Samsung just introduced the Galaxy S26 Ultra flagship and its anti-reflective screen to the world, like it’s some sort of breakthrough, and within a week, somebody’s already run tests showing last year’s phone does it better.

Ice Universe laid out Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S26 Ultra devices, with and without a privacy screen protector. It was all about testing the practical state of the anti-reflective screen technology of the flagships.

The primary image shared shows just a visual comparison with labels in Chinese identifying each device. The image shows four black screens laid side by side, and you can see the differences if you look closely.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra, without any screen protector on it, beat the Galaxy S26 Ultra running Samsung’s anti-reflection film. The S26 Ultra without a screen protector came in third. The S25 Ultra with a privacy screen protector came in dead last.

Image source – Ice Universe / X

The leftmost S25 Ultra without film looks the cleanest. The second device, an S26 Ultra with the official anti-reflection film applied, shows slightly more visible reflection. Third is an S26 Ultra with no film at all, and the rightmost S25 Ultra with a privacy protector looks the worst of the bunch.

The fact that the S26 Ultra needed official Samsung film just to land in second place tells you this wasn’t the victory lap the company probably hoped for.

Samsung has been pushing anti-reflective tech as a cornerstone of the Ultra experience for three generations now. You would expect the newer one to win this kind of shootout without needing accessories to carry it over the line.

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