S26 Ultra VS 17 Pro Max

The Samsung S26 Ultra, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, let's put the two most powerful smartphones to the test to see which one's the best and the results might shock you. So what's special about the Samsung that you won't find on the iPhone? Well, the most obvious one is the S Pen. It still has it even after 15 years. Nice. Something brand new though is its privacy display. It's like a privacy screen protector that you can turn on and off and it's built right into the S26 Ultra's screen. What's so cool is it can black out the entire screen or just parts of it, like your notifications or passwords. You can also multitask on Samsung, like split-screening any app you want, which is so cool and iPhone still can't do this. There's Samsung DeX 2, which basically turns the S26 Ultra into a computer that you can use on any TV or monitor. It also has a secure folder where you can hide anything you want, whether that's apps, notes, pictures, you name it. And then there's the Now Bar found on the lock screen and even in the notification bar, you can basically use this to control stuff like your music, timers and a whole bunch of other things. But what's special about the iPhone that Samsung doesn't have? Well, a big one is the Dynamic Island. It's been around for three years and it's special because you can do a lot with it. The iPhone also has an action button, which you can assign to do pretty much anything you want, even if that is a bit of quick gaming. It also has a dedicated camera button, which I don't actually use that often, but it is nice to have. And Samsung doesn't have either of those. The iPhone also has 3D or spatial photos. It's a really unique feature that you find inside the Photos app. And one of the reasons it can do these is because it has LiDAR, which it even uses to help with autofocus. Oh, and another big one is car crash detection, which has literally saved lives. So they both have a bunch of exclusive features, but let's be honest, Samsung's are just more useful and practical than iPhones. I mean that privacy display. So it gets the point. But what about cameras? Okay, take a look at these two videos and let's see if you can guess which phone took which video. But first, even though these cameras do feel identical, they are actually quite different. Samsung still has a 200 megapixel main camera, 50 meg telephoto and a 12 meg selfie cam. The iPhone has a 48 megapixel main camera and 48 megapixel zoom, but it has a new 18 megapixel square selfie camera, which means you don't have to physically rotate the phone to switch between portrait or landscape selfies. You just do it with a button. But as for the actual quality of selfie pics, you won't see a huge difference between them. But those extra megapixels on the iPhone do make the selfies slightly more crisp. Same with their normal cameras. They look almost identical. But since Samsung has 200 megapixels, it does have slightly more detail. Night photos both are good, but I do prefer iPhone. The lighting just looks so much better, while Samsung's looks kind of washed out. Now, zoom, this is where it gets interesting because iPhone has four times optical zoom. Samsung has five times, but the iPhone is actually more detailed. Same with digital zoom. Samsung goes up to 100 times. iPhone only does 40. But even then, if you zoom in on the iPhone, it actually looks better. Ultrawide pics, I'd say they're practically identical. The only difference is iPhone's is a bit wider at 0.5, while Samsung is 0.6. Now, video, this one's tough. So, Samsung can shoot in 8K, compared to the 4K on iPhone. And both of them can also shoot in LOG, which is a very low contrast video meant to keep more detail in for cinematic edits. And even though Samsung does 8K LOG, the iPhone just looks better. Samsung does also have a brand new mind-blowing feature called Horizontal Lock Video, which iPhone doesn't. And essentially what this does is it locks the rotation, so handheld footage stays perfectly leveled, and it's actually crazy at how good Samsung does this. But as for that regular video, let's see if you guys guessed right. This one was shot with the S26 Ultra, and this one with the 17 Pro Max. Go on, be honest in the comments, and let me know if you got that one right. So, when it comes to photos, these two are practically identical. Samsung has come a long way with its cameras, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to video, there is just something about iPhone's quality that is fractionally better than Samsung, and I definitely think iPhone has a better selfie cam overall. So because of that, it gets the point, and now they're a tie, but not for long. Okay, now these two bad boys have the best screens, but which one is better? Size-wise, they're basically the same. They're both really bright too. Indoors, they can get bright enough to practically sizzle your eyes. But outdoors, the iPhone is usually brighter, because it can hit up to 3000 nits, while the Samsung can only get up to 2600. They both also have always-on displays, which actually doesn't really drain the battery that much. But that's basically where their similarities end, because the S26 Ultra screen has had a big display upgrade. Firstly, it now simulates a 10-bit display, which means smoother color banding on photos and videos like this. But obviously, the biggest upgrade is this new privacy display. Like literally, no other phone, including the iPhone, of course, has this, making the S26 Ultra the first in the world. And yeah, reflectivity is also a bit better on the Samsung too. And so for the first time in a very long time, these screens are now completely different. But even though they are so different, they actually have one thing in common. They're both incredibly easy to damage. I mean, these phones are so big that dropping them almost always results in a scratch or a crack, unless you got one of these. This is the classic hybrid and cyber-tough case from ESR. And yes, I have spoken about ESR cases before, but I just cannot recommend them enough. They've got corner cushions, this nifty camera guard, that doubles as a super useful kickstand, and even a MagSafe back, meaning you can snap the S26 Ultra or the 17 Pro Max onto any wireless charger. Like this car charger that's also from ESR. It charges them really quickly using 25 watts and even keeps them cool with a fan on the back. Damn. The cherry on top though is their screen protectors. You just pull once and boom, it's on. It's made of Corning glass, super tough stuff. And it's anti-reflective. So even though these can both easily get damaged, you can equally protect them with a case from ESR. Boom. Link down below. But as for which screen is actually better? Well, there is no doubt about it, but Samsung's new screen tech is on a whole nother level now. So it takes the point, but speed is where things get interesting. Now to test speed and see which one's the fastest, I did five tests. Test one was simple, a power-up test, just to see which storage and software is faster. And the iPhone actually turned on first. Okay. Test two was gaming graphics, starting with which one opens the game first. It was super close, but again, iPhone was actually a bit faster, by like a split second. But as for the actual gaming, they're basically identical. So to really push them, I ran 3DMark, a gaming benchmark app that pushes both phones to their max. And Samsung actually came out on top. It was 4% faster than the iPhone. Interesting. Next, I did a video export test to see which chip was faster overall. An iPhone usually wins this test, but this time Samsung was much faster, by like an entire minute. Okay, but then I tested AI speed and I made sure all the connections were off so that everything runs on device. So to test them, I used object erase first. Selecting everything was fine. It went super quick, but as I went to erase on the Samsung, boom, I got this connection message, meaning it wouldn't process the image until I connected back to Wi-Fi. But once I did, it went super quick. And as you can see, the results were really good. Samsung almost always has better results than iPhone. I mean, you can literally see it here. I also tried Samsung's Creative Studio and iPhone's Image Playground to generate a wallpaper. And as I went to generate, again, I got a message on Samsung to turn off processing on device. So both times, Samsung actually needed a connection to generate while iPhone did everything on device using its own chip. So even though Samsung has a chip made for AI, it doesn't really seem to be processing most of that AI on the device, whereas iPhone is. Either way, it's really up to you. And both these chips are super powerful, great with gaming, so they both get the point. All right, now here's everything these can and cannot customize. Weather wallpapers, Samsung can, iPhone can't. 3D wallpapers, iPhone can, Samsung can't. Animated wallpapers, Samsung can, even using TikTok videos, while the iPhone can't do any of that. Changing the app icon themes, Samsung does this really easily, while on iPhone, you need a third-party app. When it comes to app colors, both can do this, except iPhone's is actually better. On Samsung, you're just stuck with a few basic color options. I mean, iPhone can even auto-change icon colors depending on your case color, which is so cool. But Samsung has transparent widgets, like this gallery widget, while the iPhone can't do that, which really sucks. Quick settings and control panel customization, both can, but credit to Apple for doing this first. Samsung only recently copied this one. But let's not forget, Samsung has GoodLock, which lets you customize everything. I'm talking animation speeds, unlock effects. I mean, that is so cool. Colors and literally everything. Plus, with Samsung, you can even download custom launches, while the iPhone is stuck with iOS. And that's all you get. So yeah, iPhone is better than before, but Samsung still takes this point because there is no beating GoodLock. But now, let's talk about the batteries. So believe it or not, but Samsung has actually had the same battery for six years. Like, what? iPhones, however, have been slowly increasing theirs, but it's been like tiny upgrades each time. So right now, they're basically identical. 5,000 milliamps on the Samsung, 5,088 on the iPhone, if you've got the eSIM-only version, and the regular SIM version is smaller at 4,800. But charging speeds, that's where things change, especially for Samsung. It can now use a 60-watt charger, meaning it can charge from 0 to 75% in just 30 minutes, or 0 to 100% in just over 40 minutes. Wow. iPhone is capped at 40 watts, so it's a bit slower, 0 to 50% in 20 minutes, or 0 to 100% in 75 minutes. Damn. Wireless charging, though, they both have at 25 watts, and a full charge takes just under two hours. Nothing too crazy. And as for battery life, normal use will get you about a day, a day and a half, maybe two days. But if you use them like nonstop, the Samsung gets you maybe around 30 minutes extra compared to the 12 hours on iPhone. Honestly, the average person will barely notice a difference. They are just so similar. So they both get the points. But now this is where things start to get heated. Now, let's see who has better advanced features. Starting with photo editing and not just any editing, but text editing. This is brand new on the Samsung. You just type what it is you want to change and bam, it even looks completely real. iPhone can't do this yet. What about photo erasing? Well, as you saw earlier, they both can do it. But again, Samsung just does this way better. Another new advanced feature on the Samsung is audio erase. You just play a video on, let's say YouTube, for example, and then up here in quick settings, you can adjust the strength of the background noise so that the voices get much clearer, which again, iPhone just can't do. Rewriting text. Both can do it pretty much the exact same. They both also have call assist, which answers calls and talks for you. But iPhone has hold assist, which tells you when call holding ends. I mean, it's pretty useful. The iPhone can also take two separate emojis and merge them together to create one. But Samsung can't. Then assistants. iPhone obviously has Siri and chat GPT, but Samsung now has three. Gemini, Bixby, as well as a new one called Perplexity, which is kind of like a super up-to-date search assistant. And Samsung now has automated actions. It's basically where it can take control of your entire screen and do things like order you an Uber, which is crazy. I tested it out. It's nuts. While the iPhone has none of that. But it is only available in the US and Korea for now. So they are both packed with special features. But because Samsung have a few extras, it takes the point. So far, that's not looking so good for iPhone, is it? Okay. Now, when it comes to user experience, which one do you guys think is easier to use? iPhone's ecosystem, you're basically locked in with Apple. So it works great, but only with Macs, iPads, AirPods, pretty much everything Apple. Samsung is way more flexible though, because it works with any Windows PC using phone link. Plus it connects to Samsung TVs, tablets, and a bunch of other appliances. Next is software. Samsung gives you around seven years guaranteed upgrades, which is nice. But it can get full of tiny security updates and it can get really annoying. And with iPhone, there's actually no guarantee. You'll maybe get six to seven years, maybe not. But historically, it tends to be around six years. But as for the actual software experience, honestly, it's basically the same now. And that's because Apple and Samsung just keep copying each other. Gesture navigation, Apple did that first. Dark mode, Samsung did that first. Fingerprint sensor, Apple was actually first. And always on display, Samsung had that first. So if one gets something, the other will eventually get it. Even if it took iPhone seven years to get USB-C. So for user experience, they both get the points. But now let's talk price. Okay. So the iPhone has been the same $1,199 for three years. Nice. Samsung remains $1,299. But in the UK, it just jumped from £1,249 to $1,279. So Samsung is almost a hundred bucks more expensive. But you do get better trade-in value with Samsung. Right now, it's up to $720 compared to $685 you can get with an iPhone. So okay, that's slightly better than what Apple offers. But if you take a look at how often Samsung has price drops and sales on Amazon, well, that makes a huge difference. Whereas with iPhone, it basically never goes on sale. Even though it's $100 more upfront, you're likely to get more value overall for the Samsung. So it takes the point, bringing the score to eight for Samsung and four for iPhone. Ouch. Making the S26 Ultra the best smartphone again. Wiping the floor with iPhone. But let me know what you guys think. And don't forget to subscribe because we're on the way to 3 million and I'll see you in the next one. Toodles!