Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
8.0/ 10 — Good
$1,300≈ €1,164 · ≈ £970≈ converted at today's rate · Buy on Amazon
Full specs & details
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
8.2/ 10 — Good
Check price on Amazon.com · Amazon.de · Amazon.co.uk
Full specs & detailsWhich is better?
- Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max is too close to call — 8.0 overall against 8.2.
- Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max takes 4 of the 6 categories both phones are scored in.
- On paper, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has the higher-resolution main camera — 200 MP against 48 MP.
Category scores
| Category | Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 7.8 | 7.9Better |
| Camera | 8.3Better | 7.8 |
| Display | 8.8Better | 8.6 |
| Battery | 8.2 | 8.7Better |
| Design & Build | 7.8 | 8.0Better |
| Software | 6.4 | 8.8Better |
| Audio | — | 7.1 |
| Call Quality | — | 8.8 |
Open the interactive comparisonRadar chart, winner highlights and a differences-only view.
Full specifications side by side
| Specification | Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| Network | ||
| Technology | — | GSM / EDGE / UMTS / HSPA+ / LTE / 5G NR (sub-6 GHz and mmWave), Apple C2 cellular modem |
| Bands 2g | — | GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) |
| Bands 3g | — | UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) |
| Bands 4g | — | FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71); TDD-LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53) — Model A3473 |
| Bands 5g | — | FDD-5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n26, n28, n29, n30, n66, n70, n71, n75); TDD-5G NR (Bands n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n77, n78, n79); 5G NR mmWave (Bands n258, n260, n261) |
| Speed | — | 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave) with 4x4 MIMO, Gigabit LTE with 4x4 MIMO |
| Launch | ||
| Month | March | — |
| Year | 2026 | — |
| Status | Available | Available. Released 2026, September 18 |
| Release Date | — | 2026, September 18 |
| Body | ||
| Dimensions | — | 163.4 x 78.0 x 8.75 mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.34 in) |
| Weight | — | 249 g (8.78 oz) |
| Build | — | Aluminum unibody design, Ceramic Shield 2 front, Ceramic Shield back; Rated IP68 (maximum depth of 6 meters up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529 |
| Sim | — | Dual eSIM (two active eSIMs; stores eight or more eSIMs) — US models: iPhone 18 Pro models are activated with an eSIM and do not support a physical SIM |
| Display | ||
| Type | Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz | Super Retina XDR OLED, Dynamic Island, Always-On display, ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, HDR display, True Tone, Wide color (P3), Haptic Touch, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical), 1000 nits max brightness (typical); 1600 nits peak brightness (HDR); 3000 nits peak brightness (outdoor); 1 nit minimum brightness |
| Size | 6.9 | 6.9-inch (diagonal) all-screen OLED display; 6.86 inches diagonally when measured as a standard rectangular shape |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3120 pixels (~498 ppi) | 2868-by-1320-pixel resolution at 460 ppi |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2 | Ceramic Shield 2 front, fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, anti-reflective coating |
| Platform | ||
| Os | Android 16, One UI 8.5 | iOS 27 |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3nm) | A20 Pro chip |
| Cpu | Octa-core (2x4.74 GHz + 6x3.62 GHz) | 6-core CPU with 2 super cores and 4 efficiency cores |
| Gpu | Adreno 840 | 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, Dual 16-core Neural Engine, hardware-accelerated ray tracing |
| Memory | ||
| Internal | — | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| Main Camera | ||
| Wide | 200 MP, f/1.4, 24 mm, Standard wide, multi-directional PDAF, OIS | — |
| Ultrawide | 50 MP, f/1.9, 13 mm, 120° field of view, dual pixel PDAF | — |
| Telephoto | 10 MP, f/10, 2.4 mm, 70 | — |
| Periscope Telephoto | 50 MP, f/2.8, 111 mm, 5x optical zoom, OIS | — |
| Features | OIS, Laser AF, PDAF, HDR, Night Mode, Panorama, 8K Video | Sapphire crystal lens cover, Adaptive True Tone flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5, next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting with six effects, Night mode, Panorama (up to 63MP), Photographic Styles 3, Smart focus tracking, Spatial photos, 48MP macro photography, ProRAW, Pro controls for lens aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and viewing histogram, Apple Reference Image (Fusion Main) |
| Triple | — | 48MP Pro Fusion camera system: 48MP Fusion Main with variable aperture (ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, ƒ/4.0), 24 mm, second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization, 100% Focus Pixels, super-high-resolution photos (24MP and 48MP), also enables 12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto (48 mm); 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, 13 mm, ƒ/2.2 aperture, 120° field of view, Hybrid Focus Pixels; 48MP Fusion Telephoto, 100 mm (4x), ƒ/2.8 aperture, Hybrid Focus Pixels, 3D sensor-shift optical image stabilization and autofocus, tetraprism design, also enables 12MP optical-quality 8x Telephoto (200 mm); 8x optical-quality zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, 16x optical-quality zoom range, digital zoom up to 40x |
| Video | — | 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps, 100 fps (Fusion Main), or 120 fps (Fusion Main); 1080p Dolby Vision at 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps, or 120 fps (Fusion Main); 720p Dolby Vision at 30 fps; Cinematic mode up to 4K Dolby Vision at 60 fps; Action mode up to 2.8K Dolby Vision at 60 fps; ProRes video recording up to 4K at 120 fps with external recording, ProRes RAW; slo-mo 1080p up to 240 fps and 4K Dolby Vision up to 120 fps (Fusion Main); Dual Capture up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps |
| Selfie Camera | ||
| Single | — | 18MP Center Stage camera, ƒ/1.9 aperture, autofocus with Focus Pixels, Retina Flash, Tap to zoom and rotate, Center Stage for photos, Center Stage for video calls, ultra-stabilized video, Dual Capture |
| Features | — | Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5, next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting with six effects, Night mode, Photographic Styles 3, ProRAW, Animoji and Memoji |
| Video | — | 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps; 1080p Dolby Vision at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps; Cinematic mode up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps; ProRes up to 4K at 60 fps with external recording; slo-mo 1080p at 120 fps |
| Sound | ||
| Loudspeaker | — | Built-in stereo speaker |
| Connectivity | ||
| Wlan | — | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2x2 MIMO, Apple N1 wireless networking chip, Thread networking technology, Apple second-generation Ultra Wideband chip |
| Bluetooth | — | Bluetooth 6 |
| Positioning | — | Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and NavIC), digital compass, Wi-Fi, Cellular, iBeacon microlocation |
| Nfc | — | NFC with reader mode, Express Cards with power reserve |
| Usb | — | USB-C connector with support for charging, DisplayPort, USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s) |
| Features | ||
| Sensors | Fingerprint (under-display), Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Face Unlock, Virtual proximity sensing | Face ID, LiDAR Scanner, barometer, high dynamic range gyro, high-g accelerometer, proximity sensor, dual ambient light sensors |
| Battery | ||
| Type | 5000 mAh | Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; typical use up to 30 hours; video playback up to 45 hours; video playback (streamed) up to 40 hours |
| Charging | 60W wired, 25W wireless (Qi2.2), 4.5W reverse wireless | Fast-charge capable: up to 50% charge in around 15 minutes when using 60W-capable adapter or higher with Adjustable Voltage Supply (available separately) paired with USB-C charging cable; up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with 35W adapter or higher paired with MagSafe Charger (both available separately); MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W; Qi2 wireless charging up to 25W |
| Misc | ||
| Colors | Black, Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold | Black, Silver, Glacier, Burgundy |
| Models | SM-S928B, SM-S928U, SM-S928U1 | — |
| Price | — | From $1,299 (US) |
| Audio | ||
| Jack | No | — |
| Loudspeaker | Yes | — |
| Build | ||
| Protection | IP68, Water and dust resistant | — |
| Materials | Glass front, Glass back, Aluminum frame | — |
| Cameras | ||
| Wide · Mp | 200 | — |
| Wide · Aperture | 1.4 | — |
| Wide · Focal Length | 24 | — |
| Wide · Description | Standard wide, multi-directional PDAF, OIS | — |
| Ultrawide · Mp | 50 | — |
| Ultrawide · Aperture | 1.9 | — |
| Ultrawide · Focal Length | 13 | — |
| Ultrawide · Description | 120° field of view, dual pixel PDAF | — |
| Telephoto · Mp | 10 | — |
| Telephoto · Aperture | 10 | — |
| Telephoto · Focal Length | 2.4 | — |
| Telephoto · Description | 70 | — |
| Periscope · Mp | 50 | — |
| Periscope · Aperture | 2.8 | — |
| Periscope · Focal Length | 111 | — |
| Periscope · Description | 5x optical zoom, OIS | — |
| Connectivity | ||
| Wlan | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band | — |
| Bluetooth | 6.0, A2DP, LE | — |
| Positioning | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS | — |
| Nfc | Yes | — |
| Infrared | No | — |
| Radio | No | — |
| Usb | USB Type-C 3.2, OTG, DisplayPort 1.2 | — |
| Dimensions | ||
| Size | 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm | — |
| Weight | 214 | — |
| Memory Storage | ||
| 0 · Ram | 12GB | — |
| 0 · Storage | 12GB | — |
| 1 · Ram | 12GB | — |
| 1 · Storage | 12GB | — |
| 2 · Ram | 12GB | — |
| 2 · Storage | 12GB | — |
| 3 · Ram | 16GB | — |
| 3 · Storage | 16GB | — |
| Sensors | ||
| Fingerprint | Fingerprint (under-display) | — |
| Accelerometer | Accelerometer | — |
| Gyroscope | Gyroscope | — |
| Compass | Compass | — |
| Barometer | Barometer | — |
| Face Unlock | Face Unlock | — |
| Virtual Proximity | Virtual proximity sensing | — |
| List | Fingerprint (under-display), Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Face Unlock, Virtual proximity sensing | — |
| Sim | ||
| Types | Nano-SIM, eSIM, Dual SIM | — |
| Storage | ||
| Card Slot | No | — |
| Type | UFS 4.0 | — |
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