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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Samsung unveils a Privateness Show filter at Unpacked.
- The filter protects screens from prying eyes and might be turned off as wanted.
- The Galaxy S26 Extremely is the one mannequin up to now to characteristic this innovation.
Let’s be trustworthy, a lot of the updates to the brand new Galaxy S26 collection of telephones throughout Samsung Unpacked had been iterative. There have been no main digital camera enhancements, no ultra-powerful battery, no groundbreaking AI options. However one factor stood out: Samsung launched the Privateness Show characteristic on the S26 Extremely, and it simply could be the most vital smartphone innovation in years.
Additionally: Samsung Unpacked 2026 dwell recap: Galaxy S26 Extremely, Privateness Show, preorder offers, extra
The Privateness Show characteristic allows you to learn the display clearly once you take a look at your cellphone straight on, whereas stopping others close by from studying it. The very best half? You may flip the Privateness Show off everytime you need to share what you are taking a look at with others.
I have been a fan of privateness display filters since I had a BlackBerry within the 2000s, after I was in school and did not need everybody round me taking a look at my display. Even all these years later, privateness filters hold folks on the bus, practice, or a aircraft from peering into your cellphone.
Whereas I nonetheless recognize a privateness filter, it turns into annoying after I need to present my husband a reel or let my youngsters see a video of a fox in our yard from the evening earlier than.
Privateness Show’s finest trick
That is exactly why the Samsung S26 Extremely’s Privateness Show characteristic is so excellent: you possibly can flip it on at any time, conserving your data away from prying eyes or sharing it everytime you need.
Additionally: Each Samsung Galaxy S26 mannequin in contrast: Do you have to purchase the bottom, Plus, or Extremely?
You may even use the characteristic with particular apps in order that the Privateness Show solely engages once you open a sure app or obtain a notification from it. For those who get a notification from an app on the Privateness Show listing, solely that notification will likely be shaded when seen from the aspect.
Samsung says that the Privateness Show allows you to management your show based mostly on once you need to share, not what you need to hold non-public. To attain the characteristic, Samsung created the Black Matrix, a know-how that narrows the trail of the sunshine emitted by every pixel in your S26 Extremely’s show.
Additionally: Get the brand new Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus without spending a dime at Verizon – here is how
The display options slender and large pixels. When Privateness Show is on, the slender pixels function the first mild supply; when Privateness Show is off, each slender and large pixels illuminate the display. Slim pixels have rings round them that make them seen solely when seen from the entrance, whereas large pixels might be seen from all angles.
Privateness Show vs. display protectors
It is easy to attract comparisons between the brand new Privateness Show characteristic and traditional privateness display protectors, however the former bypasses the largest flaw of these adhesive sheets of plastic and glass: picture high quality.
As my colleague Kerry Wan found when testing privateness display protectors final yr, the bodily layering in your cellphone display tends to clean out colours and scale back general brightness. It additionally weakens the contact level the place you’d register your fingerprint for unlocking the cellphone or logging into apps.
With Samsung’s built-in show, it efficient nullifies all of these trade-offs.
Backside line
If it really works as Samsung guarantees, the Privateness Show characteristic might turn into the brand new normal for cellphone producers to achieve within the coming years. For the remainder of us non-S26 Extremely customers, we’ll proceed making do with privateness filters, smoothing out bubbles and dirt particles on the display throughout set up, and tilting our display utterly when attempting to indicate somebody a TikTok.
