Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Billed as First ‘Agentic AI Phone’—Here’s What That Means

Samsung CEO TM Roh stepped onto a San Francisco phase Wednesday, presented the Galaxy S26 line of phones, and stated something no phone maker has actually stated before.

” Think of a phone that expects your requirements before you even recognize them,” he stated. “A phone that discovers your routines and adapts in genuine time. A phone that acts in your place. This is the agentic AI phone.”

That sounds fascinating, however what does “agentic AI phone” in fact imply– and why should anybody care?

Up previously, AI in phones has actually been reactive. You ask, it addresses. Agentic AI is various. It acts in your place, throughout apps, without you doing the tapping or talking. Think about the distinction in between an online search engine and an individual assistant who in fact books the dining establishment after you point out that you’re starving.

That shift seems like the important things every tech business has actually been chasing after considering that Siri released on Apple’s iPhone four back in 2011– and yes, Siri was probably the very first genuine effort at an agentic phone experience. You were expected to simply talk with your phone and have it do things. All these years later on, we’re not rather there yet, however Samsung and Google are the ones attempting to develop it.

This is likewise what a wave of AI hardware start-ups invested the last 2 years attempting– and stopping working– to do. The Humane AI Pin released in late 2023 for $699 plus a $24 regular monthly membership, got ruined in evaluations, offered hardly 10,000 systems, and wound up gotten by HP for $116 million– a portion of its $1 billion evaluation.

The Bunny R1, a $199 pocket AI buddy that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called the most remarkable tech demonstration considering that Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone, delivered to genuine users and underwhelmed practically everybody. Both gadgets shared the exact same core pitch: your phone can’t do agentic AI, so you require a devoted gadget. Ends up, the phone simply required much better software application.

Samsung now states it’s providing precisely what those gizmos assured– not with a brand-new piece of hardware you need to bring along with your phone, however through a software application layer baked straight into a gadget you currently own.

The engine behind the Galaxy S26’s agentic functions is Google’s Gemini– particularly a brand-new ability where the AI opens apps in a virtual background window and browses them while you do something else completely.

At the Unpacked occasion, Google’s Samir Samat revealed a demonstration: The household group chat floods in with pizza demands, Gemini checks out the thread, determines everybody’s order, opens DoorDash, develops the cart, and waits on your handbook tap before in fact verifying. Your phone remains functional the entire time.

At launch, that works for DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber, Kroger, Walmart, and other picked apps in a really list. It’s presenting initially as a restricted sneak peek in the U.S. and South Korea, with more apps to come.

Calling it a beta would be precise– Google is clearly gathering feedback from S26 users. The essential guardrail: Gemini never ever strikes “validate” or “pay” without your last tap. You can likewise see it operate in actual time if you do not trust it to run not being watched, which, reasonable.

Alongside Gemini, Samsung is generating Perplexity as a 2nd system-level representative. Perplexity, which expenses itself as an “response engine” instead of a chatbot, will be available by means of a wake expression or a side-button faster way on the S26.

Inside Samsung’s web internet browser, Perplexity’s Ask AI function can sweep throughout all your open tabs and current searching history concurrently to address a research study concern without you leaping in between sources. Samsung states almost 80% of users currently depend on more than 2 AI representatives daily– which is the useful validation for providing both rather of choosing one.

There’s likewise a brand-new Bixby, the AI assistant that Samsung declines to let pass away. It has actually been revamped to exceed basic command executions and run based upon context understanding. Bixby now comprehends natural language all right that you can state “My eyes injured after taking a look at the screen,” and it’ll open the brightness settings instantly. It likewise pulls live details straight into your discussion without kicking you out to another app. Whether individuals will in fact utilize Bixby this time is a different discussion.

Beyond the agentic things, the AI function list for the S26 is long. “Now Quick” is a tailored everyday absorb– it proactively surface areas your dining establishment appointments pulled from alert history, schedule disputes, and energy levels, even for occasions you never ever by hand contributed to a calendar. “Call Screening” recognizes unidentified callers and summarizes their intent before you get. A brand-new “Push” function discovers context in a chat– if somebody asks if you’re complimentary this weekend, it brings your calendar to you inside the message thread rather of making you change apps.

” Picture Assist” lets you explain something missing out on from a shot and Galaxy AI includes it in. The front cam likewise now utilizes an AI image signal processor for sharper information on selfies, while night video gets cleaner grain decrease. The S26 Ultra shoots 8K video utilizing the brand-new APV codec, which supports near-lossless quality so video endures several rounds of modifying. The entire cam pipeline leans greatly on AI at the hardware level.

On competitors: Apple has actually been assuring a smarter Siri considering that a minimum of 2024 and still hasn’t provided the functions it revealed. Google’s own Pixel 10 will get the exact same Gemini agentic functions– however Samsung ships initially, in far bigger volumes, to much more nations. No other phone maker is presently utilizing the word “agentic” to explain its item. Samsung got the label. Whether the tech huge makes it long-lasting depends upon how quick the beta broadens.

However the real standout from Wednesday wasn’t the AI. It was a piece of screen hardware that privacy-conscious individuals will value: an integrated personal privacy screen that lets you manage whether observers can in fact see what you’re doing on your phone.

It works like this: a “black matrix” layer physically narrows the course of light from each pixel so just the individual sitting tight can see what’s on screen. Those enjoying at an angle get absolutely nothing however pitch black, as if the screen is off. Somebody beside you on the train sees absolutely nothing.

Unlike the plastic personal privacy movies that have actually existed for several years and make your screen completely darker and more difficult to share, this one toggles on and off. You can use it just to particular apps– banking remains personal, for instance, however your video games do not– or simply to the alert bar, so an individual beside you can see the majority of your screen however not your inbound messages.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, beginning at $1,299, is the only phone on the planet with this function constructed into the screen hardware. Pre-orders open today; shipping begins March 11. The basic Galaxy S26 begins at $899, while the bigger Galaxy S26 Plus will cost $1,099.