As a London commuter, I’m excited for the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display tech — and Samsung’s new video just showed how it works

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Keep it secret, keep it safe

An edited version of an alleged official render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
(Image credit: Evan Blass)

As a long-time commuter, there’s always a bit of worry that people will be reading your phone over your shoulder. However, Samsung’s latest phone feature could be a real game-changer, especially if it turns up on the Galaxy S26 Ultra as predicted.

We’ve heard a lot about Samsung’s Privacy Display tech in recent weeks, including a leaked teaser that gave some idea how the feature would work, including making the screen darker when looked at from the wrong angle. However, Samsung has now released a trailer on YouTube that gives us a much better look at how you can use Privacy Display, and how seemingly easy it is to activate.

We don’t scroll and tell | Samsung - YouTube We don’t scroll and tell | Samsung - YouTube
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The video shows a young person sitting on a train with two people on either side, while reading what looks like quite a steamy novel. When one person looks over their shoulder, the phone user quickly activates a “zero-peeking privacy” switch that turns the phone black from the perspective of the shoulder-surfer

How does Samsung’s new feature work?

Having spent much of my life on the London Underground, I have a lot of experience dealing with trying to hide my phone screen for various reasons. The problem is that, while trying to do so, the result often includes making it harder for me to see the screen as well. I could invest in a third-party privacy screen protector, but I've seen numerous kinds of these in my previous life as a phone repair technician, and invariably they negatively affect the quality of the screen.

This is where Samsung’s new technology would come into play, using a proprietary FlexMagic Pixel OLED technology to restrict viewing angles. As was noted by my colleague John Velasco, there are some concerns that Samsung will need to address with the addition of this technology, including the impact on screen brightness. But hopefully, by designing the new display from the ground up, Samsung will have figured out ways to avoid the obvious pitfalls.

Even if there are noticeable quality drops with Privacy Display enabled, the feature appears to be a fully optional one, meaning that you don’t ever have to turn it on if you don’t want to. Samsung has also indicated that you can select the apps that it will work for, to ensure most content is completely unaffected.

We don’t have long to wait for the final release of the Galaxy S26 series, with the event set for February 25, so let us know what you’re excited for in the next generation of Samsung phones.

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Josh Render
Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer. 

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