Head to head
SamsungGalaxy S26vsAppleiPhone 17
- Released
- 2026-03-06endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £879Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy S26 series, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Released
- 2025-09-19endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £799Apple UK store, retrieved 2026-08-20
1 win for Galaxy S262 wins for iPhone 172 differences you won’t notice
True to scale
Outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice. Every figure carries its source.
Body
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Dimensions
149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mmOfficial
149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mmOfficial
Weight
167gOfficial
177gOfficial
You won’t notice this difference.
Build
Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame3rd party
Aluminium design, Ceramic Shield 2 front, Colour-infused glass back (Black, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender)Official
SIM
Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM + eSIM + eSIM (max 2 at a time) — international3rd party
Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM); Dual eSIM supportOfficial
Water/dust rating
IP68Official
IP68Official
Display
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Display type
Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive, Vision boosterOfficial
Super Retina XDR OLED, Always-On, HDR, True Tone, Wide colour (P3)Official
Display size
6.3inOfficial
6.3inOfficial
Resolution
1080 x 23403rd party
2622 x 1206Official
Pixel density
411ppi3rd party
460ppiOfficial
Refresh rate
120HzOfficial
120HzOfficial
You won’t notice this difference.
Peak brightness
2600nits3rd party
3000nitsOfficial
Typical brightness
No verified data
1000nitsOfficial
Screen protection
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 23rd party
Ceramic Shield 2 frontOfficial
Platform
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Operating system
Android 16, One UI 8.5Official
iOS 263rd party
Chipset
Exynos 2600Official
A19 chipOfficial
CPU
10-core (1x3.80GHz C1-Ultra, 3x3.25GHz C1-Pro, 6x2.75GHz C1-Pro)3rd party
6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency coresOfficial
GPU
Xclipse 9603rd party
5-core GPU with Neural AcceleratorsOfficial
Memory
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Storage (base)
256GBOfficial
256GBOfficial
Storage options
256GB/512GBOfficial
256GB/512GBOfficial
RAM
12GBOfficial
8GB3rd party
Card slot
No3rd party
No3rd party
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Main camera
50MP Wide f/1.8 with 2x optical-quality zoom; 10MP Telephoto 3x optical zoom f/2.4; 12MP Ultra-Wide f/2.2; 12MP front f/2.2Official
48MP Dual Fusion camera system: 48MP Fusion Main 26mm f/1.6 with sensor-shift OIS; 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide 13mm f/2.2 120°; Fusion Main also enables 12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto 52mm f/1.6Official
Main sensor resolution
50MPOfficial
48MPOfficial
Main aperture
f/1.8Official
f/1.6Official
Main sensor size
1/1.56"3rd party
1/1.56"3rd party
Telephoto
10MP Telephoto, 3x optical zoom, f/2.4Official
12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto, 52mm, f/1.6, sensor-shift OIS (enabled by 48MP Fusion Main)Official
Ultrawide
12MP Ultra-Wide, f/2.2Official
48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, 13mm, f/2.2, 120° field of viewOfficial
Front camera
12MP front, f/2.2Official
18MP Center Stage, f/1.9 aperture, autofocus with Focus PixelsOfficial
Video capture
8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, HDR10+3rd party
4K Dolby Vision at 24, 25, 30 or 60 fpsOfficial
Battery
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Battery capacity
4300mAhOfficial
3692mAh3rd party
Battery per charge
51hOfficial
41hOfficial
Battery lifespan
1200cyclesOfficial
1000cyclesOfficial
Fast charging
25WOfficial
40WOfficial
Marginal — most people won’t notice.
Wireless charging
15W3rd party
25WOfficial
Connectivity
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7Official
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2x2 MIMOOfficial
Bluetooth
5.4Official
6Official
USB
USB Type-C 3.2, DisplayPort 1.2, OTG3rd party
USB-C, USB 2 (up to 480Mb/s), DisplayPortOfficial
NFC
Yes3rd party
YesOfficial
Positioning
GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS3rd party
Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou and NavIC)Official
Misc
Samsung Galaxy S26Apple iPhone 17
Colours
Cobalt Violet, White, Black, Sky Blue, Pink Gold, Silver ShadowOfficial
Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, LavenderOfficial
SAR (EU, head)
1.21W/kg3rd party
1.49W/kg3rd party
Repairability (EU class)
COfficial
COfficial
4 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
Geekbench 6 (CPU, multi-core) · AnTuTu benchmark · 3DMark Wild Life Extreme · DXOMARK camera score. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.