iQOO 16's new Samsung-made M16 OLED panel leaves Galaxy S26 Ultra far behind

It was recently confirmed that the upcoming iQOO 16 will use Samsung Display’s latest M16 OLED panel. The M16 OLED panel, which also graces the iPhone Duo, is expected to be much better than the M14 OLED used in the Galaxy S26 Ultra, bringing enhanced color reproduction, higher brightness, and more. Samsung is also expected to use the M16 OLED on the Galaxy S27 Pro and the Galaxy S27 Ultra. However, the phones might suffer from a problem.

Leaker Ice Universe has shared a video on X, which shows a huge display quality gap between the M14 OLED panel of the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the M16 OLED of the iQOO 16. The video reveals the iQOO 16’s panel to be brighter, more colorful, and much better when viewed from the sides. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display seemingly suffers when viewed from wide angles. Ice Universe puts the blame squarely on the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display.

Ice Universe remarks frustratingly that, despite keeping the Privacy Display off, “you still have to live with the side effects of this optical structure every single day. Tilt the phone a little and colors shift. Skin tones collapse.”

As a result, the leaker proclaims that “a flagship display that cannot even maintain basic color consistency at normal viewing angles is simply unacceptable.”

Galaxy S27 Ultra/S27 Pro to also employ Privacy Display

Now, the key issue with the Privacy Display is that it is a hardware feature and can’t be tweaked or tuned with software updates. More importantly, however, the upcoming Galaxy S27 Pro and the Galaxy S27 Ultra reportedly retain Privacy Display.

Seeing the effects the feature has on viewing angles and color reproduction even when not in use, Ice Universe does not expect the Galaxy S27 Ultra/S27 Pro display to “match the clean, transparent, and consistent color performance of the iQOO 16.”

It can’t be denied that the Privacy Display does take its toll on the visual quality of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s screen. So, it remains to be seen if Samsung takes this feedback and tweaks the Privacy Display to perform better in the Galaxy S27 Ultra/S27 Pro.

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