Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: I didn’t expect this winner

https://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s26-ultra-vs-iphone-17-pro-max-3643593/

Publish Date: 2026-02-26 05:35:00

The new Galaxy S26 Ultra is out, and it’s appealing enough to bring back Android fans who went into the Apple camp. While Samsung has made some weird choices with the Ultra over the last few iterations — keeping the design largely unchanged and even downgrading the iconic S Pen — this year feels a little different. The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with tons of tiny improvements that make it so much more tempting when put together.

If you got yourself an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and it’s making you pull your hair out with all its Apple-y quirks, the Galaxy S26 Ultra may be the perfect phone that brings you back home.

What makes the Galaxy S26 Ultra most tempting?

3 votes

60W fast charging

Built-in S Pen

New AI tools

33%

The display upgrades

67%

It all adds up

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

Samsung’s priciest slab phone has stayed visibly unchanged for far too long. It almost felt like Samsung was playing it too safe, even while charging a premium for it. The Galaxy S26 Ultra seems to be the variant that fixes a lot of the complaints we’ve had so far.

Last year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra was a fantastic phone, per se, except for its ergonomics. It was too big, too rectangular, and too sharp to be used comfortably — even with two hands. It’s as if Samsung was listening to us and has fixed literally every single one of those issues. The corner radius of the Ultra model now matches the regular Galaxy S26 models, so its sharp corners won’t dig into your palm during one-handed use. The phone is also thinner and a touch lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro Max this time, which is a much-welcome change in the era of ever-growing phone sizes.

Despite the newfound thinness, the Galaxy S26 Ultra now comes with an improved vapor chamber for better thermals, taking inspiration from the iPhone 17 Pro Max. But it’s still a feat that Samsung could achieve that while making the phone thinner and lighter.