Two of the best phones in the market, that is, the iPhone 17 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are bound to come with a dilemma among the users as to which one to buy. That inner battle is always on among the ones with quality taste.
Now, if you’ve got either of the phones with you already, we’ll assume you won’t be looking for information about the respective rival. This is a guide for the ones with a dilemma to choose. But keep on reading. Maybe you’ll get something to know and brag about the beast you are holding.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Price
Let’s begin with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Currently, the base variant has a price tag of $1,300 for its 256 GB/12 GB variant. It also comes with 512 GB/12 GB and 1 TB/16 GB variants too. The price naturally goes up with them.
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On the other hand, we have the iPhone 17 Pro, whose base variant, also 256 GB/12 GB, comes cheaper at $1,099.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Design
You’ll see a remarkable difference in design because of their sizes. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is larger than iPhone 17 Pro. That means the former is heavier too, with 214 gms as compared to the latter’s 206 gms. As for the glass front, iPhone 17 Pro has a Ceramic Shield 2 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has Corning Gorilla Armor 2. Additionally, both come with IP68 certification for dust and water resistance.
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iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Display
Naturally, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a bigger display of 6.9 inches with a screen-to-body ratio of 90.7%. In the case of iPhone 17 Pro, it’s 6.3 inches with a screen-to-body ratio of 89.4%. Galaxy S26 Ultra has another remarkable quality here, which is the latest Privacy Display. Why is it significant? You ask? Well, have you ever come across a friend trying to sneak into your chats? If yes, then this feature is for you because the screen will appear black to your friend trying to eyeball it from the sides.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Performance
Chipsets usually determine a device's performance and Apple is known for their flagship silicon series chips. Speaking of which, iPhone 17 Pro comes with the A19 Pro chip, which has gotten a better score in contrast to Samsung Galaxy S26’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in aspects like gaming and CPU performance. But you’ll get better graphics in games with Samsung Galaxy S26 for it comes with 1024 shaders while iPhone 17 Pro has just 640. Also, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with two extra cores and a better AnTuTu score. So, Samsung’s a winner here.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Camera
For the past few years, smartphone cameras have become remarkable. Especially in Samsung and Apple phones. If you take Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro, you might get confused with the numbers that appear on the paper. The former has a 200 MP rear camera and the latter has a 48 MP. But don’t let it deceive you. Both of these come with more or less the same quality.
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Now, iPhone 17 Pro dons a 48 MP (wide-angle primary camera) x 48 MP (ultra-wide) x 48 MP (telephoto) rear camera and Samsung Galaxy S26 comes with a quadruple set, that is, 200 MP (wide-angle primary camera) x 10 MP (telephoto) x 50 MP (telephoto) x 50 MP (ultrawide).
Again, don’t focus on the numbers, as you’ll see that S26 is somewhat better. There’s no remarkable difference. In fact, 17 Pro photos look more realistic. Both the phones come with video stablization too but you’ll have to compromise on the quality, which we won’t recommend.
Front camera is a clear winner here for 17 Pro, for it introduced an 18 MP Center Stage cam, which comes with a wider field of view than S26 Ultra’s 12 MP camera.
So, considering the price difference, iPhone 17 Pro is undoubtedly a better option in terms of camera quality here.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Battery
Samsung S26 Ultra carries a Li-Ion 5000 mAh battery and iPhone 17 Pro has two options here, you’ll get a Li-Ion 3998 mAh battery with a nano sim model and a Li-Ion 4252 mAh battery with the eSim only model.
You may see a clear winner here but let us give you a little shock. iPhone 17 Pro has a better battery backup, which is close to nine and a half hours while Galaxy S26 Ultra has about 9 hours backup. So, you deduce it yourself. A bigger battery and a lower backup (S26 Ultra) or a smaller battery and a better backup (17 Pro).
Concluding the Winner Here
This was a bit of a tough decision, but iPhone 17 Pro wins this game. It comes cheaper, and you’ll need to dig a bit deeper in your pocket in the case of Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Though that doesn’t make S26 Ultra a bad phone. It's one hell of a beast too. It’s certainly bigger, but iPhone 17 Pro is better.