- Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with a new privacy screen
- Some users complain of eye fatigue and nausea.
- Other Galaxy S226 Ultra owners see no problem
Samsung’s 2026 flagship phone received plenty of praise in our Galaxy S26 Ultra review, but we’re seeing a significant volume of complaints about one of its biggest selling points: the privacy screen that hides what’s on the screen from those around you.
This is done through a clever screen tech trick, and you can turn it on or off in the phone’s settings. However, as Android Police and others have reported, a number of users think the display upgrade isn’t very easy on the eyes.
“The new screen makes me nauseous” claims one Reddit user who is returning their Galaxy S26 Ultra handset, while others complain of eye strain or find the screen blurry compared to their previous smartphone’s screen.
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However, this obviously doesn’t affect everyone – as you’ll see if you scroll through these Reddit threads, some users have no issues with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s screen, and we didn’t see any issues when reviewing the device ourselves. In fact, the response over the phone has been very positive overall.
Compromised screen quality?
Since most people say they don’t notice anything unusual on the Galaxy S26 Ultra screen after turning off privacy mode, I guess there’s no point in continuing this discussion. All I can say is: good luck to everyone. Hopefully when you upgrade to the S27 Ultra, S28 Ultra or…March 9, 2026
Some of the biggest tipsters on
Samsung hasn’t shared too many details about how Privacy Display works, but it essentially limits the light emitted by individual pixels. This means that the screen (or parts of it) can only be seen directly in front of it.
Even with the Privacy Display turned off (which is the default setting), there have been complaints on Samsung’s forums and social media about a degradation in screen quality – perhaps a necessary trade-off for the option of additional privacy.
It’s worth remembering that there were similar eye strain complaints when Apple rolled out its Liquid Glass update for iOS, although those complaints appear to have subsided in the months since iOS 26’s initial rollout.
Either way, Samsung’s new display technology seems to affect different users in different ways. If you are a new Galaxy S26 Ultra owner, have you experienced eye strain? Let us know in the comments.
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