A tech YouTuber has managed to buy what looks to be a genuine Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra ahead of the official launch this Wednesday.
He has posted several videos, including an unboxing and demonstration of the new Privacy Display feature.
Samsung will finally make its latest flagship Galaxy phones official during the Unpacked presentation scheduled for this Wednesday, 25 February. But it might not have a lot to reveal that isn't already known.
We've heard plenty of rumours about the Samsung Galaxy S26 family in recent weeks – months, even – including just about every feature that will be on the phones, as well as those that could be missing. And now we even have alleged images and a video of a 'shop-bought' Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
YouTuber Sahil Karoul claims to have been able to buy the priciest new phone in Samsung's collection and has posted his own unboxing already.
He revealed that it was bought in "Deira Market" in Dubai and that he paid 12,000 Dirhams for it – that works out around £2,416 / $3,257. It seems to have been a fairly shady deal (if you watch the Instagram post documenting the sale), and that price has a heavy markup for the early transaction, but it does look to be a genuine device.
Several images have also been posted on Karoul's X feed, as well as a video showing the new Privacy Display toggle in the settings.
And, when viewed from a side-angle, you can see the new display feature in action. Or rather, you can't see the display as that's somewhat the point – it hides what's on screen from prying eyes, even if they are sat next to you.
Samsung won't be happy that an actual Galaxy S26 Ultra has managed to get into someone's hands ahead of launch. And we suspect that there'll be an investigation on how the handset was purchased from a seemingly genuine Samsung retail outlet.
But in all likelihood, this will help raise the hype on a phone many believe to be a minor update on last year's model.
Privacy Display #SamsungS26Ultra pic.twitter.com/ucPDvdnYzrFebruary 22, 2026
There will only be a few major hardware tweaks this year, it's thought – and that's across the entire Samsung Galaxy S26 range. Most of the new capabilities will be software-driven rather than through shiny, new tech.
Samsung itself is calling the series "AI Phones" rather than smartphones, so that's what you will hear more about during the event on Wednesday. T3 will be there to report live anyway, so do come back to the site to find out more.
