Samsung S26 Launch In The UAE: How AI Adoption Shaped The New Galaxy Flagship

2026-02-26 04:18:00

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The new Samsung S26 series launched at 10pm on February 25. At a preview earlier this month, we asked a spokesperson from Samsung Gulf Electronics how the key market trends or changes in consumer behavior influenced the new flagship lineup.

Fadi Abu Shamat, Vice President and Head of Mobile eXperience at Samsung Gulf Electronics, said data from previous Galaxy devices revealed two dominant trends in the UAE market: practical AI adoption and heightened privacy awareness. He also spoke of continued price sensitivity amid global component inflation and how 2026 promises to be a defining year for Samsung.

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According to Abu Shamat, AI engagement on recent Galaxy models - beginning with the S24 and expanding through the S25 - showed that UAE users are moving beyond experimentation.

"The most-used AI features on the S25 were Circle to Search, AI Translate and AI Summary," he told Khaleej Times. That usage data signalled that consumers are integrating AI into everyday workflows rather than treating it as a one-off feature.

“The consumers really want to embrace AI in their day-to-day meaningful life,” he added.

This insight led to the development of what Samsung calls“agentic AI” in the S26 series. The company describes it as AI that actively assists with repetitive or manual tasks, helping users draft emails, summarise content, automate routine processes and reduce workload.

A key part of the strategy is on-device processing. Most AI features on the S26 are handled directly on the phone rather than in the cloud. For more processing-intensive requests, users are prompted before any data is uploaded externally.

"As AI grows, privacy becomes an even bigger concern," Abu Shamat said. "That's why S26 tackles privacy on both hardware and software levels. with the privacy screen and on-device AI processing secured by encryption."

Privacy inbuilt

The S26 has introduced what Samsung describes as the world's first integrated privacy screen built directly into the display hardware. Unlike removable screen filters, the feature is embedded at the panel level and can be activated universally, by specific apps, or even for selected portions of the screen such as notifications.

Users can choose to enable privacy for sensitive apps such as banking platforms while leaving the rest of the device unaffected. The screen prevents side-angle visibility, limiting what others can see when seated nearby.

"This is the world's first screen that offers true peace of mind and privacy to consumers. It's a hardware innovation, not an added layer you install on the device," said Abu Shamat. "It's not something that can be replicated. This is R&D patented by Samsung Display, and we're proud to be the first to showcase this technology."

Expanding the AI ecosystem

For the first time, Samsung launched a new Buds generation alongside the S series. The Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro integrate closely with the S26's AI capabilities.

The Buds 4 Pro feature a dual-driver system, upgraded microphones for noise cancellation, and a pressure-sensitive stem that distinguishes between light and firm squeezes. AI-enabled features include live translation and gesture-based controls, such as nodding to answer calls.

And this is just the start of 2026. As the year progresses, Abu Shamat promises we'll be seeing even more exciting launches.