topic Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight in Galaxy S26

S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

edin702 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:12:00 GMT

Adaptive brightness on the S26 Ultra is broken. Adaptive brightness has to be enabled for peak brightness in direct sunlight. Well the S26U just gets dimmer with it on and does nothing.

S25 Ultra is on the left S26 Ultra on the right. With the S25 Ultra it works as intended, But on the S26 Ultra turning it on just makes it dimmer than 100% manual brightness/Extra Brightness enabled.

This phone is far from the listed 2600 nits peak brightness

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

Dan2023 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 22:32:34 GMT

Ensure that you have the 'Extra Dim' turned off in the pull down menu. And that the primary feature is turned off.

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

Robin621k — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 23:07:43 GMT

I don't use adaptive brightness. When I go outside in brightness sun I just use the slider, I get the warning to turn it on, I don't and turn on extra brightness as needed. It's plenty bright enough for me on my s26U outside as was my S25U.

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

edin702 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 23:10:26 GMT

Its not that. I never use that. Its 100% a software issue. Theres a few other posts on the exact issue.

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

JohnHaxx — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:07:08 GMT

Take off the screen protector and see if that changes. The ambient light sensor is usually below the front facing camera. Some screen protectors can mess that.

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

edin702 — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:54:56 GMT

Was the same BEFORE the screen protector was added. Also the S25U had the same samsung anti reflective screen protector applied before I took it off before these photos

Re: S26 Ultra, Adaptive Brightness does not work in Direct Sunlight

Forte1975 — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:54:10 GMT

Same here on the s26 ultra, my s24 ultra got much brighter in sunlight with the adaptive brightness turned on. S26 ultra does nothing.