder.

“The reality of Privacy Display is that we managed to find a way to turn off the horizontal pixels on the screen. Actually, this kind of feature is very hard to execute if you’re going to do it well. We’ll see how long it takes for others to try to copy it but for now, it really works and that's the exciting thing,” she says.

The End Of Stick-On Screen Protectors?

I think this kind of privacy is something consumers know they want, but they haven't previously bothered to buy privacy screens, not least because it’s a nuisance when you’re trying to share your content with someone. You can’t just rip the stick-on protector off each time you need to show someone your latest photos.

“The key element with Privacy Display is we can apply it selectively, where you want to see things, where you don't want to see things when the shoulder-surfer in all of us naturally comes out. I have passwords, for instance which I want to keep private. For me, the fact that you can set up every single password, effortlessly is useful. Let us do the work for you: you don't need to set it up for every single app yourself,” Bizon enthuses.

This is true: you can choose which apps should be made private and whether items like passwords should be hidden, all in a matter of seconds.

“The thing that I want to keep private may not be the thing someone else does. I didn’t know something like this could ever be an option, and it appears to be a straightforward thing, it’s so simple to use, but it’s technically hard to do,” she explains.

“The fact that we brought the global first with Privacy Display doesn’t truly surprise me, because when I look at the R&D in every other section, it’s all so awesome. Everything is so beautifully mastered, and we wouldn’t bring it out unless it was,” she adds.

The Future Of Samsung Galaxy Cameras

I talk to Bizon about the camera on the Galaxy phones. The race for pixels may be over, it seems to me, now that cameras have 200-megapixel sensors, for instance. She is careful not to comment on what future phones may have, but talks about Samsung’s approach to photography.

“We really look at how people are using their phones, they’re in your hand all the time. You need something that will record content on the move. You’re seeing front cameras getting better, audio getting better and so on,” she says.” We’re trying to keep up with what people are doing. Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have been talking about filming on the move so much, or using the phone to make a podcast, for instance. But as the consumer changes, Samsung has to think about where they're going to be in two years, say, and what technology might they need? And that's where I think the two things come together. We were shooting video, which was already great but now you can get 47% more light into a video and the difference that makes when you’re at a concert, for example, is remarkable. The whole thing comes alive.”

Galaxy AI: Eliminating Boring Stress

Finally, I ask about Galaxy AI and how it’s developing. “AI is really beginning to work on a daily basis, i.e. find me a photo I took on a holiday, and drop it straight into my messages so you just press send. That’s where I see AI really helping your life. Anything that takes out the boring stress of my day is really cool.”