This Galaxy S26 privacy feature stole the show for me at Unpacked – how it works

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Samsung unveils a Privacy Display filter at Unpacked.
• The filter protects screens from prying eyes and can be turned off as needed.
• The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the only model so far to feature this innovation. 

Let's be honest, most of the updates to the Galaxy S26 series of phones during Samsung Unpacked were iterative. There were no huge camera improvements, no ultra-powerful processor, no groundbreaking AI features. But one thing stood out: Samsung introduced the Privacy Display feature on the S26 Ultra phone, and it just may be the most significant smartphone innovation in years. 

Also: Samsung Unpacked 2026 live blog

The Privacy Display feature lets you read the screen clearly when you look at your phone straight on, while preventing others nearby from reading it. The best part? You can turn the Privacy Display off whenever you want to share what you're looking at with others. 

I've been a fan of privacy screen filters since I had a BlackBerry in the 2000s, when I was in college and didn't want everyone around me looking at my screen. Even all these years later, privacy filters keep people on the bus, train, or a plane from peering into your phone. While I still appreciate a privacy filter, it becomes annoying when I want to show my husband a reel or let my kids see a video of a fox in our backyard from the night before.

Privacy Display's best trick

That's precisely why the Samsung S26 Ultra's Privacy Display feature is so outstanding: you can turn it on at any time, keeping your information away from prying eyes or sharing it whenever you want. 

Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S26 model compared: Should you buy the base, Plus, or Ultra?

You can even use the feature with specific apps so that the Privacy Display only engages when you open a certain app or receive a notification from it. If you get a notification from an app on the Privacy Display list, only that notification will be shaded when viewed from the side.

Samsung says that the Privacy Display lets you control your display based on when you want to share, not what you want to keep private. To achieve the feature, Samsung created the Black Matrix, a technology that narrows the path of the light emitted by each pixel on your S26 Ultra's display. 

Also: Get the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus for free at Verizon – here's how

The screen features narrow and wide pixels. When Privacy Display is on, the narrow pixels serve as the primary light source; when Privacy Display is off, both narrow and wide pixels illuminate the screen. Narrow pixels have rings around them that make them visible only when viewed from the front, while wide pixels can be viewed from all angles.

If it works as Samsung promises, the Privacy Display feature may become the new standard for phone manufacturers to reach in the coming years. For the rest of us non-S26 Ultra users, we'll continue making do with privacy filters, smoothing out bubbles and dust particles on the screen during installation, and tilting our screen completely when trying to show someone a TikTok.