Does the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display perform better?

The Privacy Display feature in the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a hardware-level feature that controls the way light is scattered across the display pixels to hide the content of the screen from others. While physical privacy shields perform better at blocking the view from side angles, they always result in a permanent decrease in screen brightness and have a rougher texture. Samsung’s solution allows you to enable or disable privacy for specific apps or even certain parts of the screen, and with a little compromise on privacy, it creates a superior experience.

One of the most important selling points of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the new Privacy Display feature. This feature works at the hardware level and manages how the light is spread by the pixels of the display. The main question is, how effective is Privacy Display and can it compete with privacy screen protectors? An expert named C. Scott Brown installed an expensive branded privacy screen protector on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and compared it to the Privacy Display feature on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. His experience is as follows:

The privacy screen saver was more effective in preventing people around from seeing the screen content. However, working with the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a much more pleasant experience, as the privacy guards have a matte texture that doesn’t allow the user’s finger to slide smoothly across the display surface like it would on bare glass.

In addition, these types of protectors usually reduce the overall brightness of the screen. The drop in brightness directly affects the visual experience, especially when watching movies or capturing images. Since these protections are installed only once, it is not possible to temporarily disable them when not needed and reactivate them. This installation is semi-permanent and the user has to deal with its compromises until the screen protector is completely removed.

On the other hand, since the Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is controlled through software, the user can easily disable it whenever they don’t need it. In addition, it is possible to apply this feature to specific applications and even specific parts of the screen, which creates a much higher level of flexibility and control over the entire user experience.

As a result, although the Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra appears to be slightly weaker than dedicated privacy guards in terms of maximum protection, it provides a more enjoyable and functional experience overall. This feature will be enough for most users, but people who need the highest level of privacy in all situations may still prefer to use a privacy screen saver.

Unfortunately, since this feature is implemented at the hardware level, it will not be added to other current Samsung phones; Even the basic version of Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus do not benefit from it. Other Android brands are said to be testing similar hardware-level capabilities for their flagships, but those too won’t arrive until late 2026. Right now, this feature is one of the most exciting new smartphone features in a long time, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra takes advantage of this exclusivity.