The Galaxy S26 Extremely is best than the iPhone. Right here’s why it nonetheless cannot win

For years, premium smartphone makers have been making an attempt to compete with Apple’s iPhone dominance with higher cameras, bigger screens, and unique options. Few have executed greater than the iPhone’s predominant rival, Samsung, which persistently makes flagship telephones which have higher specs and larger batteries than Apple’s newest lineup.

Living proof: The Galaxy S26 Extremely, Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone. The S26 Extremely isn’t precisely a serious improve over final yr’s mannequin, but it surely nonetheless has sufficient attention-grabbing new options to entice consumers, upgraders, and switchers. However like most iPhone generations, it’s nonetheless not sufficient to beat the iPhone.

A genuinely nice Android flagship

I’m not going to waste your time with a full S26 Extremely evaluate. You’ll be able to learn that elsewhere if you would like. All it’s good to know is that the S26 Extremely is totally a flagship smartphone. When you’re into Android, it’s most likely the perfect you will get available on the market right now.

The S26 Extremely has an enormous 6.9-inch show, identical to the iPhone 17 Professional Max. Samsung’s flagship feels simply as premium as an iPhone, since each are fabricated from glass and aluminum. Nonetheless, the Galaxy is far lighter and thinner, which is one thing I actually like.

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The notion that Android smartphones are too sluggish can be a factor of the previous, at the least in the case of flagship fashions. The S26 Extremely is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip with 12GB of RAM. Benchmark assessments present that this chip is sort of akin to Apple’s A19 Professional.

Whereas benchmark assessments don’t essentially mirror real-world efficiency, my expertise with the S26 Extremely has been fairly good. Every thing feels clean, and I’ve but to see this cellphone decelerate, whether or not I’m enhancing RAW pictures or enjoying video games.

Privateness Show: Apple magic on Android

All of which may be spectacular, however we’re not speaking about something actually new. Nonetheless, Samsung had a trick up its sleeve for the S26 Extremely that you simply gained’t discover on any iPhone.

The S26 Extremely introduces a brand new show know-how that takes away the necessity to apply a privateness display protector, making it tougher for folks subsequent to you to see what’s on the display.

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Basically, the know-how works on the {hardware} stage. The show has each narrow-angle and wide-angle pixels to indicate the complete picture. When Privateness Show is turned on, the wide-angle pixels are turned off, and solely the narrow-angle pixels are used, which focuses the sunshine in a straight line.

The result’s that it’s important to look straight on the display to see the content material, whereas folks subsequent to you will notice a a lot darker display.

Some might query the usefulness of this function, since there are low cost display protectors that supply comparable performance. However Privateness Show is superior for quite a lot of causes. For one, most individuals gained’t hassle to make use of one. And the individuals who do are caught with a everlasting movie on their show, with no option to flip it on and off as wanted. 

With Privateness Show on the S26 Extremely, you are able to do precisely that. For instance, I can set Privateness Show to activate routinely once I open a particular app, resembling my banking app or 1Password, and might even be set to cover solely particular components of the display, resembling notification banners.

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Sure, the function does include some trade-offs. You’ll positively discover the decrease decision when Privateness Show is turned on. Nevertheless it’s one thing I’m completely okay with in change for higher privateness in sure conditions. And when the function isn’t in use, I can nonetheless profit from the complete decision and brightness the show has to supply. 

I’ve gotten so used to turning on Privateness Show once I’m on the fitness center or on the bus that I instantly miss it once I return to utilizing my iPhone. It’s the form of function I’ve come to count on from Apple, but it surely’s solely on the S26.

Thoughts-blowing battery life

One other side of the S26 Extremely that basically caught my consideration is its battery life. Samsung’s smartphone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery. That’s just about the identical battery capability because the iPhone 17 Professional Max. Nonetheless, there’s an enormous distinction between the 2.

In my assessments, the S26 Extremely lasts considerably longer than the iPhone 17 Professional Max. In one of many assessments, I unplugged each telephones on the identical time (round midday) and tried utilizing them with the identical apps and wi-fi networks. By round 10 p.m., my iPhone had 43 p.c battery remaining, whereas the Galaxy had 69 p.c. That’s a giant hole.

Right here, I consider Apple could possibly be doing a greater job of optimizing iOS for decrease energy consumption, which has been some extent of criticism because the introduction of iOS 26 and its Liquid Glass interface, which requires considerably extra {hardware} sources to render all the results.

Extra and higher cameras

In relation to cameras, the S26 Extremely doesn’t disappoint both, with 4 rear lenses in comparison with the iPhone 17 Professional’s three. The primary digital camera boasts an unbelievable 200 megapixels, whereas the cellphone additionally incorporates a 50MP 5x zoom lens and a 50MP ultra-wide lens. I additionally recognize that Samsung has stored a 10MP 3x zoom lens as effectively.

I may spend a variety of time writing concerning the technical particulars of the cameras, however right here’s the factor. They’re actually good, particularly for pictures. Many of the footage I’ve taken look simply nearly as good and even higher than those from my iPhone, particularly in the case of zoom vary.

Samsung’s picture post-processing appears much less aggressive than Apple’s, which tends to make photographs overly sharp in sure lighting situations.

In relation to movies, I nonetheless desire the iPhone, however Samsung has executed an amazing job with its Horizontal Lock function, which retains the video regular and on the identical angle even for those who flip the cellphone the wrong way up. It’s fairly spectacular and helpful for motion movies.

The stylus is a pleasant comfort

Lastly, there’s the S Pen, the stylus that comes included with the S26 Extremely. This has been a key function of Samsung’s flagship smartphones for a number of years now, and whereas I believe the S Pen is a gimmick, it’s a pleasant one.

I don’t actually miss having a stylus to make use of with my iPhone, however having one on the S26 Extremely is actually helpful every so often to put in writing fast notes as a substitute of typing on the on-screen keyboard. It seems like I’m writing in a small notepad.

You’ll be able to retailer the S Pen contained in the cellphone itself when it’s not in use, which is sort of handy. I do know Steve Jobs famously disapproved of a stylus, however a tiny Apple Pencil on board Apple’s largest cellphone wouldn’t be a horrible factor.

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It’s tempting, however I’m not leaving the iPhone

Okay, I’ve mentioned a variety of good issues concerning the Galaxy S26 Extremely. So why don’t I swap from the iPhone? Whereas Apple and Google have made switching from iOS to Android (and vice versa) simpler than ever, it’s nonetheless a troublesome proposition. However even when I may snap my fingers and change my iPhone with an S26, I nonetheless wouldn’t.

Apple has a strong ecosystem of services and products right now. Together with my iPhone, I even have an Apple Watch, AirPods, a Mac, an Apple TV, and the listing goes on. Plus, I subscribe to Apple One, and my whole life is on iCloud, to not point out my purchases from the App Retailer. I belief that’s the case for tens of millions of iPhone customers.

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However greater than the units and apps, Apple’s ecosystem makes every thing simply work. I can shoot movies on my iPhone, and so they instantly present up on my Mac. Then I can edit them on my laptop and ship them again to my iPhone with only a click on utilizing AirDrop. There are various options which have change into important to my workflow, resembling iPhone Mirroring, Handoff, and Common Copy and Paste. A few of these can be found in Galaxy land, however none of them work as seamlessly as they do on the iPhone.

However even when I simply owned an iPhone, it could nonetheless be exhausting to depart Apple’s backyard. Utilizing each telephones helped me recognize how iOS apps look extra polished than their Android counterparts, even in any case these years. On prime of that, iOS has a variety of nice, unique apps that I like, resembling Halide and Flighty. I actually miss these apps once I’m utilizing the S26 Extremely. It’s secure to say that builders put extra effort into growing apps for iOS.

The Galaxy S26 Extremely is a wonderful smartphone, with some specs that even outshine the iPhone. However the Apple expertise and built-in ecosystem can’t be beat, and meaning way more than some fancy pixels.