Overview
- Samsung says the preorder window ends Wednesday, March 11, with boosted trade-in values up to $900 on the S26 Ultra, accessory credits, and double-storage upgrades slated to wind down afterward.
- Regional offers stack on top of Samsung’s incentives, including up to $700 off through Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone in Australia and free Galaxy Watch bundles from Sky Mobile in the UK on closing-time contracts.
- Samsung reported 1.35 million preorders in South Korea between Feb. 27 and March 5, with about 70% for the Ultra, a premium-heavy mix achieved during a shorter booking window than last year.
- Independent analyses show the Privacy Display uses mixed pixel types that sharply cut side-angle visibility when active, and microscope and brightness tests indicate visible differences versus S25 Ultra even when turned off; Samsung acknowledges viewing variations at certain angles and high brightness.
- Reviewers also flag a heavy software load, with Android Authority reporting that system files and preinstalled third-party apps occupy over 40GB on a clean S26 Ultra setup.