- 16 hours ago
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra goes all-in on software upgrades that make the iPhone feel behind, from smarter AI tools to a built-in privacy display and faster charging. The video breaks down 15 new features, including horizontal lock for rotatable video, automation through Gemini, a new Finder search button, and Now Nudge for context-aware help inside the keyboard.
It also covers photo assist, improved Bixby, ocean mode for underwater shots, instant document scanning, expanded audio eraser support in third-party apps, Creative Studio, auto framing, scam call detection, and a refined design with better cooling. If you follow Galaxy S26 Ultra rumors, Samsung One UI features, or smartphone comparison videos, this is a detailed look at what the new lineup brings.
Created for viewers searching for Galaxy S26 Ultra features, Samsung AI phone tools, One UI software upgrades, iPhone comparison, and Android tech reviews. It’s also a strong pick for anyone interested in flagship phone features, mobile photography, privacy screen tech, and faster charging on the latest Samsung Galaxy devices.
It also covers photo assist, improved Bixby, ocean mode for underwater shots, instant document scanning, expanded audio eraser support in third-party apps, Creative Studio, auto framing, scam call detection, and a refined design with better cooling. If you follow Galaxy S26 Ultra rumors, Samsung One UI features, or smartphone comparison videos, this is a detailed look at what the new lineup brings.
Created for viewers searching for Galaxy S26 Ultra features, Samsung AI phone tools, One UI software upgrades, iPhone comparison, and Android tech reviews. It’s also a strong pick for anyone interested in flagship phone features, mobile photography, privacy screen tech, and faster charging on the latest Samsung Galaxy devices.
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TechTranscript
00:00This is the new Galaxy S26, and after seeing all the new features it comes with, I'm not going to
00:04lie,
00:05it might actually make you want to toss your iPhone inside a drawer or something.
00:08In this video, I'll go over 15 new software features that are exclusive to the Galaxy S26,
00:13meaning no other phones have them, and hey, if you decide to make the switch,
00:17I'll leave an affiliate link down below to pre-order one.
00:20It really helps support the channel, and you still get the phone you want. Win-win.
00:24So first up, this one is wild, it really calmed my eye.
00:27The S26 Ultra now lets you record fully rotatable 360-degree videos,
00:32and it'll fix them afterward automatically.
00:35Meaning all you have to do is turn on super steady video mode,
00:39switch over to horizontal lock, and you can literally spin the phone around however you want.
00:44You can flip it, tilt it, and when you stop recording, it automatically strains the horizon.
00:49So when you watch the video back, it looks like you never even moved the phone at all.
00:54Kind of blows your mind, right?
00:55And yeah, iPhones can't do that, or pretty much any other phone out there can.
01:00From there, Samsung showed off this new feature called automation,
01:02and this is where things start to feel really futuristic.
01:05You can basically tell your phone to do something, and it'll just do it for you.
01:10Like, say you need to order an Uber to the airport.
01:12You can just tell it to do that in the phone within Gemini,
01:15and it'll literally take over the phone and open Uber, start plugging in the destination,
01:21and search for rides all in the background while you're doing something else.
01:25Then when it's done, it'll notify you so that way you can confirm what ride you want.
01:29Isn't that pretty crazy?
01:30Now currently, Samsung's just testing it with Uber on the S26,
01:34but they have hinted that maybe in the future they're going to add more apps like food delivery services.
01:40We'll see.
01:41My only concern, though, would obviously be the privacy aspect.
01:44It might feel a little invasive to some, but since it's optional, I'd personally use it,
01:50especially since I know it's going to save me a ton of time.
01:52And then there's the small little change that's actually super useful.
01:56On the home screen, there's now a new little button called Finder.
01:59You tap it, and now you get this fully upgraded universal search engine that has AI built right in.
02:06It's way more context-aware than before, too.
02:08So let's say you just landed somewhere and you need to get to your hotel.
02:12You can literally just type hotel, and it'll pull up your reservation instantly with all the info for it.
02:18No digging through emails, no extra details needed to type in.
02:22It just knows.
02:23iPhones, on the other hand, I'll be fair,
02:24it also has a great search functionality, but it's not at this level with Samsung.
02:29Now, my fourth favorite new feature on the S26 is called Now Nudge,
02:33and this one is low-key one of the smartest upgrades on the phone.
02:36It lives in the keyboard, and basically,
02:39it pays attention to what you're talking about within a messaging conversation,
02:42and then it pulls up helpful information right when you need it.
02:46Like, say that you went on a trip with a friend,
02:48and later they text you asking for those pics that you took.
02:51Boom! The keyboard will pop up a shortcut to share those photos instantly.
02:56Or, let's say a friend wants to hang out on a specific day.
02:59Now Nudge will check your calendar and let you know if you're free by showing you your events right on
03:05the keyboard.
03:05It's really those little things that save you from needing to dig through emails or jumping between apps.
03:11Again, iPhones don't have anything like this.
03:13The only other phones that do are the latest Pixel devices with Magic Cube.
03:18Now, the feature that we've all been waiting for, because of the leaks, is the new privacy display.
03:22You know those cheap $15 privacy screen protectors you stick on your phone?
03:26Yeah, Samsung just built that right into the S26 Ultra screen, like down to the pixel level.
03:32It blocks the viewing angles from the sides, so if you're on a plane or in an elevator,
03:37people next to you literally can't see what's on your screen.
03:41But here's where it gets wild.
03:42You can customize it.
03:44You can set it to turn on automatically for certain apps, like your banking apps or messages.
03:49Or even better, you can hide specific stuff on the screen, like your password or notifications,
03:56so only you can see the sensitive bits.
03:59It's one of those things you don't realize you need until you're in a crowded place,
04:03and suddenly you feel way more secure with it.
04:06Again, no other phone out there, including the iPhone or any other phone, has this right now.
04:11So if this is all making you seriously consider adding the Galaxy S26 to your cart,
04:15you're probably going to want a case to go with it.
04:17And if you want something heavy-duty, I'd definitely go with Subcase.
04:22They're the ones sponsoring this video.
04:23My personal favorite is the UB Grip.
04:25It's got military-grade protection with raised edges around the screen and cameras,
04:29so drops from up to 15 feet are not a problem.
04:33Plus, it's also got an anti-slip texture that makes the phone feel way more secure in your hand.
04:38But what I really like is the adjustable kickstand.
04:40You can prop it up in portrait or landscape and just watch content hands-free.
04:45And yes, of course, it supports MagSafe too, so you can magnetically snap on
04:49chargers and accessories without any issues.
04:53And yeah, lots of color options to pick from and different materials as well,
04:56including aramid and brown leather.
04:59My other go-to is the UB Pro Mag.
05:01Same level of durability, but this one has a multi-layer design
05:04and even comes with a front shell that already has a built-in screen protector.
05:09So your display actually stays scratch-free.
05:12Even better, it also includes a belt clip holster,
05:14which is super handy for quick access to the phone.
05:17And yep, it's also got a kickstand and MagSafe support too.
05:20Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of these cases.
05:23Personally, I'm leaning more towards the UB Grip,
05:26but I'll drop links down below so you can check them all out.
05:28Back to those exclusive features found on the S26.
05:31One new trick that I like too is that they made editing photos just way easier now.
05:35So after you take a shot,
05:37you can just tap this little star icon down below within the gallery app
05:41and it'll open up Photo Assist.
05:43And from there, you can literally type out what you want to change.
05:46Like here's a photo of a cake that we took and we had it fill in the missing slice
05:50and it did it really well.
05:52You can also tell it to remove stuff too, swap out the background,
05:55pretty much whatever you can think of.
05:57It's super powerful, but also ridiculously easy to use.
06:00No more needing to be a Photoshop expert just to make your pictures look good.
06:04From there, Bixby is also getting a lot more useful.
06:07It understands context way more naturally now,
06:09so you can just talk to it like a normal person and it'll get things done faster.
06:14Like instead of digging through settings forever,
06:16you can just say, my eyes feel strained.
06:19And boom, it'll suggest display tweaks
06:21or maybe a blue light filter that you can enable.
06:24It basically helps you find features and settings that you didn't even know existed.
06:28That's something that a lot of people struggle with that aren't very tech savvy,
06:32especially on this beefy software like One UI.
06:36Now, on the other hand, you have iPhone, which has Siri,
06:38which just kind of feels behind too, especially on the AI aspect.
06:42Then we have ocean mode.
06:44If you ever tried to take photos underwater,
06:46you know everything ends up looking really blue and totally washed out.
06:49That's just what water does to light.
06:51But this new mode found in the camera app under Expert Raw can actually fix those colors
06:56so your photos look more natural and vibrant
06:59instead of looking like you dipped your phone in a bottle of blue Gatorade.
07:03Scuba divers are going to love this.
07:05Then from there, the Galaxy S26 also made it a lot easier to scan documents
07:09right when you open the camera app.
07:11I mean, you just point the camera at a document
07:13and it automatically detects what's in front of you and lets you scan it instantly.
07:17And on top of that, it also automatically removes your fingers that are holding the page,
07:22any weird shadows or even creases in the paper.
07:25It works surprisingly well.
07:27Plus, you can combine multiple pages into one clean PDF.
07:30And the best part is that it all feels really instant.
07:34No more manually adjusting corners or messing around,
07:36trying to crop things perfectly.
07:38It really just handles it.
07:39It's great because I'm tired of relying on the sketchy third-party scanner apps.
07:43Then from there, Samsung also talked about how Audio Eraser
07:46is going to work inside third-party apps like YouTube, Netflix, Instagram,
07:51all that good stuff, which is awesome.
07:53If you're not familiar, Audio Eraser is basically this video editing tool
07:56that lets you tweak different audio elements on the fly.
07:59Like you can strip out background noise and just isolate voices
08:03or turn down the wind but keep the band playing in the background.
08:07Stuff like that.
08:07And now it works in most other apps too.
08:09You can just swipe down and tap this Audio Eraser Quick Settings tile.
08:14And from there, you can adjust how much background noise you want gone.
08:17Pretty wild, but great.
08:18And yeah, iPhones still don't have anything like this at all.
08:21And then there's this new app Samsung made called Creative Studio.
08:25It lets you generate all kinds of stuff.
08:27Stickers, invitations, greeting cards, profile pictures, even wallpapers.
08:32Like here, I was making a sticker, picking a style,
08:35and then I just typed in whatever came to my mind at the moment,
08:38which was a pencil with a face.
08:41And it just made it.
08:42Then I took it even further and created a whole sticker set
08:45with different emotions for that pencil.
08:48Honestly, it's fun to play around with.
08:50I also threw in my own photo and made sticker sets with my face
08:53that actually looked just like me.
08:55It's surprisingly powerful.
08:57iPhones have something similar called Playground,
08:59which also lets you generate art with prompts and style suggestions.
09:03But I'd say Samsung's version just gives you way more control.
09:06Next up is auto framing.
09:08And this one's a big deal if you shoot a lot of video.
09:11Basically, what it does is the Ultra uses its 8K sensor
09:14to intelligently crop down to 4K
09:16while keeping your subject in focus with face tracking.
09:19Plus, for the first time, the S26 Ultra now also supports
09:23Samsung's video codec known as Advanced Professional Video, or APV.
09:28And with this new codec, you'll have virtually lossless video quality,
09:31and they still support it at up to 8K resolution.
09:34For content creators, this is going to be huge.
09:37The Galaxy S26 also has better call scam detection,
09:40meaning in real time, it'll let you know
09:42if someone on the other side of the phone
09:44is trying to take advantage of you.
09:45How it does it is it uses AI to listen in on patterns
09:49that sound like scams.
09:50And if something feels off,
09:52like they're asking for your banking info or passwords,
09:54it'll pop up a big red warning sign right in front of you
09:58so that way you can take action
09:59and maybe just end the call altogether.
10:01It's similar to what the Pixels have.
10:03Super handy, especially for older folks
10:05who just might be more vulnerable to these type of scams.
10:08Oh, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra finally got a charging speed bump.
10:13Wired charging now supports up to 60 watts,
10:15which means you can go from 0 to 75% in around 30 minutes.
10:20Sure, there are some phones out there
10:21that charge even faster,
10:23but when you compare it to the iPhone lineup,
10:25the Samsung still has the edge.
10:28Even the best and latest iPhone 17 Pro Max
10:30still tops out at around 40 watts.
10:33So even in perfect conditions,
10:35the iPhone 17 just can't refill as fast.
10:38And then wirelessly,
10:39the S26 Ultra pushes up to 25 watts this time around,
10:43which is on par with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
10:46I also gotta say,
10:47I also really like the new design on the entire S26 lineup.
10:50They didn't go crazy changing everything,
10:52but they refined it.
10:54It's slimmer than ever.
10:55Actually, even thinner than the iPhone 17 Pro Max,
10:58which I like.
10:58And then there's this new camera island
11:00that pulls all the lenses together really nicely.
11:03The colors too aren't anything super flashy too,
11:05but I think they look a lot cleaner
11:07than the bright orange on the iPhone 17.
11:10Plus, they upgraded the cooling system too
11:12with a bigger vapor chamber.
11:13I'm really excited about that.
11:15So I'm sure performance will stay strong for longer
11:17and the phone hopefully stays cooler during heavier use.
11:21So yeah, those are the 15 new features on the Galaxy S26
11:25that kind of make the iPhone feel like it's playing catch up.
11:28It's not hard to see why the S26 Ultra
11:30just feels more advanced in the areas that actually matter,
11:34like smarter AI,
11:35legit next level privacy with that display,
11:38better customization and faster charging.
11:40For those curious, the Ultra is actually starting at $1,300.
11:44Then you have the S26 Plus coming in at $1,100
11:48and the base model S26 starting at $900.
11:51Again, if you're thinking about pre-ordering one,
11:53I'll leave an affiliate link down below
11:54so you can grab it and support the channel too.
11:56And hey, if you want to keep watching,
11:58tap this video right here to check out
11:59some insane One UI software features
12:01or tap this one to see some new tech gadgets
12:04that you're probably going to want immediately.
12:06Drop a thumbs up if you enjoyed this video
12:08and I'll catch you guys in the next one.
12:10Kapow!