"Call a taxi for me"...Galaxy S26 makes AI easier to use, targets 800 million devices

"Galaxy Unpacked 2026" Held in San Francisco, United States
Proactive AI Agents Offer Help in Everyday Life
Prices Are Up...But Hardware Performance Is Optimized for AI

Samsung Electronics, which is ushering in the era of AI phones, has unveiled the next-level, upgraded Galaxy S26 series. The Galaxy S26 adds a wide range of features that provide practical help in daily life and bring users' imagination to life. Although prices for each model have been raised by about 99,000 won to 295,900 won compared to the previous generation, the company has doubled the number of Galaxy AI-enabled devices it plans to distribute this year versus last year.

At the "Galaxy Unpacked 2026" event held in San Francisco, USA, on the 25th (local time), Roh Taemoon, President and Head of the DX Division, is introducing the Galaxy S26 series. Provided by Samsung Electronics.

"AI that understands me"...Easy and intuitive to use

On the morning of the 25th (local time), Samsung Electronics held the "Galaxy Unpacked 2026" event in San Francisco, USA, and unveiled the Galaxy S26 series, which consists of the standard, Plus, and Ultra models. Roh Taemoon, President and Head of the DX Division, said, "The Galaxy S26 series is a product that allows anyone to use AI easily and intuitively, based on powerful hardware." The venue was packed with international media and invited influencers who came to see Samsung's next-generation Galaxy devices, which bring together the company's full technological capabilities.

The area Samsung focused on most this time is "Agentic AI." Through Agentic AI, the company has presented a vision of enabling users to leverage AI functions in their daily lives easily and conveniently. Agentic AI goes beyond chatbots that simply provide answers and instead performs requested tasks and delivers information based on the user's data. In particular, Galaxy S26 users can now use AI technology intuitively, without having to learn in advance how to use AI or think through its usage in their heads.

First, Gemini, Google's AI model built into the Galaxy S26, has become even smarter. When a user presses the right-side button and gives a voice command such as "Call a taxi to Incheon Airport," the phone automatically launches taxi service applications (apps) like Uber or Kakao T and performs the requested task. Going forward, Samsung plans to apply this functionality to food delivery apps such as Baemin and to online shopping malls as well.

Image editing features have also become more sophisticated and advanced thanks to AI technology. Whereas previously users could simply erase a specific subject or generate an object, the Galaxy S26 now allows them to freely transform photos and realize images from their imagination. Even if a user forgets to take a photo of their food for their social media account and takes a bite first, there is no need to worry. With a single command such as "Restore the food to its original state," they can obtain an image that has been seamlessly restored.

Another notable feature is that users can now select the AI model they want. From Samsung's own model, Bixby, to Gemini and Perplexity, users can choose whichever AI agent they prefer. They can easily launch an AI agent by pressing the side button or using a voice command.

In particular, the new Bixby-based "Now Nudge" function has been added this time. For example, if a friend asks via the KakaoTalk messenger for photos from a recent trip to Australia, a "Share photos" icon appears under the message input field, and with a single tap, the user can select and share the Australia trip photos from their gallery. In addition to the photo gallery, apps such as Calendar, Contacts, Samsung Wallet, and Toss are also suggested through the Now Nudge feature based on the conversation content. By using these proactively operating AI agents, users are spared the hassle of switching between multiple apps or manually searching for information one by one.

Despite price hikes...8 billion-unit sales target backed by hardware confidence

Due to higher component costs, including the application processor (AP) that serves as the "brain of the smartphone," Samsung has increased the factory price of the Galaxy S26 by 99,000 won to 295,900 won per model compared to the previous generation. However, the company has set this year's cumulative sales target for Galaxy AI devices at the 800 million-unit level, signaling its confidence by aiming to double the cumulative Galaxy AI device sales of 400 million units recorded through last year.

Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy S26 Ultra on the 25th (local time). Photo by Kim Bokyung

Samsung's confidence stems from the significantly upgraded hardware performance that underpins its AI capabilities. In particular, the "Snapdragon 8 Elite 5th Gen" AP installed in the Galaxy S26 Ultra model has been optimized for AI tasks, with the neural processing unit (NPU) improving by 39%, and the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) performance increasing by 19% and 24%, respectively, compared to the previous generation.

The brighter camera lens also enhances the "Nightography" feature, delivering clean results in low-light environments such as dark nights. The Ultra model is the first mobile phone to be equipped with a "Privacy Display" that can limit the screen's visibility from the side, thereby strengthening privacy protection.

The Galaxy S26 series will be rolled out sequentially in more than 120 countries worldwide, including Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, and India, starting from March 11. In Korea, pre-orders will run for seven days from February 27 to March 5. The color lineup includes white, black, "Cobalt Violet," and "Sky Blue," and two exclusive colors, "Pink Gold" and "Silver Shadow," will also be available only through Samsung.com and Samsung Gangnam. Prices start at 1,254,000 won for the standard model (256GB), 1,452,000 won for the Plus, and 1,797,400 won for the Ultra.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.