The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the company’s new flagship smartphone that was announced very recently. It arrived alongside the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ handsets. We’ve already compared it to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and it’s time to do the same with yet another flagship from competitors. In this article, we’ll be comparing the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Apple is Samsung’s main competitor, so this comparison certainly makes sense. We haven’t yet reviewed the Galaxy S26 Ultra, so keep that in mind. The review is coming, though. With that being said, we’ll first list the specs of both phones and will then move to compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio output.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
| Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm | 163.4 x 78 x 8.8 mm |
| Weight | 214 grams | 233 grams |
| Display | 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display | 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED |
| Refresh rate | 1-120Hz (adaptive) | 1-120Hz (adaptive) |
| Resolution | 3120 x 1440 | 2868 x 1320 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Apple A19 Pro |
| RAM | 12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X) | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB | 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB |
| Main camera | 200MP (wide, f/1.4 aperture, 1/1.3-inch sensor size, OIS, multi-directional PDAF) | 48MP (1/1.28 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS, dual pixel PDAF) |
| Ultra-wide camera | 50MP (f/1.9 aperture, 120-degree FoV, dual pixel PDAF) | 48MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF) |
| Telephoto camera | 10MP (f/2.4 aperture, 1/3.94-inch sensor size, 1.12um pixel size, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom) | N/A |
| Periscope telephoto camera | 50MP (f/2.9 aperture, 1/2.52-inch sensor size, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom) | 48MP (f/2.8 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor size, PDAF, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 4x optical zoom) |
| Selfie camera | 12MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1/3.2-inch sensor size, 1.12um pixel size) | 18MP (f/1.9 aperture, OIS) |
| Battery size | 5,000m,Ah | 4,832mAh (nano SIM) / 5,088mAh (eSIM only) |
| Charging | 60W wired, 25W wireless (charger not included) | 40W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included) |
| Colors | Black, Cobalt Violet, Pink Gold, Silver Shadow, Sky Blue, White | Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue |
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Design
These two devices do look noticeably different, as you can see. Both phones have rounded corners, but that is more pronounced on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. You’ll also notice flat displays on both devices, with thin, uniform bezels. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a tiny display camera hole up top, which is centered. In that same spot, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a considerably larger pill-shaped cutout, the so-called Dynamic Island.
The frame around both phones is flat, by the way. It’s made out of aluminum in both cases, as both companies ditched titanium. The power/lock and volume up and down keys sit on the right-hand side of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Those are all of its physical buttons. The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max has a power/lock key on the right side, along with a Camera Control key. The volume up and down keys are on the left, along with the Action Key.
If we flip the two devices over, you’ll notice that they look completely different, though they both have flat backplates. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a two-tone design and a recognizable triple camera setup in the top-left corner. That camera setup is placed on top of a large camera bar, though. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a camera island this time around, and three of its four cameras are placed on top of it. All the cameras sit in the top-left corner.
Both of these phones are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. Both of them are made out of aluminum and glass, and are quite slippery. The two devices are also quite large, by the way, and similar in terms of dimensions. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is, however, 19 grams lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite the fact that it has an S Pen stylus.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 6.9-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display. That panel is flat, and it supports an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). HDR10+ content is supported as well, while the peak brightness here is 2,600 nits. The resolution on offer is 3120 x 1440 pixels, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The screen-to-body ratio is around 91%, while the display is protected by the Gorilla Armor 2 from Corning.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is also flat, and it has an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). HDR10 content is supported, and so is Dolby Vision. The peak brightness here is 3,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is around 91%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The resolution this phone’s display offers is 2868 x 1320, and the display is protected by the Ceramic Shield 2.
Both of these displays are excellent, actually. They are vivid, bright, and very sharp. They also have great viewing angles and a high refresh rate. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s panel has several advantages, though. The first one is… the Gorilla Armor 2. It fights off glare like no other display protection. The second is the Privacy Display feature, which enables you to obscure views from shoulder surfers for specific apps or in general, it’s up to you. This is a feature you can enable.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. That is Qualcomm’s new flagship processor, a 3nm chip. It is paired with 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 or UFS 4.1 storage. The storage is not expandable here, by the way, so keep that in mind.
The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, is fueled by the Apple A19 Pro processor. That is a 3nm processor, and it’s paired with 12GB of RAM. Apple is using NVMe flash storage inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max. This smartphone does not offer storage expansion via a microSD card either.
Both of these processors are immensely powerful, and both phones offer great performance. Granted, we did not fully review the Galaxy S26 Ultra yet, but what we’ve seen thus far is what you’d expect out of a flagship phone. It remains to be seen how the phone acts under strain, and how does it do in terms of gaming. The iPhone 17 Pro Max offers great performance at all times, basically. More information about the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be available in our full review.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Battery
There is a 5,000mAh battery included inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra. That is the same battery capacity that was used in the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the flip side, uses a 5,088mAh battery in the eSIM model, and a 4,823mAh battery in a nano SIM model. In the US, you’ll find only the eSIM model, while in the vast majority of countries across the globe nano SIM model is sold.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max offers great battery life. It may not be the best we’ve seen, but it’s certainly outstanding, especially considering the battery capacity. Phones that beat the iPhone 17 Pro Max offer noticeably more battery capacity. We’re still not sure about the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as we still have to do the battery testing on the phone. It remains to be seen if it will be able to come close to what the iPhone 17 Pro Max is offering.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra supports 60W wired, 25W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, supports 40W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. It takes the iPhone 17 Pro Max an hour and 10 minutes to fully charge, a bit more than that, usually. We do expect the Galaxy S26 Ultra to charge faster than that, but it remains to be seen.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Cameras
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is equipped with four cameras on the back. It has a 200-megapixel main snapper (1/1.3-inch sensor size), which is paired with a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (1/2.5-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV). A 10-megapixel telephoto camera (1/3.94-inch sensor size, 3x optical zoom) is also used, as is a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto snapper (1/2.52-inch sensor size, 5x optical zoom).
The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, has three cameras on the back. A 48-megapixel main snapper (1/1.28-inch sensor size) is backed by a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera (1/2.55-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV). The third camera on the back is a 48-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (1/2.55-inch sensor size, 4x optical zoom). There is also a TOF 3D LiDAR scanner included on the back.
Apple’s flagship does a great job with images. It usually provides well-balanced photos that are close to what you’d see in real life. Its periscope telephoto camera is not exactly the best around, though, but both that one and the ultrawide camera do a good job of keeping up with the main camera in terms of colors. We only just started using the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera within the last 24 hours, and we did notice some improvements over the Galaxy S25 Ultra. More on that in our full review, but we can say that the images are brighter overall, especially darker parts of the scene.
Audio
Both phones do feature stereo speakers. The ones on the iPhone 17 Pro Max are quite solid. They’re loud enough, and do offer good sound output. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s also seem to be solid, and they are loud enough, but we need to use them more to get a better idea.
There is no audio jack on either of these two smartphones. You can hook up your wired headphones to their Type-C ports, though, if you’d like. Bluetooth 6.0 is supported on both devices, for wireless audio.
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