"Get me a taxi to San Francisco Airport."
On the 25th (local time), when this was said to the "Galaxy S26," which Samsung Electronics unveiled at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, a "Auto actions" guide popped up on the screen and it jumped straight to the Uber request step. The process of finding and opening the app, entering the destination, and choosing options was compressed into one sentence. Samsung Electronics defined the new model as an "evolution into agentic artificial intelligence (AI) that understands intent and context." It means a shift from the stage where users looked for and ran AI features to a proactive AI that reads the situation and offers suggestions first or stitches together the execution flow.
◇ "Get me a taxi" "Restore the cut cake to its original state" apps moved on a single sentence
To call a taxi with a smartphone, the steps are long and take many taps, from entering the destination and choosing options to checking the fare and confirming the request. Galaxy S26 pulled together the airport taxi request flow at once through Google AI "Gemini." When it recognized the voice command, Uber launched and "San Francisco Airport" was automatically filled in the destination field. Ride options appeared immediately, so after checking the current location, the user only needed to tap the final confirmations such as payment and request.
Of course, the AI was not at a level that fully automates every step. Still, it clearly handled the repetitive inputs and screen switches that people used to do. If service integration widens, the effect could grow. According to Samsung Electronics, in Korea it is now possible to call a Kakao taxi from Galaxy S26 through integration with KakaoT. Integration with external apps such as delivery and shopping is also expected to expand.
It was also notable that entry into AI photo editing changed to "speech." When told, "Please restore the cut cake to its original state," the AI filled in the missing portion to produce a result that looked like a "completed cake." The axis has shifted from pressing buttons to find features to tossing the desired outcome as a sentence and having the AI carry it out. For users who did not often use editing features, the hurdle has been lowered. However, it could not carry out compound commands like "After restoring the cut cake, put three candles on it." A Samsung Electronics official said, "It's true AI photo editing has become more convenient, but it still cannot perform multiple commands at the same time."
◇ Proactive AI "Now Nudge," tailored information for users
The feature that most clearly reveals the proactive AI Samsung describes is "Now Nudge." Even without the user issuing a command first, it recognizes the conversation and situation and proposes the next action in a rounded-corner "nudge" pop-up. The approach aims to reduce the hassle of hopping between multiple apps to find information.
While exchanging messages on a demo Galaxy S26, when the phrase "Send me the travel photos taken in Australia" appeared, Galaxy AI found Australian landscape photos and displayed them in a pop-up. Upon receiving a message like "Is 9 a.m. on Mar. 4 okay for a meeting," without separately asking about calendar conflicts, a pop-up appeared with the scheduled item along with a reply phrase saying, "There is a client meeting that day." However, if automatic suggestions become frequent, it could lead to notification fatigue, and if accuracy drops, the feature itself might be turned off. The key is the frequency and precision of suggestions, and a settings experience that users can easily control.
"Call screening" is a function of the same kind. When an unknown number rings, you can set it so that the AI answers first instead of the user picking up immediately. After the call, the AI shows the caller information and a summary of the call's gist. Samsung Electronics said, "If there's a step to filter before the user answers, the psychological burden of spam or phishing will be reduced."
◇ "Privacy display" with stronger protection of personal information
What drew the most attention from visitors at the event was the "privacy display," applied only to the Ultra model. When the smartphone was tilted slightly, text looked blurry and smudged from the side seat's view, while content was clear only from the front. It is a technology that controls the way light diffuses from display pixels to limit the screen visible from side angles. Samsung Electronics explained, "From the product design stage, hardware and software are intricately integrated so that the viewing experience is not hindered in everyday use environments."
Users could set the timing and scope of application so it operates during sensitive moments such as entering a PIN, password, or pattern, or when launching certain apps, and it also supported a mode that hides only some notification pop-ups rather than the entire screen. It seemed it could ease the worry of "What if someone peeks" when briefly opening a banking app or unlocking on the subway. However, since it narrows the viewing angle, brightness or color perception may change, and it also felt like there could be a trade-off in outdoor readability.
Although this feature was installed only on the Ultra model, the price increase for the Ultra was the same as for the standard and Plus models of the Galaxy S26. In Korea, all 256GB models rose by 99,000 won from the previous generation, and the 512GB models rose by 209,000 won. However, in the U.S. market, the price of the Ultra model was frozen, so demand for the Ultra is expected to increase more than in other regions. The U.S. retail prices for the 256GB standard and Plus models rose by $100 (about 142,750 won) from the previous generation.
◇ A camera that lowers the "pro-grade" bar, from 8K video to night shooting
The lens configuration of the Galaxy S26 Ultra was the same as the previous model, centered on a 200-megapixel wide and a 50-megapixel 10x zoom telephoto. The change appeared in the aperture rather than the hardware. Samsung widened the camera aperture to increase light intake in low light by about 50% compared with the previous generation and strengthened "Nightography" performance by reducing noise. Shooting in a set that reproduced the Golden Gate Bridge night view, not only the brightness but even the texture of the tent remained relatively clear in the dark. In video recording, support for the "APV" codec stood out. For the first time on a Galaxy device, it applied a codec aimed at professional video production, supporting 8K resolution at 30 frames per second and reducing quality loss even after repeated edits.
The design expands the Ultra's square form across the lineup. The rounded-corner square styling applied to the previous Ultra was extended to the base and Plus models. The thicknesses are 7.9 mm for Ultra, 7.3 mm for Plus, and 7.2 mm for the base model, each 0.3 mm, 0.3 mm, and 0.2 mm thinner than the previous model.
The Galaxy S26 series will launch in Korea on Mar. 11. The colors are cobalt violet, white, black, and sky blue.