The Galaxy S26 Ultra, which comes with the world's first built-in privacy display, has impressed users with its technology. However, this new feature has also resulted in some problems that users did not expect. As a result, many are reporting issues with brightness, colour or viewing angles in certain situations.
To be clear, Galaxy S26 Ultra's built-in privacy display is not a software trick or a screen protector. The display itself uses two types of pixels. Standard pixels emit light in a wide cone. The new privacy pixels focus light straight ahead. When privacy mode is on, only these focused pixels work. This makes it hard for others to see the screen unless they are looking directly at it.
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While innovative and impressive, the privacy display affects other aspects of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, according to a report by PhoneArena.
What's Impressive?
The Galaxy S26 Ultra's privacy display offers several customisation options. Under this feature, users can choose to hide the screen only for certain apps or during sensitive actions, like entering a PIN, PhoneArena report added.
It can also hide just part of the screen. For example, when a notification appears, only the notification can be hidden while the rest of the screen stays visible. These options make the privacy display more flexible and take the technology beyond a simple on or off feature.
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Users Report Issues
According to some early reports from users, the Galaxy S26 Ultra's display strains their eyes after only a short time. This is happening even with privacy mode off.
Many users also reported that the model's short use, especially reading text, seems tiring for the eyes. The report added that a more noticeable problem is the impact of privacy mode on image quality in this model. When privacy mode is turned on, especially at the highest setting, the display looks less sharp. In this setting, colours and brightness also take a hit, making the screen less attractive to look at.
Due to these downgrades, the maximum privacy mode is useful only when you really need to hide something, like on a crowded bus. The report added that the feature is interesting but not as effective as it first seems. The angles where the screen looks completely dark are limited. Most people nearby can still see much of what's on the display, reducing the overall usefulness of the privacy mode for everyday situations.
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