Is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen actually brighter than the S25 Ultra?
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen is the centrepiece of Samsung’s latest flagship, featuring a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel rated at up to 2,600 nits peak brightness. That spec sheet sounds impressive — until independent lab tests put it side by side with last year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and find it coming up short. According to Tom’s Guide lab testing, the S26 Ultra records an overall peak brightness of 1,806 nits, compared to 1,860 nits on the S25 Ultra. For a company that has traditionally improved display brightness year over year, that is an awkward result to explain away.
The gap extends beyond peak brightness. In auto-brightness mode, the S26 Ultra measures 1,209 nits against the S25 Ultra’s 1,231 nits. In SDR adaptive brightness with the extra brightness toggle off, the difference is even more pronounced: 366 nits on the S26 Ultra versus 428 nits on the S25 Ultra. Switch the extra brightness on and the gap widens further — 574 nits versus 760 nits. None of these differences will ruin your day, but they are consistent enough to form a pattern rather than measurement noise.
Where the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen genuinely improves
Brightness is not the whole story, and it would be unfair to reduce this display to a single metric. The S26 Ultra uses an M14 panel, stepping up from the M13 panel in the S25 Ultra. That newer panel delivers a meaningful upgrade in colour reproduction — gradients between black and white, both horizontal and vertical, render more smoothly, and colour banding that was visible on the S25 Ultra is noticeably reduced. Circles and curved UI elements also appear smoother on the S26 Ultra’s panel, which matters for everyday readability even if it does not show up in a brightness chart.
So the picture is genuinely mixed. If you spend most of your time watching content, browsing, or gaming indoors, the S26 Ultra’s display improvements in colour accuracy and gradient rendering may be more relevant to your experience than the brightness delta. The regression is real, but it is not the full review.
The Privacy Display problem nobody warned you about
Here is where the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen story takes a genuinely surprising turn. The S26 Ultra introduces a Privacy Display feature designed to limit what people at side angles can see on your screen. In theory, that is a useful feature for commuters and open-plan offices. In practice, activating it at maximum brightness drops the display to around 586 nits — a figure Tom’s Guide describes as trading a flagship viewing experience for a mid-range one. For context, that is barely above the Moto G Power (2025), a budget device that measures 521 nits.
The visual impact is hard to miss. With Privacy Display active, the screen takes on a grayish cast that looks noticeably worse than the S25 Ultra under the same conditions. The feature that was supposed to add value ends up being one of the clearest illustrations of the brightness compromise. Samsung has not publicly addressed the gap between its internal lab claims of brightness improvements and the independent measurements that contradict them. Until it does, buyers should treat the 2,600 nits rating as a ceiling, not a typical experience.
Should the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen put you off upgrading?
The honest answer depends on what you are upgrading from. If you are moving from the S25 Ultra, the dimmer peak and auto-brightness readings are a genuine step backward, and the colour improvements — real as they are — may not justify the trade-off for users who spend significant time outdoors. The viewing angle performance and anti-reflectivity also show some regression compared to the S25 Ultra in visual tests.
If you are coming from an older Samsung flagship or a different Android device, the S26 Ultra’s display is still excellent by any reasonable standard. A panel that peaks above 1,800 nits in lab conditions is not a dim screen — it is a very good screen that happens to be fractionally outshone by its own predecessor. The colour accuracy gains are real, and for most indoor use cases, you will not notice the brightness difference at all.
Is the S26 Ultra display brighter than the S25 Ultra?
No, independent lab tests show the opposite. Tom’s Guide measured the S26 Ultra at 1,806 nits peak brightness versus 1,860 nits on the S25 Ultra, with similar gaps in auto-brightness and SDR modes. Samsung’s official 2,600 nits rating applies to both phones and represents peak conditions, not typical use.
What does the Privacy Display feature do to screen brightness?
Activating Privacy Display on the S26 Ultra significantly reduces brightness, dropping to around 586 nits in Tom’s Guide testing. This limits what people at side angles can see but makes the screen look noticeably dimmer and grayer, comparable to a mid-range phone rather than a flagship.
Does the S26 Ultra have better colour accuracy than the S25 Ultra?
Yes, the S26 Ultra’s newer M14 panel delivers improved colour reproduction, smoother gradients, and reduced colour banding compared to the S25 Ultra’s M13 panel. This is a genuine improvement that benefits content consumption and everyday readability, even if peak brightness has regressed slightly.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screen is not the straightforward upgrade Samsung’s marketing implies — but it is not a disaster either. The brightness regression is real and measurable, the Privacy Display feature extracts a steep price in luminance, and S25 Ultra owners have a legitimate reason to pause before upgrading. But the colour accuracy improvements are equally real, and for anyone not comparing spec sheets, this remains one of the best displays on any Android phone available today. Know what you are buying, and you will not be disappointed.
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Edited by the All Things Geek team.
Source: TechRadar
