Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Apple iPhone 17e - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17e

95 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
VS
83 out 100
Apple iPhone 17e
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Apple iPhone 17e

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Manufactured in March, 2026, with display 6.9 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, vs Apple iPhone 17e, Manufactured in March, 2026with chipsetApple A19. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4005mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.3
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 17e
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 214g

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Apple iPhone 17e
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
Smartphones:
Galaxy S26 Ultra
vs
Apple iPhone 17e

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.9 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1440x3120 pixels 1170x2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 500 ppi 457 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1500 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 240 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 91.4 % 87.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2811 nits
Apple iPhone 17e
827 nits

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.6 mm (6.44 in) 146.7 mm (5.78 in)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 214 g (7.55 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Pink
Fingerprint sensor Yes, In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
91.4 %
Apple iPhone 17e
87.1 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Apple iPhone 17e In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Apple A19
Max Frequency 4740 MHz 4260 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance)
- 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime)		 - 4/2.6 (Sawtooth)
- 2/4.26 (Everest)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 3 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 840 Apple A19 GPU
GPU Cores 1536 640
GPU Frequency 1200 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS 2073.6 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3753
Apple iPhone 17e
3610
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
11259
Apple iPhone 17e
9207
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)37533610
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)112599207
Geekbench Compute (GPU)28787n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3720219
Apple iPhone 17e
1951083
CPU1094797706723
GPU1447696674842
Memory425113212297
UX752613357221
NanoReview Score37202191951083

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity256 GB256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 16 iOS 26.3
UI Skin One UI 8.5 n/a

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4005 mAh
Max Charging Power 60 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (25 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes, (Wireless) n/a
Fast Charging Yes (84% in 30 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:43 h 1:34 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
28:50
Apple iPhone 17e
28:10
Web Browsing10:12 h11:40 h
Video Playback21:39 h16:33 h
Games06:42 h06:37 h
Standby Mode130 h135 h

Main camera

Matrix 200 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 16320x12240 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom 141 Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 120 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 240 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° n/a
Lenses count Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 Bokeh effect
Main lens
Matrix200 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.4f/1.6
Focal length23 mm26 mm
SensorSamsung ISOCELL S5KHP2n/a
Sensor size1/1.3 (0.77)1/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size0.6 μm0.7 μm
AutofocusLaser autofocusPhase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.9n/a
Focal length111 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX854n/a
Sensor size1/2.52 (0.4)n/a
Pixel size0.7 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MPn/a
Aperturef/1.9n/a
Focal length13 mmn/a
SensorSamsung ISOCELL S5KJN3n/a
Sensor size1/2.5 (0.4)n/a
Pixel size0.7 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitaln/a
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
160
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
153
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
157
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Bokeh165n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra]

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2 (0.31) 1/3.6 (0.28)
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- 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 6.0 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes No
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*11
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsUMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)UMTS/HSPA+ 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE Bands*LTE (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 (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B53/B66/B71)
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced February, 2026 yr March, 2026 yr
Release Date March, 2026 yr March, 2026 yr
MSRP ($) 1299 599
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included No 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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