In summary:
- Tech Advisor reports the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra faces significant launch problems with its Privacy Display causing user eye strain, nausea, and headaches.
- The device’s 25W wireless charging proves difficult to achieve, requiring specific Samsung accessories, with some official cases limiting speeds to 15W.
- These hardware issues impact the overall user experience and may affect the flagship smartphone’s market reception.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra launch isn’t going quite as smoothly as Samsung would have hoped, with fresh claims of a key upgrade not working as advertised.
The latest is that the S26 Ultra’s newfangled 25W wireless charging support isn’t quite proving to be as useful as hoped. It turns out that most Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra users aren’t able to access these elevated wireless charging speeds.
We’ve already had our grumble about Qi2 being skipped, and this situation seems to illustrate part of the problem. If you want to hit full 25W wireless charging on the Ultra, Samsung recommends that you assemble a first-party magnetic wireless charger, a 45W travel adapter, and an official magnetic case to ensure the necessary alignment.
As one Reddit post noted, third-party cases from popular accessory maker Dbrand seem to throw off the Ultra’s wireless charging speeds. As the brand itself notes, however, even some of Samsung’s own accessories don’t permit the Ultra to hit full wireless speed, despite seemingly being capable on paper.
Luke Baker
Using Samsung’s own Silicone Magnet, Clear Magnet, Rugged Magnet, and Slim Magnet cases, Dbrand was unable to exceed 15W wireless charging speeds.
It’s been a rocky start for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Earlier in the month, we reported on claims that the phone’s main upgrade, its Privacy Display, was causing some users visual discomfort.
Reporting from some quarters points out that not only has the overall brightness of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display dipped (even with the Privacy Display switched off), but it also effectively outputs at a lower resolution than the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Not only that, but the changes to sub-pixel rendering brought about by Samsung’s clever new anti-shoulder-peeping technology is reportedly affecting some users’ eyesight – a claim that Samsung itself refutes. Various Reddit threads contain people complaining and sending the phone back.
One user said it “messed with my eyes and gave me eye strain and a bit of nausea and tiny head aching.”
A $250 discount?
Samsung’s answer to these early complaints, it seems, is to pay users not to return the phone.
A conversation shared by one X user seems to show a Samsung Customer Support representative offering $250 for the customer to keep the phone – an offer that has since seemingly been rescinded.
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.