A real-world look at the rear cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. | Image by Sahil Karoul
While there are still a few days left until the Galaxy S26 series launches, we already know most of the specifications and features that the devices will offer. Honestly speaking, other than the privacy display feature of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, none of the leaked details of any upcoming Galaxy phones sound exciting to me. Interestingly, this particular feature is so exceptional that many Chinese smartphone makers are reportedly thinking of adopting it in their phones.
Upcoming Chinese flagship phones could feature a privacy display-like capability
First, let's address the elephant in the room – what exactly is the privacy display feature in the Galaxy S26 Ultra? If you have been following our coverage on the upcoming Galaxy lineup, you probably already know about this upcoming ability of the Ultra model.
In case you are hearing about it for the first time, you can understand it as an alternative to the privacy screen protectors that we often install on our smartphones. Similar to those protectors, the feature will make sure that the screen appears completely black to anyone who tries to sneak a peek at your smartphone to check out the content you are looking at.
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Just a few days ago, we reported that Apple is planning to adopt this feature in MacBooks that will be launched in 2029. Now, a post from reliable tipster Digital Chat Station suggests that upcoming Chinese flagship smartphones expected to come out around September this year could feature their own kind of privacy display-like capability.
Digital Chat Station post on Weibo. | Image by Weibo
The post further mentions that the feature will work at the hardware level, indicating that manufacturers will rely on display technology to reduce visibility from off angles. This is the same approach Samsung is using in its upcoming Ultra model.
For reference, the privacy display feature relies on new OLED panel hardware called Flex Magic Pixel, which is believed to be exclusive to the Ultra variant. This is likely the reason why this feature won't be available on other models in the upcoming Galaxy S lineup.
Which Chinese flagship smartphones could launch around September?
September is still months away, so it would be a bit hard to say with certainty which Chinese phones could launch around that time frame. However, if I have to take a wild guess, we could see the launch of the Xiaomi 18 and the vivo x500 series sometime around September this year. I am saying so because their respective predecessors (Xiaomi 17 and vivo x300) were unveiled around the same time the previous year.
Other than these, we could also expect the launch of the OnePlus 16, Honor Magic 10 series, iQOO 16, Oppo Find X10 lineup, and a few other Chinese flagships around the same time. It will be interesting to see which or how many of these upcoming devices actually come up with their own privacy display-like capability.
Do you think features like privacy display will become a main selling point for smartphones in the future?
Actually a must-have feature
These days, every other smartphone comes with incredible specifications. That's why innovative features like privacy displays have become really important, and I believe this is what will act as a differentiator in upcoming phones. The best part about it is the number of customization options it will reportedly offer, instead of simply protecting you from shoulder surfers, which a third-party privacy screen protector could also do.
Leaked images suggest that you would be able to configure it to make the entire screen invisible from off angles or even a particular part of the screen, like the notification pop-up area. Sahil Karoul, who is a popular tech YouTuber, also recently shared a video of this upcoming feature in action. The video suggests that there will reportedly be two options: the basic privacy display and maximum privacy protection.
Samsung will definitely talk a lot about this at the Galaxy Unpacked event, which is going to happen on February 25. All that said, I am really looking forward to seeing this tech getting adopted in more smartphones. I'm a Pixel fan, so I really hope that Google also comes up with something similar in its upcoming Pixel series.
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Aman Kumar is a tech news writer with a long-standing passion for smartphones. Aman specializes in everything smartphones, from AI features like Pixel’s Camera Coach to understanding ideal hardware combinations. He loves breaking down complex features in a simple, clear way and hopes manufacturers bring back bold designs like the Nokia N-Gage. When he’s not writing, he’s either gaming on PUBG or talking fitness as a dedicated gym enthusiast.
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