Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) vs Apple iPhone Air
86
out of 100
VS
84
out of 100
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 Air, which is powered by Apple A19 Pro 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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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
- Delivers 155% higher peak brightness (2560 against 1003 nits)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Comes with 1151 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 3149 mAh
- Shows 13% longer battery life (25:13 vs 22:15 hours)
- Fingerprint scanner
- 23% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3161K versus 2568K)
- Stereo speakers
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+4)
- The phone is 6 months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone Air
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- 12% higher pixel density (460 vs 411 PPI)
- 24% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4044 and 3271 points
Review
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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.3 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1260 x 2736 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% | 88.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 100% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) | 156.2 mm (6.15 inches) |
| Width | 71.7 mm (2.82 inches) | 74.7 mm (2.94 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) | 5.6 mm (0.22 inches) |
| Weight | 167 g (5.89 oz) | 165 g (5.82 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, Gold, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | Good (3.01/5) | Average (2.85/5) |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | Very good (B) · 180 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2600 | Apple A19 Pro |
| 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 | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Xclipse 960 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1792 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 980 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~7024.6 GFLOPS | ~2488.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 27264 | 37743 |
| Single-core score | 3271 | 4044 |
| Multi-core score | 11051 | 11101 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1060612 | 1060952 |
| GPU | 1200578 | 645582 |
| Memory | 409429 | 312956 |
| UX | 491211 | 549219 |
| Total score | 3161830 | 2568709 |
| Samples | [15 tests] | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Graphics test | 23 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3109 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | 45 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 51 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 44 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 39 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 11935 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 21279 | - |
| Video editing | 8171 | - |
| Photo editing | 40764 | - |
| Data manipulation | 16909 | - |
| Writing score | 30248 | - |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#78th place)
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-24 (Pires) | AnTuTu 12 | 3302245 |
| 📘 2026-09-20 (Shaco) | AnTuTu 12 | 3216468 |
| 📘 2026-09-06 (Artem) | AnTuTu 11 | 3113554 |
| 📘 2026-07-29 (David Vasic) | AnTuTu 11 | 3317117 |
| 📘 2026-07-26 (Simon) | AnTuTu 11 | 3215235 |
Apple iPhone Air
No benchmark results yet
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5333 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| 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 | 27 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4300 mAh | 3149 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (20 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (62% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:04 hr | 1:33 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1200 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 09:34 hr | 07:48 hr |
| Watching video | 21:01 hr | 17:33 hr |
| Gaming | 06:20 hr | 05:28 hr |
| Standby | 97 hr | 96 hr |
General 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 | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| 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" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 67 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 150 | 165 |
| Zoom | 119 | 109 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone Air 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 | 20 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | Sony IMX914 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (≈ 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 | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| 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 | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2026 | September 2025 |
| Release date | March 2026 | September 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $899 | $999 |
| 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 gaming, battery life, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos). But if the software is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone Air.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 19