I Tested Out Samsung's New Galaxy Releases — Here Are My Thoughts

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (512GB) ($1,300, originally $1,500)

The S26 Ultra was released to much fanfare, given some major upgrades to the flagship Samsung device — most notably, the expansive incorporation of Galaxy AI features. But first: the phone itself. It's sleek, and comes in beautiful colors like Sky Blue and Cobalt Violet. Like other Samsung phones, the camera on the S26 Ultra is extremely impressive. There's even a new low light mode that allows you to capture photos at night. We tested it out at a dinner at Filoli Gardens, and it allowed me to see the beautiful grounds way better than I could with my own eyes, as well as get a super crisp shot of the moon.

One of the more delightful new features is Privacy Display: a setting you can turn on and off that makes your screen "private" to anyone but you. My partner has a screen protector that does this, but he can never turn it off — which makes it difficult when he's trying to show me memes. This feature from Samsung allows you to turn it on when you want your screen to be visible and off when you don't (hello, anytime I'm riding a MUNI bus). Using it makes you go: why don't all phones have that?

As someone who's also admittedly a noob when it comes to AI, there were some immediate features I really appreciated about the S26. You can use Galaxy AI to do things like organize your texts, add events to your calendar, and give you a personalized daily briefing, but my favorite feature — and the one I use the most when it comes to the phone — is Photo Assist. You can simply type in what you want the AI to change about any given photo (say, erase a stranger in the background), and it works its magic. In the below example, we'd gone to the Palace of Fine Arts right around dusk, with fog descending all around us. I asked Photo Assist to change the photo to the daytime, and voilá.

Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro ($250)

I've long had issues with various headphones I've tried. I'm someone who loves to listen to rich-sounding music on my walks and runs throughout San Francisco, but I always deal with my headphones slipping out of my ears as I get sweaty. Or, I'll resort to using just one side because I want to be aware of my surroundings running through intersections on steep hills, where it can be difficult for cars to see pedestrians.

I've been using the Buds4 Pro on my longer runs and so appreciate them staying put and also allowing me to choose the Ambient setting, which allows me to hear what's going on around me while listening to my favorite running playlist. One morning, I ran from my apartment in the middle of the city down to the beach; while I was running through busy intersections, I kept my Ambient setting on, so I could hear cars approaching. Once I got to a safe path by the Bay, I put on my Active Noise Canceling setting because the wind was whipping past me. All I could hear was the smooth sound of Olivia Dean singing into my ears, encouraging me to keep going.

The buds themselves are comfy, and I haven't dealt with them slipping out of my ears. I've also found I use the Active Noise Canceling setting (which you can adjust on a scale) most at home to drown out my cat, who meows incredibly loudly when it's feeding time. Like Privacy Display, the buds give you total control of how you want to experience your tech in your surroundings, and I have to say, that authority feels good.

Samsung Galaxy Ring ($400)

As part of our trip, we were also given the Galaxy Ring to check out. San Francisco is a notoriously wellness-focused city, and despite my parents and friends using biometric health trackers, I'd never tried one myself (I told you I'm late to the party!). Most of the reason I hadn't yet tried out a tracking device was, honestly, because I was nervous. I'm health-conscious — I love to get eight hours of sleep at night, and work out almost every day — but I worried that seeing all that data could make me anxious about those nights that I don't sleep well or about the amount of steps I take every day.

The reality is that, after using the ring for even just a week, I found the data more encouraging and helpful than anxiety-inducing. Seeing my stats for various nights of sleep taught me a lot about myself that I didn't know, and it was very cool to see how my ring picked up on different kinds of workouts, from running to hot yoga.

In the end, I was convinced that tech can really improve my life, if only I let it.

Lena Felton (she/her) is a senior director of special projects at PS, where she oversees sponsored packages, tentpole projects, and editorial partnerships. Previously, she was an editor at The Washington Post, where she led a team covering issues of gender and identity. She has been working in journalism since 2017, during which time her focus has been feature writing and editing and elevating historically underrepresented voices. Lena has worked for The Atlantic, InStyle, So It Goes, and more.