Apple iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Comparing the Apple iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 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 Ultra scores higher on the Geekbench Multi-Core test with 11,407, while Apple iPhone XS Max scores 2,760, making Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the better performer.

Display: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a screen size of 6.9 inches, while Apple iPhone XS Max offers 6.5 inches, making Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the larger display of the two. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra features a Dynamic AMOLED 2x display compared to Apple iPhone XS Max's OLED, making Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the better display of the two.

Rear Camera: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a higher rear camera resolution with 200 MP, while Apple iPhone XS Max offers 12 MP, making Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra better for rear camera photography.

Front Camera: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a higher front camera resolution with 12 MP, while Apple iPhone XS Max offers 7 MP, making Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra better for front camera photography.

Battery: Apple iPhone XS Max delivers longer battery life with None, while Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers 14h 26m, making Apple iPhone XS Max the better pick for all day usage.

Storage: Apple iPhone XS Max offers higher internal storage with 64 GB, while Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra offers 256 GB, making Apple iPhone XS Max the better option for storage.

Expert Review: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra receives a higher expert rating of 8.7 from the editorial team, while Apple iPhone XS Max is rated 8.

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

Apple iPhone XS Max

₹109,900

(Out of Stock)

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

₹130,999

@ Amazon

Summary

Release Date

28 Sep, 2018

11 Mar, 2026

18 Sep, 2026

Performance


Apple A12 Bionic	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5	Samsung Exynos 2500 S5E9955
Hexa Core (upto 2.49 GHz)	Octa Core (upto 4.61 GHz)	Deca Core (upto 3.3 GHz)
4 GB RAM	12 GB RAM	8 GB RAM

Display


6.5 inches (16.51 cm)	6.9 inches (17.53 cm)	6.736 inches (171.1 mm)
OLED	Dynamic AMOLED 2x	Dynamic AMOLED 2x
1242x2688 px (FHD+)	1440x3120 px (QHD+)	1080x2340 px (FHD+)
N/A	120 Hz Refresh Rate	120 Hz Refresh Rate

Rear Camera


12 MP Wide Angle Primary Camera	200 MP Wide Angle Primary Camera	50 MP Wide Angle Primary Camera
12 MP Telephoto Camera (upto 2x Optical Zoom)	10 MP Telephoto Camera (upto 3x Optical Zoom)	12 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
N/A	50 MP Telephoto Camera (upto 5x Optical Zoom)	8 MP Telephoto Camera (upto 3x Optical Zoom)
N/A	50 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera	N/A

Front Camera


7 MP	12 MP Wide Angle Lens	12 MP Wide Angle Lens

Battery


3174 mAh	5000 mAh	4900 mAh
Fast Charging	60W Super Fast Charging	45W Fast Charging
Wireless Charging	Wireless Charging	Wireless Charging

Storage

64 GB	256 GB	128 GB
NVMe	UFS 4.0	UFS 4.0

Expert Review

8.0/10

Read Expert Review

8.7/10

Read Expert Review

8.4/10

Pros

Superb, super-sized display
Dual-SIM support, finally
Very capable cameras
Smooth performance and good battery life

Privacy display is useful
Excellent cameras & performance
AI & ecosystem features
Good battery life, fast charging

Large and smooth display
Slim and lightweight build
Long-term software support
Impressive dual speakers

Cons

More expensive than both your kidneys
Not comfortable for one-handed use
No fast charger or 3.5mm adapter in the box

No magnetic Qi2 charging
Modest upgrades over the predecessor

Battery life could be better
Less suited for power users

User Ratings

4.6/5

(2,098 ratings)

4.7/5

(605 ratings)

N/A

Benchmarks (The higher, the better)

447,893 AnTuTu Score	3,905,605 AnTuTu Score	2,471,984 AnTuTu Score
N/A	14h 26m Battery Life (PC Mark)	10h 16m Battery Life (PC Mark)

Compare Prices

Not Available in any store

₹130,999

@ Amazon

₹79,999

@ Samsung Shop

Video

4 More Videos

There are no videos available for the device.

User Feedback

General

Launch Date

Sep 28, 2018

(Official)

Feb 25, 2026

(Official)

Sep 04, 2026

(Official)

Operating System

iOS v12.0

Android v16

Android v17

OS Updates

N/A

7 Year

Security Updates

N/A

7 Year

Custom UI

N/A

Samsung One UI

Performance

Performance Rating

Good

Best In Class

Excellent

Chipset

Apple A12 Bionic

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SM8850-AC

View Details

Samsung Exynos 2500 S5E9955

View Details

Processor

Hexa Core

2.49 GHz, Dual core, Vortex 1.52 GHz, Quad core, Tempest

Octa core

4.61 GHz, Dual core, Oryon 3.63 GHz, Hexa Core, Oryon

Deca Core

3.3 GHz, Single core, Cortex X925 2.74 GHz, Dual core, Cortex A725 2.36 GHz, Penta Core, Cortex A725 1.8 GHz, Dual core, Cortex A520

Co-Processor

M12

N/A

Architecture (The higher, the better)

64 bit

Fabrication (The lower, the better)

7 nm

3 nm

Graphics (GPU)

Apple GPU (four-core graphics)

Adreno 840

Galileo

RAM

4 GB

12 GB / 16 GB

8 GB

RAM Type

LPDDR4X

LPDDR5X

Cooling Technology

N/A

Vapor Chamber

Vapor Chamber Cooling 5526 mm²

Performance Test Results

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

447,893

3,905,605

2,471,984

Bootup Time (The lower, the better)

29.0 s

11.0 s

16.0 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

7,487

5,513

Battery Drain* (The lower, the better)

N/A

8.0 %

N/A

Heating* (The lower, the better)

N/A

14.1 %

N/A

* after 30 mins of gaming

Display

Display Rating

Excellent

Display Type

OLED

Dynamic AMOLED 2x

Screen Size

6.5 inches (16.51 cm)

6.9 inches (17.53 cm)

6.736 inches (171.1 mm)

Resolution

1242x2688 px (FHD+)

1440x3120 px (QHD+)

1080x2340 px (FHD+)

Brightness

625 nits

N/A

Peak Brightness

N/A

2600 nits

1900 nits

HBM Brightness

N/A

1200 nits

Refresh Rate

N/A

120 Hz

Aspect Ratio

19.5:9

Pixel Density

456 ppi

498 ppi

382 ppi

Screen to Body Ratio (calculated)

84.89 %

91.27 %

89.69 %

Screen Protection

Yes

Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2

Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+

Bezel-less Display

Yes with notch

Yes with punch-hole display

HDR 10 / HDR+ Support

Yes

Yes HDR 10+

Screen to Body Ratio (claimed by the brand)

N/A

89.69 %

Design

Height

157.5 mm

163.6 mm

161.6 mm

Width

77.4 mm

78.1 mm

76.9 mm

Thickness

7.7 mm

7.9 mm

7.4 mm

Weight

208 grams

214 grams

193 grams

Build Material

Back: Gorilla Glass

Back: Gorilla Glass Victus 2

Back: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+

Water Resistance

Yes Water resistant IP68 (up to 30 minutes in a depth of 2 meter)

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

Ruggedness

Dust proof

Rear Camera

Rear Camera Rating

Very Good

Best In Class

Excellent

Resolution

12 MP
Primary Cameraf/1.8 Wide Angle26 mm focal length 1/2.55" sensor size Back-illuminated sensor BSI 1.4µm pixel size

200 MP
Primary Cameraf/1.4 Wide Angle 85° field-of-view24 mm focal length 1/1.3" sensor size S5KHP2 ISO-CELL 0.6µm pixel size

50 MP
Primary Camera10x Digital Zoomf/1.8 Wide Angle 84° field-of-view24 mm focal length 1/1.56" sensor size S5KGNK 1µm pixel size

12 MP
f/2.4 Telephoto Camera52 mm focal length 1/3.4" sensor size 1µm pixel size

10 MP
f/2.4 Telephoto Camera67 mm focal length 1/3.52" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

12 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera26 mm focal length 1/3.2" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

N/A

50 MP
f/2.9 Telephoto Camera111 mm focal length 1/3.94" sensor size 0.7µm pixel size

8 MP
f/2.4 Telephoto Camera1/4.4" sensor size 1µm pixel size

N/A

50 MP
f/1.9 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera1/2.5" sensor size 0.7µm pixel size

N/A

Autofocus

Yes Phase Detection Autofocus

Yes Dual Pixel Autofocus Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus

Yes Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus

OIS

Yes

Flash

Yes Quad LED True Tone Flash

Yes LED Flash

Image Resolution

4000 x 3000 Pixels

16000 x 12500 Pixels

6144 x 8192 Pixels

Settings

Exposure compensation ISO control

Shooting Modes

Continuous Shooting
Burst mode

Continuous Shooting
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)

Camera Features

Auto Flash
Face detection
Touch to focus

Digital Zoom
Optical Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Filters
Touch to focus

10 x Digital Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Touch to focus

Video Recording

4k @60 fps
Full HD @240 fps

8k @30 fps
4k @60 fps
Full HD @240 fps

8k @30 fps
4k @30/60 fps
Full HD @30/60/240 fps

Video Recording Features

Optical Image stabilization

Dual Video Recording
Slow Motion
Video HDR
Bokeh portrait video
Video Pro Mode
Stereo recording

Dual Video Recording
Slow Motion
Video HDR
Video Pro Mode

Front Camera

Front Camera Rating

Very Good

Excellent

Resolution

7 MP
f/2.2 Primary Camera32 mm focal length BSI Sensor

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

12 MP
f/2.2 Wide Angle Primary Camera1/3.2" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

Autofocus

N/A

Yes Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus

Flash

Yes Retina Flash

Yes Screen flash

Video Recording

Full HD @30 fps

4k @60 fps
Full HD @30 fps

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

Battery

Battery Rating

Excellent

Capacity

3174 mAh

5000 mAh

4900 mAh

Battery Type

Li-ion

Quick Charging

Yes Fast Charging 50% in 30 minutes

Yes 60W Super Fast Charging v3.0 75% in 30 minutes

Yes 45W Fast Charging v2.0 69% in 70 minutes

Wireless Charging

Yes

Yes 25W Wireless Charging

Yes 15W Wireless Charging

Reverse Charging

N/A

Yes

Wireless Reverse Charging

N/A

Yes 4.5W Wireless Reverse Charging

Yes

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

14h 26m

10h 16m

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

N/A

37m

1h 6m

Storage

Internal Storage

64 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB

256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB

128 GB / 512 GB

Storage Type

NVMe

UFS 4.0

Expandable Storage

Network & Connectivity

SIM Slot(s)

Dual SIM

SIM Type

SIM1: Nano SIM2: eSIM

SIM1: Nano/eSIM SIM2: eSIM

Network Support

5G Not Supported 4G

5G 4G

VoLTE

Yes

SIM 1

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 2100(band 34) / 1900(band 39)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 14) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 2300(band 30)

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N66
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N14 / N20 / N26 / N28 / N30 / N66 / N70 / N71
TDD N38 / N41 / N48 / N77 / N78

N/A

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)

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 3500(band 48) / 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) / 1900(band 2) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 14) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 700 (band 12)

SIM 2

4G Bands:

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N66
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N14 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N30 / N66 / N70 / N71
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N77 / N78

N/A

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 1900(band 39) / 3500(band 48)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 12) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 14) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 600(Band 71) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 700(band 29) / 2300(band 30) / 1700(band 66)

SAR Value

N/A

Head: 1.6 W/kg

Wi-Fi

Yes Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) 5GHz MIMO

Yes Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/be/ax) 5GHz 6GHz MIMO

Yes Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/e/g/n/ac/ax) 5GHz 6GHz MIMO

Wi-Fi Features

Mobile Hotspot

Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot

Bluetooth

Yes v5.0

Yes v6.0

Yes v5.4

GPS

Yes with A-GPS Glonass

NFC

Yes

Multimedia

Stereo Speakers

Yes

Audio Jack

Lightning

USB Type-C

Audio Features

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus

N/A

Dolby Atmos

Sensors

Fingerprint Sensor

Yes

Fingerprint Sensor Position

N/A

On-screen

Fingerprint Sensor Type

N/A

Ultrasonic

Optical

Other Sensors

Light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Barometer Compass Gyroscope

Light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Barometer Compass Gyroscope Geomagnetic sensor Hall sensor

Applications

iTunes Store FaceTime Find My iPhone Find My Friends

N/A

Compare Prices

Not Available in any store

₹130,999

@ Amazon

₹79,999

@ Samsung Shop