I've no patience for monopoly. And I've even less patience for it as a board game, amirite? I mean, the idea of a primary seller is bleak. The lack of innovation. The price gouging. The elimination of choice. I'm more of a healthy competition kinda guy. Nothing like lower prices and quality advancement.
And it is with every keynote address given by every tech company that holds my interest. What's next on their slate and why you, as a consumer, should choose them and not the other guy? For Samsung, its recent Unpacked event shows why the tech giant remains a stubborn competitor in the industry. Kicking off the year, Samsung doles out the new Galaxy S26 Series that's imbued with its third-gen AI capabilities and the Galaxy Buds4 Series that promises a listening experience that adapts to your ears.
Comprising of the S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra, Galaxy AI now operates proactively and adaptively in the background. All your complex tasks like doomscrolling or sending off that meme your friend probably has seen before are handled quietly so users can focus on the outcomes and not sweat the small stuff (lag time).
If you think AI is on its way out, Samsung has not gotten that memo. Its betting big on its Galaxy AI, in prioritising how it anticipates needs. Features like Now Nudge surface timely suggestions like flagging calendar conflicts from a text message about a meeting. It's like having your own backseat life coach.
You can still circle an image with your finger or stylus to search and all-seeing Google will recognise multiple objects in a single picture. Samsung's personal assistant, Bixby now functions as a conversational agent, understanding natural language commands without rigid phrasing, which is great, especially when it comes to the Singlish language.
Under the hood, the Galaxy S26 Series is engineered for an all-day performance. You've your Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, which delivers significant boosts across CPU, GPU and NPU performance. Again, this is great for the Galaxy AI to work at full capacity. There's an improved thermal dissipation and Super-Fast Charging 3.0, which gets your battery to 75 per cent in just 30 minutes.
For the S26 Ultra, its wider apertures improve low-light photography and upgraded its stabilisation, even in dim or fast-moving scenarios. With the Photo Assist suite, users can do more to make edits without those bothersome hard work and years of training required to make you an expert in the field. Here, you can "describe changes in natural language". Convenient!
Now, this is our favourite bit about the S25 Ultra, it has a Privacy Display. Remember those privacy screen films that allows you to view what's on your phone and to no one else, even when they are next to you? The S25 Ultra has a hardware-software integration that controls how pixels disperse light to limit side-angle visibility and because of how embedded it is into the device, it preserves clarity and colour fidelity whenever its inactive. You can even adjust the privacy mode in the area where you get notification.
If smartphones are getting smarter by the year, it was only a matter of time before the accessories followed suit. Samsung's Galaxy Buds4 Series is proof of that. For the first time, the Buds4 Pro now has a wider woofer, expanding the effective speaker area by nearly 20 per cent over its predecessor and fuller low-end presence and cleaner treble.
The ANC features also got an upgrade with the Adaptive ANC and EQ analysing your wearing conditions and ear shape in real time, thus fine-tuning the frequency balance and noise suppression automatically. Its Super Clear Call tech improves the quality of you taking a call, especially in a crowded area, thanks to a super wideband audio and noise reduction through machine learning.
And, of course, AI has expanded into its audio ecosystem. With deeper AI integration, hands-free controls and real-time sound optimisation, these aren’t just accessories. They’re responsive companions.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Series and Galaxy S26 Series are now available for pre-orders and will go on sale 11 March 2026.
