There are so many reasons not to buy a new phone in 2026. For starters, our existing phones last longer than ever if we take care of them. Plus, most new phones are way too similar – not only to each other, but to last year's batch. Finally, most of us won't have our heads easily turned by yet another AI sales pitch.

But on Wednesday, at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco, the company gave us a genuinely compelling reason to consider upgrading to its new top-end flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The Ultra's killer feature has nothing to do with AI (although Samsung is still beating that drum just as loudly as every phone-maker out there). In fact, it has nothing to do with software at all. Instead, it's an innovation in hardware: a Privacy Display, which offers pixel-level privacy that prevents anyone beside you from seeing what's on your screen.

Privacy Display works in both portrait and landscape, with the screen's pixels dispersing light in a way that will darken parts of the screen if you're not looking at it straight on. You can choose whether to apply it to specific apps, to notifications or for when you're inputting PINs or passwords. Access from Quick Settings makes it easy to turn on and off on the go – if you suspect someone on the bus is reading over your shoulder, for example.

The reason the Privacy Display is such a compelling feature is that it's simple to demonstrate and offers benefits that are easy to understand, said Ben Wood, CMO and chief analyst at CCS Insight. "Unlike a secondary-market privacy screen protector affixed to the phone's display, it is not an 'all or nothing' solution," he added.

On the surface, privacy doesn't feel especially sexy as tech features go. But it is important to people. You only need to observe how central Apple has made privacy to its entire brand to see that people place significant value in technology they feel they can trust. 

For Samsung, placing privacy front and center might be a winning strategy, giving its latest flagship a genuine edge over competitors that they can't match simply by pushing out a software update. Privacy Display also elevates the Ultra even within Samsung's own wide stable of phones – and goes some way (although perhaps not all the way) towards justifying that $1,300 price tag.

"At face value, the Galaxy S26 Series devices differ little from [Samsung's] predecessors launched just over a year ago," said Wood. "Without this capability, the Galaxy S26 Ultra would have been an extremely tough sell."

Samsung might want to capitalize on this competitive advantage while it can, though. "I also expect this to become a benchmark feature over the next few years on all premium smartphones and other products, such as laptops," said Wood.

That's something to look forward to if you plan to upgrade in 2027 or beyond, but for now this is an Ultra exclusive, so you'll need to be feeling flush if you plan to be a Privacy Display early adopter.