Samsung Galaxy S26 vs iPhone 17

Fact Forward

Is the Samsung S26 better than the iPhone 17? We dive into the specs, from Samsung's new 6.9mm slim design to Apple's 120Hz ProMotion standard. ​ ​ Galaxy S26 vs iPhone 17, Samsung vs Apple 2026, best flagship phone 2026. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs A19, S26 50MP camera vs iPhone 17, 120Hz ProMotion vs LTPO AMOLED.  Feature Samsung Galaxy S26 Apple iPhone 17 Display 6.3" Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 6.3" OLED (ProMotion) Processor Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Apple A19 Main Camera 50MP Wide / 10MP Telephoto 48MP Wide / 48MP Ultrawide Charging 25W Wired / 25W Wireless 40W Wired / 25W MagSafe Weight 167g (Ultra-slim 7.2mm) 177g  Tags: Galaxy S26, iPhone 17, Samsung vs Apple, S26 vs iPhone 17, Galaxy S26 Review, iPhone 17 Review, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Apple A19 Chip, Smartphone Comparison 2026, Best Vlogging Phone, S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 19 vs Android 16, Samsung S26 Camera Test, iPhone 17 Battery Life.

Transcript

00:00Samsung charged $100 more than Apple for the base flagship this year, and they've had

00:04to increase production by 500,000 units just to keep up with the demand.

00:09So what exactly is the Galaxy S26 doing that makes people pay more than the iPhone 17?

00:15And look, I usually give the win to the Galaxy when I compare base models, but this time

00:20it's different, and the iPhone 17 was already Apple's biggest upgrade to the base iPhone

00:25in years.

00:25ProMotion, dual 48 megapixel cameras, faster charging.

00:29Now, from a design standpoint, the Samsung looks like a Samsung.

00:32Squared off edges, flat sides, matches the rest of the S26 lineup.

00:37It's lighter and thinner, 167 grams and 7.2 millimeters compared to the iPhone 17 at 177

00:45grams and 8 millimeters thick.

00:47The iPhone is a tiny bit heavier, but honestly, it feels more comfortable to hold.

00:52The edges are softer, more contoured.

00:55Both phones are aluminum this year, which is worth calling out.

00:58Samsung moved away from titanium on the Ultra.

01:01Apple moved away from titanium on the Pro.

01:03The entire industry collectively decided titanium wasn't worth the extra cost.

01:09The iPhone does give you two extra buttons.

01:11You have the action button on the left, which you can map to any shortcut, and the camera

01:16control on the bottom right, which launches your camera instantly.

01:20Now, I personally don't use camera control much, but some people absolutely love it.

01:25The bigger difference is how you unlock these phones.

01:28Face ID on the iPhone is more accurate and more secure.

01:32There's an infrared sensor, so it works perfectly in the dark.

01:35The Galaxy S26 has facial recognition, but it struggles a bit in low light.

01:40You do get that ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on the Samsung, which some people prefer.

01:44And look, living in a colder climate, I always lean towards face unlock, especially when you

01:50have gloves on.

01:50And yes, you can buy gloves that allow you to touch the screen.

01:53Now one thing you'll notice right away, one has a dynamic island and the other has a hole

01:58punch.

01:59And the front cameras are quite different.

02:02The iPhone 17 is using an 18 megapixel center stage sensor.

02:05And this is one of the best selfie cameras on any phone right now.

02:09The big feature is that it uses the entire sensor for both vertical and horizontal video.

02:13So you can hold the phone upright and still get 16 by 9 framing.

02:18This just looks way more natural when you're walking and talking.

02:21On the Galaxy, you have to hold it sideways for widescreen, which shifts you off center.

02:26Now dynamic island lets you interact with live activities.

02:29Tap to jump back into music, timers, navigation.

02:32Samsung has their own version of this in the corner.

02:35I actually like some of Samsung's animations better, like the fold car pop up looks nicer,

02:39but functionally neither is dramatically better than the other.

02:54Both phones have a 6.3 inch display with 120 hertz adaptive refresh rate.

03:00And look, the fact that the base iPhone finally has ProMotion is a huge deal.

03:04This is the first time a non-pro iPhone has ever gotten adaptive 120 hertz and always on

03:10display.

03:11That gap existed for years and Apple has finally closed it.

03:14Now look, both displays are gorgeous.

03:17Samsung tends to push colors a bit more saturated, which makes videos look more pleasing to some

03:22people.

03:23The iPhone goes for more accurate color reproduction.

03:25Where the iPhone actually pulls ahead, though, is brightness.

03:303000 nits of peak brightness versus 2600 on the Galaxy.

03:36That's a 400-nit gap.

03:37Not dramatic indoors, but outdoors in direct sunlight, especially watching HDR content, you're

03:42going to notice it.

03:43Now on the S26 Ultra, the bigger, more expensive one, you get that anti-reflective coating, which

03:48I personally love.

03:49And I wish every phone had it.

03:50But neither the base S26 nor the iPhone 17 have that full anti-reflective coating.

03:56The iPhone does reduce reflections by about 33% compared to the previous generation.

04:01So you will get slightly less glare on the iPhone compared to the S26.

04:05All right, these are the front-facing cameras on the iPhone 17 and the Samsung Galaxy S26.

04:14Looks like Samsung's crops in a little bit more than the iPhone's.

04:17I wish it was a sunnier day today because right now the clouds are nice and gray, so everything

04:21is going to look good.

04:22So I guess it's really going to come down to what you guys think of their color choices,

04:26right?

04:26Do you like Samsung's better or do you like the iPhone's?

04:30Either way, let me know how it looks and most importantly, which one has the better microphone?

04:36But here's the thing.

04:37And this was my biggest complaint about previous base galaxies.

04:40They always had smaller batteries and battery life absolutely suffered.

04:45And this year it's completely different because Samsung bumped the S26 up to 4300 milliamp hours

04:51and it makes a real difference, especially when you combine it with a more efficient processor.

04:55In day-to-day use, the screen on time is remarkably similar between both phones.

05:00I'm getting around seven to eight hours depending on what I'm doing.

05:03But here's what nobody's talking about.

05:04Like if you live in India, Europe, or pretty much most of the world outside of North America,

05:09your Galaxy S26 doesn't come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

05:13It comes with Samsung's Exynos 2600.

05:15And look, the battery difference is significant.

05:18Testing shows the Exynos version can drain up to 28% faster than the Snapdragon version running

05:24the same tasks.

05:26Like if you're in Exynos region, the iPhone 17 generally gives you better battery life.

05:30That's a real consideration for a massive portion of Samsung's audience.

05:35But charging speed, and this one is absolutely clear, the iPhone charges nearly twice as fast.

05:4040 watts versus 25.

05:42You get to 50% in about 20 minutes on the iPhone versus 40 to 50 minutes on the Galaxy.

05:48If you want faster wire charging on a Samsung, you have to buy the Ultra.

05:52And like that's crazy to me.

05:54Samsung should have faster charging on the base model by now.

05:57Both of these phones are rocking very powerful chips.

06:00The A19 in the iPhone and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in my Galaxy S26.

06:05Though, again, most of the world gets Exynos 2600 instead.

06:09And look, this is where it gets crazy to me because single core performance, the iPhone

06:14still wins.

06:15The A19 has some of the fastest single core speeds on any phone period.

06:19That translates to snappier app launches, faster website loads, things you actually feel in

06:24daily use.

06:25Multi-core is where the Snapdragon S26 pulls ahead, and it's competitive and ray chasing

06:30and GPU benchmarks too.

06:32Like, if you're someone who's editing video on your phone or doing heavy multi-threaded

06:36work, the Snapdragon version will feel faster in those sustained tasks.

06:39Now, during my stress test, the Galaxy actually had better stability, but the iPhone under extreme

06:45demand had faster speeds and faster loops overall.

06:48Battery drain was interesting too.

06:50The iPhone drained 15% during the test compared to only 12% on the Galaxy S26.

06:56But here's the honest truth about day-to-day use.

06:59These processors are so far ahead.

07:02And now that it's hard to buy a slow phone, like checking emails, scrolling, gaming, like

07:06they're both going to feel ridiculously fast.

07:09Especially because they both have 120Hz displays.

07:12Like, if gaming is your top priority, the iPhone gives you better frame rate consistency.

07:16The Galaxy is more than capable, but Apple still edges out in gaming optimization.

07:21I should also mention that if you want a full-fledged desktop experience in a pinch, you can load

07:26up decks on your Galaxy S26.

07:28This will give you proper windows to work in and more screen real estate to use.

07:32This could be the difference for some people of only having to carry one device instead of

07:37two, or even just having to save a lot more money.

07:39But let's talk about what's most important to a lot of people.

07:43The cameras.

07:43And the Galaxy S26 has three cameras, 50 megapixel wide, 12 megapixel ultra wide, and a 10 megapixel

07:50three times telephoto.

07:51The iPhone 17 has two 48 megapixel cameras, a wide and an ultra wide.

07:57During the day, they process images differently.

07:59The Galaxy tends to introduce a bit more magenta, is more aggressive with sharpening, and likes

08:04to brighten up images.

08:05The iPhone is warmer, more contrasty, just a different style.

08:09There's no wrong answer here, honestly.

08:12It really comes down to what you personally prefer.

08:15Where the Galaxy does win, though, is obviously zoom.

08:18As soon as you pass two times, the iPhone has to crop in, but the Galaxy at three times

08:22is using a real telephoto lens.

08:24You just get cleaner shots.

08:25At 10 times, the Galaxy is still producing usable images while the iPhone falls apart.

08:30Digital zoom goes up to 30 times on the Galaxy versus 10 times on the iPhone.

08:35Though honestly, 30 times is very pixelated.

08:38It's useful for reading a sign in the distance, but I wouldn't use it for actual photos.

08:42Selfies?

08:43Both are good.

08:44Again, the Galaxy sharpens a bit more aggressively.

08:48Colors are close.

08:48Video is where the iPhone consistently wins.

08:51It's warmer, more contrasty, and the stabilization and color consistency are still best in class.

08:57The one thing the Galaxy does really well is give you pro options on the base model.

09:02You want log recording?

09:03You get it on the S26.

09:05On the iPhone, you need to buy the pro to get that.

09:08For some creators, that actually might matter.

09:10Nighttime photography is interesting.

09:12The Galaxy's telephoto obviously gives it better night zoom shots.

09:16If you're shooting at three times or 10 times in the dark, Galaxy wins.

09:19But the main camera at night, I find the Galaxy tends to over sharpen things again.

09:24And you notice it more in low light.

09:26Samsung also tries to make night shots look brighter, almost like daytime, whereas the

09:31iPhone preserves the mood darker, contrastier, warmer.

09:34I personally prefer the iPhone's approach.

09:36There's also more noise creeping into the Galaxy night shots, especially in video.

09:40Now, I got to talk about AI.

09:42I do use AI, but I really don't use phone AI.

09:46Like when I want it, I'm opening up Claude or ChatGPT or Gemini as an app.

09:50Most of the baked in phone AI features I personally find pretty gimmicky.

09:53Things I might use once a year.

09:55That said, if on-device AI matters to you, Samsung is way ahead.

10:00Right?

10:00Like Galaxy, I gives you photo assist for prompt based editing, audio eraser for cleaning up

10:05video noise.

10:06Now you have nudge for contextual suggestions and you can combine Bixby, Gemini and perplexity

10:11as AI backends.

10:12Samsung is generally trying to make your phone do things for you.

10:16Apple intelligence is not that intelligent right now.

10:20Now connectivity is important to a lot of people.

10:22Okay?

10:22The iPhone 17 does have Bluetooth 6 versus the S26's 5.4, better range, lower latency.

10:29The iPhone also has ultra wideband for precision air tag finding and thread for smart home

10:34networking.

10:34The S26 has neither.

10:36Both are screaming fast on Wi-Fi 7.

10:39Both phones support 5G millimeter wave.

10:41Call quality on both has been fantastic, so no complaints.

10:44So here's the bottom line.

10:46The Galaxy S26 is a great phone.

10:48Samsung finally fixed the battery.

10:50The camera system is versatile and Galaxy I is ahead of anything Apple is doing.

10:55The iPhone 17 at $799 gives you faster charging, a brighter display, better video, full MagSafe

11:02and the most complete base iPhone Apple has ever made.

11:05If you're upgrading from an older iPhone, it's an easy choice.

11:09The S26 makes sense if that telephoto lens is a must have for you, if Galaxy AI matters,

11:14if you can get a crazy trade in deal.

11:16And this is important if you're getting the Snapdragon version.

11:20If you're in Exynos region, the iPhone becomes even more compelling because of the battery.

11:26Every year I compare these two phones and every year Galaxy makes it easy.

11:30This year, Apple made it hard.

11:32Either way, that wraps up my comparison between these two awesome phones.

11:35Let me know which one you're choosing and look, if you have any questions, drop them

11:39down below.

11:40Like the video if you liked it.

11:41Subscribe if you haven't already.

11:42And I'll see you guys in the next one.

11:44So, thanks, guys.

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