Huawei Honor X9a vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Huawei Honor X9a Manufactured in January, 2023, with display 6.67 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 695, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2026 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Huawei Honor X9a
  • Lighter design: 175g vs 214g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5100mAh vs 5000mAh
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.1
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Huawei Honor X9a and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.67 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1440x3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 395 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 800 nits 1500 nits
HDR support No Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 89.9 % 91.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Huawei Honor X9a
859 nits
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2811 nits

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.6 mm (6.36 in) 163.6 mm (6.44 in)
Width 73.9 mm (2.91 in) 78.1 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 175 g (6.17 oz) 214 g (7.55 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - Black
- Silver
- Green
- White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Huawei Honor X9a
89.9 %
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
91.4 %

Performance

Testing Huawei Honor X9a and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Max Frequency 2200 MHz 4740 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6/1.8 (Kryo 660 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 2/2.2 (Kryo 660 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance)
- 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 6 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon 686 Hexagon
Graphics Adreno 619 Adreno 840
GPU Cores 256 1536
GPU Frequency 950 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS 430.1 GFLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Huawei Honor X9a
912
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Huawei Honor X9a
2097
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
11259
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)9123753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)209711259
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a28787
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Huawei Honor X9a
412091
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3720219
CPU1242451094797
GPU827601447696
Memory92221425113
UX112865752613
NanoReview Score4120913720219
3DMark Wild Life

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 6 GB
- 8 GB
12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz n/a
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 4.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 13) Android 16
UI Skin Magic UI 7.2 One UI 8.5

Battery

Volume 5100 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 40 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (84% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:13 h 0:43 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Huawei Honor X9a
25:08
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
28:50
Web Browsing08:51 h10:12 h
Video Playback13:56 h21:39 h
Games05:42 h06:42 h
Standby Mode139 h130 h

Main camera

Matrix 64 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 9216x6912 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom Digital 141
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording No Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 240 fps)
Slow Motion 120 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens n/a 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 5 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix64 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.4
Focal lengthn/a23 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KHP2
Sensor sizen/a1/1.3 (0.77)
Pixel size0.8 μm0.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusLaser autofocus
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a50 MP
Aperturen/af/2.9
Focal lengthn/a111 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX854
Sensor sizen/a1/2.52 (0.4)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix5 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KJN3
Sensor sizen/a1/2.5 (0.4)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Honor X9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
160
Video quality
Huawei Honor X9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
153
Overall camera score
Huawei Honor X9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
157
Bokehn/a165

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4608x3456 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU
Sensor size n/a 1/3.2 (0.31)
Pixel size n/a 1.12 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.1 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G Bandsn/aGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G Bandsn/aUMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)
LTE Bands*n/aLTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B48/B66/B71)
LTE category18n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Mono n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced January, 2023 yr February, 2026 yr
Release Date January, 2023 yr March, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 350 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included Yes 40 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

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