Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) vs Galaxy S25 – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) vs Galaxy S25

84 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
VS
80 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
Samsung Galaxy S25

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) that was released on February 25, 2026, against the Samsung Galaxy S25, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and came out 1 year and 2 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (2)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
  • 34% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3898K versus 2920K)
  • The phone is 1 year and 2 months newer
  • 18% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3551 and 3012 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) and Galaxy S25 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
12 / 128 GB
46.4
(Average)
Value Index
46.4
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
vs
Galaxy S25

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.3 inches 6.2 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 411 ppi 416 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1500 nits 2600 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2600 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz 240 Hz
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus 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 - 97.4%
PWM - 240 Hz
Response time - 2 ms
Contrast - ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) 146.9 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 71.7 mm (2.82 inches) 70.5 mm (2.78 inches)
Thickness 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) 7.2 mm (0.28 inches)
Weight 167 g (5.89 oz) 162 g (5.71 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Pink, Purple Black, Silver, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.01/5) Good (3.23/5)
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops Excellent (A) · 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) and Samsung Galaxy S25
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Max clock 4740 MHz 4470 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance
- 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime		 - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M)
- 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L)
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 840 Adreno 830
GPU shading units 1536 1536
GPU clock 1300 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS ~3993.6 GFLOPS ~3379.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) and Samsung Galaxy S25
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 28096 19829
Single-core score 3551 3012
Multi-core score 10235 9766
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) +34%
3898892
Galaxy S25
2920032
CPU 1173242 899843
GPU 1544662 1139434
Memory 410536 330975
UX 770452 549780
Total score 3898892 2920032
Samples [2 tests] [44 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 59%
Graphics test - 16 FPS
Graphics score - 2216
3DMark Solar Bay
Graphics test - 38 FPS
Section 1 - 48 FPS
Section 2 - 37 FPS
Section 3 - 29 FPS
Graphics score - 10045
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 51%
Graphics test - 33 FPS
Graphics score - 5664
Sources: 3DMark [5]
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 21815
Video editing - 8619
Photo editing - 34466
Data manipulation - 17708
Writing score - 27109
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (35th and 125th place)
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem)CPU Throttle51%
📘 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem)Geekbench 6 GPU22177
📘 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem)Geekbench 6 CPU3551 / 10235
📘 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem)AnTuTu 113898892
📘 2026-08-08 (Fahad Nadeem)CPU Throttle80%
Add View all (9)
Samsung Galaxy S25
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-24 (Icecream)AnTuTu 123297029
📘 2026-09-18 (S25 owner)AnTuTu 123476989
📘 2026-08-23 (S25 owner)AnTuTu 113149606
📘 2026-08-14 (Atharva0999)AnTuTu 113027002
📘 2026-08-04 (Abn)AnTuTu 112514474
Add View all (81)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5300 MHz 5300 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 4.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 16 Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 8.5 One UI 8.0
OS size 31.6 GB 30.1 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4300 mAh 4000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging Yes Yes
Fast charging Yes Yes (56% in 30 min)
Full charging time - 1:17 hr
Battery cycles 1200 cycles 2000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 09:09 hr
Watching video - 17:15 hr
Gaming - 05:32 hr
Standby - 108 hr
General battery life
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8160 x 6120
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
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° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3
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
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP 10 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 67 mm 67 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1
Sensor size 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX564 Sony IMX564
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

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 5.4
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 Yes, DP 1.2
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
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

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2026 January 2025
Release date March 2026 February 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $899 $799
Successor - - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon)
SAR (head) - 1.29 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.36 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S25:
    - Supports up to 2 eSIMs. The international model has 2 physical SIM slots, while the U.S. model has 1.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon).

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
128 (20.3%)
503 (79.7%)
Total votes: 631

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Chase Rowell March 6, 2026 at 07:17 PM
literally just save your money and buy an s25 for ~$300 refurbished or ~$350-500 new... The only update is a slightly larger battery (that comes with a slight increase in overall dimensions for the phone, I hope that it stays low for small phone lovers) and slightly faster performance you won't notice. I don't understand why Samsung would label something the S26 series if there's not a series-wide distinction, like what makes the s26 series distinctively different from the s25 series? The privacy display! But wait, that's only on the ultra, the other models are the same as last years, but we'll say its the new stuff anyway.
+5 Reply
Avatar
ComputerNerd March 1, 2026 at 06:18 PM
Very few things improved with the base S26. A marginal CPU performance improvement and a 7.5% increase in battery size. I get the market for these phones are for people on a tight budget or teenagers, but charging more and delivering very little extra is not worth the new cost. The base S25 is the better value deal for this market.
+14 Reply
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