Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S26 (Exynos) vs iPhone 17 – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) vs Apple iPhone 17

85 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
VS
86 out of 100
Apple iPhone 17
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
Apple iPhone 17

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) (with Exynos 2600) that was released on February 25, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 17, which is powered by Apple A19 and came out 6 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (3)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Delivers 152% higher peak brightness (2539 against 1007 nits)
  • 47% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3161K versus 2156K)
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+4)
  • The phone is 6 months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 17
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • 12% higher pixel density (460 vs 411 PPI)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (40W versus 25W)
  • 14% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3736 and 3271 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) and Apple iPhone 17 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 256 GB
47.6
(Average)
Value Index
29.3
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
vs
iPhone 17

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.3 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1206 x 2622 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 411 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1500 nits 3000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2600 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Ceramic Shield 2
Screen-to-body ratio 90.9% 91.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 99.6%
PWM 240 Hz 241 Hz
Response time 1 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S26 (Exynos) +152%
2539 nits
iPhone 17
1007 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) 149.6 mm (5.89 inches)
Width 71.7 mm (2.82 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) 8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 167 g (5.89 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Silver, Blue, Pink, Purple White, Black, Blue, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Repairability Good (3.01/5) Average (2.82/5)
Drop resistance Excellent (A) Β· 270 drops Very good (B) Β· 180 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) and Apple iPhone 17
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2600 Apple A19
Max clock 3800 MHz 4260 MHz
CPU cores 10 (1 + 3 + 6) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 2.75 GHz: C1-Pro
- 3 cores at 3.25 GHz: C1-Pro
- 1 core at 3.8 GHz: C1-Ultra		 - 4 cores at 2.6 GHz:
- 2 cores at 4.26 GHz:
L3 cache 16 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 2 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) AI engine with 32K MAC NPU Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Xclipse 960 5 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 1792 640
GPU clock 980 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS ~7024.6 GFLOPS ~2073.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) and Apple iPhone 17
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S26 (Exynos) +20%
11051
iPhone 17
9226
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
27264
iPhone 17 +38%
37553
Compute Score (GPU) 27264 37553
Single-core score 3271 3736
Multi-core score 11051 9226
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S26 (Exynos) +47%
3161830
iPhone 17
2156126
CPU 1060612 598735
GPU 1200578 803562
Memory 409429 200566
UX 491211 553263
Total score 3161830 2156126
Samples [15 tests] [19 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 72%
Graphics test 23 FPS 16 FPS
Graphics score 3109 2147
3DMark Solar Bay
Galaxy S26 (Exynos) +26%
11935
iPhone 17
9465
Graphics test 45 FPS 36 FPS
Section 1 51 FPS 40 FPS
Section 2 44 FPS 36 FPS
Section 3 39 FPS 31 FPS
Graphics score 11935 9465
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 21279 -
Video editing 8171 -
Photo editing 40764 -
Data manipulation 16909 -
Writing score 30248 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-30 -> SerostAnTuTu 123359689
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-26 (gollim)AnTuTu 123269772
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-24 (Pires)AnTuTu 123302245
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-20 (Shaco)AnTuTu 123216468
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-06 (Artem)AnTuTu 113113554
Add View all (27)
Apple iPhone 17
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-20 (Shovandeep)AnTuTu 111837059
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-27 (Zharkyn)AnTuTu 112243285
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-07 (Aarav)AnTuTu 111776737
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-06 (yuki)AnTuTu 112352837
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-25 (Taelnwza)AnTuTu 112117495
Add View all (35)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5333 MHz -
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 16 iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
ROM One UI 8.5 -
OS size 29.5 GB -
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4300 mAh 3692 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 40 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (62% in 30 min) Yes (63% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:04 hr 1:25 hr
Battery cycles 1200 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:34 hr 09:21 hr
Watching video 21:01 hr 19:24 hr
Gaming 06:20 hr 06:44 hr
Standby 97 hr 109 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
25:13 hr
iPhone 17 +1%
25:32 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8064 x 6048
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120Β° 120Β°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 48 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.6
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 Sony IMX904
Sensor size 1/1.56" (β‰ˆ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (β‰ˆ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 67 mm -
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 -
Sensor size 1/3.94" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX564 Sony IMX972
Sensor size 1/2.55" (β‰ˆ 0.39 inch) 1/2.55" (β‰ˆ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 150 170
Zoom 119 105
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 17 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 18 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4896 x 3672
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Sony IMX914
Sensor size 1/3.2" (β‰ˆ 0.31 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S26 (Exynos) +14%
92.4 dB
iPhone 17
81.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2026 September 2025
Release date March 2026 September 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $899 $799
SAR (head) 1.21 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.1 W/kg -
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the camera and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 17. But if the gaming is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos).

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
292 (63.1%)
171 (36.9%)
Total votes: 463

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
mot May 19, 2026 at 05:06 PM
Exynos is flagship!! LoL πŸ˜†πŸ˜†πŸ˜†
+5 Reply
Avatar
Luis February 27, 2026 at 06:58 PM
I admit it too, as an Android main and fan, iPhone 17 is better than a basic s26, because I don't like Exynos and it has a worse camera.
+18 Reply
Avatar
Dinh March 4, 2026 at 02:38 PM
Exynos have a bad camera? I thought the Exynos 2400 on the S24 won the Snapdragon Variant according to tech reviewers and also this chipset will have lots of image processing and features too
+27 Reply
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