Galaxy S26 Ultra ‘horizon lock’ keeps video stable no matter what – you have to see it [Video]

Ben Schoon | Feb 26 2026 - 6:15 am PT

While there’s no new hardware on the Galaxy S26 series in terms of their cameras, there are some new software tricks. One of those is “Super Steady Video” with “Horizon Lock” on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is basically like having a gimbal just a software toggle away.

“Super Steady Video” existed on prior Samsung Galaxy smartphones, and offers some improved software stabilization to your footage. But, as you’d expect, it can only go so far. Samsung is seemingly ready to break the laws of physics with its new “Horizon lock” feature on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

This new feature, Samsung says, is capable of keeping video stable even if you rotate the phone 360-degrees. So, basically, you can do anything and Samsung says the video will stay stable with the horizon line locked in place, all while still outputting 4K footage.

A big claim, and one I didn’t believe at first, but on seeing it in action, I was pretty shocked.

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As seen in the video below, I enabled “Horizon lock” on a Galaxy S26 Ultra and shook the device all around, watching flabbergasted as the footage stayed perfectly stable in real-time. Samsung says this is possible in part thanks to the new image signal processor in use on this device.

I couldn’t pull the final video file from this device, of course, but in watching it on the phone, the quality was decent. It’s not perfect, and you can see a lot of artifacting that seemingly comes from the stabilization process, but the final video is very usable.

The best comparison here really is to a gimbal. Samsung’s implementation lets you pan up and down, side to side, but keeps everything smooth and stable. Being able to do that with no added hardware is pretty incredible.

Our Galaxy S26 Ultra is already in hand and we’ll be putting it to the test over the new couple of weeks. In the meantime, pre-orders are open today, and you can scroll down for more of our coverage of the Galaxy S26 series.

The Galaxy S26 series is available for pre-order now, with Samsung’s usual pre-order perks in full swing. You’ll find boosted trade-in values and more available now through March 11, when these phones are available on store shelves.