A new 2026 roundup has the Galaxy S26 Ultra included in a list of best inventions for the year, all thanks to what it doesn’t display.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra split in a slightly different direction. Instead of a display panel treatment with an anti-gflare coating, Samsung decided to pack an entirely different feature into the panel itself.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display allows users to block certain aspects of the screen from nearby onlookers, effectively circumventing the privacy screen protector so many users opt for.

According to Time‘s “best inventions of 2026” collection, the Galaxy S26 Ultra gets its plaudits for not the phone’s performance necessarily, but the Privacy Display. The listing quotes Samsung’s SVP of Mobile Product Management, who points to its flexible nature.

It’s undoubtedly a cool piece of display tech. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display not only blocks side-angle viewing, but it can do so in isolated portions of the screen to block PIN codes or notifications that drop from the top shade in Android.

It has some drawbacks, though, as we’ve pointed out before. It can be a little inconsistent in certain lighting conditions, and sometimes screen elements can look off. But it’s cool, and a nice addition to a phone that sits at a price range we now consider more affordable than what we’re probably getting here soon.

Time ‘s piece goes on to list a couple of other familiar devices, like a lengthy segment on the iPhone Duo, propping it up rather highly.

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