Apple iPhone Air vs Samsung Galaxy S26

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Comparing the Apple iPhone Air vs Samsung Galaxy S26 across performance, display, camera, battery, storage, expert reviews and user rating to help determine the better smartphone.

Here is the summary of the results:

Performance: Samsung Galaxy S26 scores higher on the Geekbench Multi-Core test with 11,249, while Apple iPhone Air scores 9,481, making Samsung Galaxy S26 the better performer.


Display: Apple iPhone Air offers a screen size of 6.5 inches, while Samsung Galaxy S26 offers 6.3 inches, making Apple iPhone Air the larger display of the two. Samsung Galaxy S26 features a Dynamic AMOLED 2x display compared to Apple iPhone Air's Super Retina XDR OLED, making Samsung Galaxy S26 the better display of the two.


Rear Camera: Samsung Galaxy S26 offers a higher rear camera resolution with 50 MP, while Apple iPhone Air offers 48 MP, making Samsung Galaxy S26 better for rear camera photography.


Front Camera: Apple iPhone Air offers a higher front camera resolution with 18 MP, while Samsung Galaxy S26 offers 12 MP, making Apple iPhone Air better for front camera photography.


Battery: Samsung Galaxy S26 offers a higher battery capacity with 4300 mAh, while Apple iPhone Air offers 3149 mAh, making Samsung Galaxy S26 better for longer battery life.


Storage: Both Apple iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S26 offer the same internal storage of 256 GB.


Expert Review: Samsung Galaxy S26 receives a higher expert rating of 8.3 from the editorial team, while Apple iPhone Air is rated 8.1.


User Rating: Samsung Galaxy S26 receives a higher user rating of 4.7, while Apple iPhone Air has a rating of 4.6.

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Summary

Spec Score

94%
95%

Release Date

19 Sep, 2025
11 Mar, 2026

Performance

Apple A19 Pro
Samsung Exynos 2600 S5E9965
Hexa Core (upto 4.26 GHz)
Deca Core (upto 3.8 GHz)
8 GB RAM
12 GB RAM

Display

6.5 inches (16.51 cm)
6.3 inches (16 cm)
Super Retina XDR OLED
Dynamic AMOLED 2x
1260x2736 px (FHD+)
1080x2340 px (FHD+)
120 Hz Refresh Rate
120 Hz Refresh Rate

Rear Camera

48 MP
Primary Camera (upto 2x Optical Zoom)
50 MP
Wide Angle Primary Camera (upto 2x Optical Zoom)
N/A
12 MP
Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
N/A
10 MP
Telephoto Camera (upto 3x Optical Zoom)

Front Camera

18 MP
Wide Angle Lens
12 MP
Wide Angle Lens

Battery

3149 mAh
4300 mAh
20W Fast Charging
25W Fast Charging
Wireless Charging
Wireless Charging

Storage

256 GB
256 GB
NVMe
UFS 4.0

Expert Review

8.1/10
8.3/10

Pros

  • Ultraslim & lightweight
  • Pro-grade display
  • Smooth performance
  • Excellent primary camera
  • Slim and easy-to-carry design
  • Bright and vibrant flat display
  • Smooth and responsive performance
  • Long-term software support

Cons

  • No dedicated telephoto & ultrawide lens
  • No stereo speakers
  • Pricey
  • Slower charging than rivals
  • Battery life could be better

User Ratings

4.6/5
(259 ratings)
4.7/5
(224 ratings)

Benchmarks (The higher, the better)

2,067,200
AnTuTu Score
3,113,347
AnTuTu Score
N/A
11h 22m
Battery Life (PC Mark)

Compare Prices

₹101,900
₹74,999

Compare in 360 View

Video

Videos
1 More Video
There are no videos available for the device.

User Feedback

General

Launch Date

Sep 09, 2025
(Official)
Feb 25, 2026
(Official)

Operating System

iOS v26
Android v16

OS Updates

N/A
7 Years

Security Updates

N/A
7 Years

Custom UI

N/A
Samsung One UI

Performance

Performance Rating

Excellent
Best In Class

Chipset

Apple A19 Pro
Samsung Exynos 2600 S5E9965

Processor

Hexa Core

4.26 GHz, Dual core Quad core
Deca Core

3.8 GHz, Single core, Arm C1-Ultra 3.25 GHz, Tri core, ARM C1-Pro 2.75 GHz, Hexa Core, ARM C1-Pro

Architecture (The higher, the better)

64 bit
64 bit

Fabrication (The lower, the better)

3 nm
2 nm

Graphics (GPU)

Apple GPU (Five-core graphics)
Xclipse 960

RAM

8 GB
12 GB

RAM Type

LPDDR5X
LPDDR5X

Performance Test Results

AnTuTu Score (The higher, the better) AnTuTu benchmark measures overall performance of a phone by stress-testing CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.

2,067,200
3,113,347

Bootup Time (The lower, the better)

16.0 s
11.0 s

Gaming Test Results

Wild Life Extreme (The higher, the better) Wild Life Extreme is a classic mobile benchmark; it renders in 4K to test the peak performance of a wide range of devices.

N/A
6,665

Battery Drain* (The lower, the better)

8.0 %
6.0 %

Heating* (The lower, the better)

12.0 %
12.6 %
* after 30 mins of gaming

Display

Display Rating

Excellent
Excellent

Display Type

Super Retina XDR OLED
Dynamic AMOLED 2x

Screen Size

6.5 inches  (16.51 cm)
6.3 inches  (16 cm)

Resolution

1260x2736 px (FHD+)
1080x2340 px (FHD+)

Peak Brightness

3000 nits
2600 nits

HBM Brightness

1600 nits
N/A

Refresh Rate

120 Hz
120 Hz

Aspect Ratio

N/A
19.5:9

Pixel Density

460 ppi
409 ppi

Screen to Body Ratio (calculated)

88.69 %
90.64 %

Screen Protection

Yes
Corning Gorilla Glass Glass Victus 2

Bezel-less Display

Yes
Yes with punch-hole display

Screen to Body Ratio (claimed by the brand)

N/A
90.9 %

Design

Height

156.2 mm
149.6 mm

Width

74.7 mm
71.7 mm

Thickness

5.64 mm
7.2 mm

Weight

165 grams
167 grams

Build Material

Back: Ceramic Shield 2
Back: Gorilla Glass Victus 2

Water Resistance

Yes Water resistant IP68 (up to 30 minutes in a depth of 6 meter)
Yes Water resistant IP68 (up to 30 minutes in a depth of 1.5 meter)

Ruggedness

N/A
Dust proof

Rear Camera

Rear Camera Rating

Very Good
Excellent

Resolution

48 MP
Primary Camera10x Digital Zoom 2x Optical Zoomf/1.626 mm focal length 1/1.56" sensor size Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
50 MP
Primary Camera2x Optical Zoomf/1.8 Wide Angle 85° field-of-view24 mm focal length 1/1.56" sensor size S5KGN3 1µm pixel size
N/A
12 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera1/2.55" sensor size 1.4µm pixel size
N/A
10 MP
f/2.4 Telephoto Camera67 mm focal length 1/3.94" sensor size 1µm pixel size

Autofocus

Yes Multi-directional Phase Detection Autofocus
Yes Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus

OIS

Yes Sensor Shift Optical Image Stabilisation
Yes

Flash

Yes LED Flash
Yes LED Flash

Image Resolution

N/A
6150 x 8150 Pixels

Shooting Modes

High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
Burst mode
N/A

Camera Features

10 x Digital Zoom
2 x Optical Zoom
Digital Zoom
2 x Optical Zoom
Auto Flash

Video Recording

4k @24/25/30/60 fps
Full HD @25/30/60 fps
HD @30 fps
8k @30 fps

Video Recording Features

Dual Video Recording
Slow Motion
Night Time-Lapse
Action Mode
Audio Zoom
Bokeh portrait video

Front Camera

Front Camera Rating

Best In Class
Excellent

Resolution

18 MP
f/1.9 Wide Angle Primary Camera
12 MP
f/2.2 Wide Angle Primary Camera26 mm focal length 1/3.2" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

Autofocus

Yes Phase Detection Autofocus
Yes Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus

Flash

Yes Retina Flash
Yes Screen flash

Camera Features

Wide Angle Selfie
N/A

Video Recording

4k @24/25/30/60 fps
Full HD @25/30/60 fps
Full HD @30 fps

Compare Camera Samples

Battery

Battery Rating

Excellent
Excellent

Capacity

3149 mAh
4300 mAh

Battery Type

Li-ion
Li-ion

Quick Charging

Yes 20W Fast Charging 50% in 30 minutes
Yes 25W Fast Charging v2.0 55% in 30 minutes

Wireless Charging

Yes 20W Wireless Charging
Yes 15W Wireless Charging

Wireless Reverse Charging

Yes
Yes 4.5W Wireless Reverse Charging

Battery Test Results

Battery Life (PC Mark) (The higher, the better) PCMark Battery benchmark measures battery life of a phone with various activities such as web browsing, photo editing, writing, video editing, etc.

N/A
11h 22m

Charging Time (20% to 100%) (The lower, the better)

1h 35m 0s
1h 12m 0s

Storage

Internal Storage

256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
256 GB / 512 GB

Storage Type

NVMe
UFS 4.0

Expandable Storage

No
No

Network & Connectivity

SIM Slot(s)

Dual SIM
Dual SIM

SIM Type

SIM1: eSIM SIM2: eSIM
SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano/eSIM

Network Support

5G 4G
5G 4G

VoLTE

Yes
Yes

SIM 1

5G Bands:
FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N30 / N66
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N53 / N77 / N78 / N79
5G Bands:
FDD N1
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 3500(band 48) / 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 2100(band 34) / 1900(band 39) / 3500(band 42)
FD-LTE 1700(band 66) / 2100(band 1) / 1500(band 32) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 2300(band 30) / 700 (band 12)
4G Bands:
FD-LTE 2100(band 1)
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SIM 2

5G Bands:
FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N30 / N66 / N70 / N75
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N53 / N77 / N78 / N79
5G Bands:
FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N66
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 2100(band 34) / 1900(band 39) / 3500(band 42) / 3500(band 48)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 1500(band 32) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 2300(band 30) / 1700(band 66) / 700 (band 12)
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 1900(band 39)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26)
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SAR Value

N/A
Head: 0.956 W/kg

Wi-Fi

Yes Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 be) MIMO
Yes Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/be) MIMO

Wi-Fi Features

Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot
Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot

Bluetooth

Yes v6.0
Yes v5.4

GPS

Yes
Yes with A-GPS

NFC

Yes
Yes

IR Blaster

N/A
No

Multimedia

Audio Jack

USB Type-C
USB Type-C

Sensors

Fingerprint Sensor

No
Yes

Fingerprint Sensor Position

N/A
On-screen

Fingerprint Sensor Type

N/A
Ultrasonic

Other Sensors

Light sensor Proximity sensor Compass
Accelerometer

Compare Prices

₹101,900
₹74,999