Samsung‘s Galaxy S26 Ultra took home Best in Show at the 2026 GLOMO Awards during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, beating out products from over 3,000 exhibitors.
The award, handed out annually by the GSMA and judged by more than 200 analysts, journalists, and industry veterans, is one of the more credible hardware honors in mobile, as the judging panel is independent, and the criteria focus on real-world impact rather than just spec sheets.
The phone won on March 4, and the judges were specific about what pushed it over the line. The headline feature is a built-in Privacy Display (described as a world first) that limits the viewing angle of the screen so people nearby can’t see what you’re doing while still maintaining a bright, clear image for the person holding it.
That kind of hardware-level privacy has been a common feature on laptop screens for years, but integrating it into a smartphone display without sacrificing visual quality is an engineering challenge.
Shaun Collins, chair of the judging panel, singled it out directly, saying the innovation addresses “one of the most important needs of today’s digital lifestyle — security, personal space and trust.”
Beyond the display, the S26 Ultra runs on a customized chipset built specifically to handle Samsung’s Galaxy AI features faster than previous generations.
The software side runs One UI 8.5, which Samsung describes as “context-aware,” meaning the phone tries to anticipate what you need rather than waiting to be told.
Whether that works as advertised in daily use is something reviewers will stress-test, but the judges found it coherent enough as a system that the hardware and software felt like a unified product rather than separate parts.
The panel’s overall verdict was that while most of what gets shown at MWC is conceptual or still in development, the S26 Ultra is something consumers can actually buy and use now.
With more than 3,000 companies exhibiting at the event, the “Best in Show” award is a big win for Samsung.
