Overview
- Samsung says the S26 line’s U.S. preorders are up nearly 25% versus last year, with the Ultra accounting for about 80% of reservations.
- Major carriers report more than a 70% increase in preorders, and retailers such as Best Buy cite over double the prior generation’s volumes.
- Preorders close today ahead of broad retail availability on March 11 across channels in the United States.
- Samsung’s first S26 firmware (S94xBXXS1AZC7, ~563MB) is expanding beyond Korea to markets including India, bringing the February 2026 security patch and an Inactivity Restart option.
- Microscopy tests show the Ultra’s Privacy Display disables roughly half the pixels when active and uses a different pixel layout even when off, while separate reviews flag over 40GB used by system and preinstalled third‑party apps on a clean Ultra.