Phone comparison · UK prices · October 2026
iPhone 17 Pro or Galaxy S26+: which should you buy?
The short answer
The iPhone 17 Pro leads on the camera and is smaller. The Galaxy S26+ leads on battery life, is thinner, and has the bigger screen. The iPhone 17 Pro costs £100 more than the Samsung.
Comparing 2 phones
iPhone 17 ProOverall score 88/100
Galaxy S26+Overall score 89/100
What the extra money buys
The iPhone 17 Pro costs £100 more than the Samsung.
You get: a longer zoom, a sharper selfie camera and a smaller body.
You give up: a bigger battery, faster charging by cable, a bigger screen and a thinner body.
Worth it if you want a longer zoom and a sharper selfie camera. Keep the money if a bigger battery matters more to you.
Differences in daily life
Battery and charging
Best: Galaxy S26+The Galaxy S26+ has the bigger battery (4,900 mAh vs 3,988 mAh on the iPhone), which may help it last longer between charges.
It also charges faster by cable (45 W vs 25 W on the iPhone), so it tops up quicker with a compatible charger.
Screen
EvenBoth have similar peak brightness (3,000 nits and 2,600 nits) and similar sharpness (460 ppi and 516 ppi), close enough not to matter much day to day.
Camera
Best: iPhone 17 ProThe iPhone 17 Pro's zoom lens reaches further (4x vs 3x on the Samsung), for closer shots of faraway subjects.
Its selfie camera also has more megapixels (18 MP vs 12 MP on the Samsung), so selfies and video calls can look more detailed.
Speed
EvenBoth have similar benchmark results, close enough not to matter much day to day.
Size and weight
Depends on youThe iPhone 17 Pro is smaller overall (150 × 71.9 mm vs 158.4 × 75.8 mm on the Samsung), so it is easier to reach across with one hand.
The Galaxy S26+ has the bigger screen (6.7 inches vs 6.3 inches on the iPhone), which gives more room for videos, maps and reading.
Still can't decide?
Up to 3 quick questions, one tap each.
Scores
| Score | iPhone 17 Pro | Galaxy S26+ |
|---|---|---|
| Battery | 60 | 74 |
| Screen | 91 | 92 |
| Camera | 93 | 89 |
| Speed | 92 | 94 |
| Toughness | 95 | 92 |
| Connections and extras | 98 | 95 |
| Overall | 88 | 89 |
How these scores are made: Each score is calculated from the maker's published specs and benchmark results, using one fixed formula for every phone. We have not tested these phones in the hand. How we score phones
Specs side by side
Display
- Type
- LTPO Super Retina XDR OLEDDynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X
- Size
- 6.3 inches6.7 inches
- Resolution
- 1206×2622 pixels1440 × 3120 pixels
- PPI
- 460516
- Screen-to-body ratio
- 89.4 %90.7 %
- Display features
- Capacitive Touchscreen Dolby Vision HDR10 Multi-touch displayCapacitive Touchscreen, HDR10+, Multi-touch display
- Max rated brightness
- 3000 nits2600 nits
- Screen protection
- Antireflective coating, Ceramic Shield 2 Glass, Mohs level 5Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Mohs level 5
Core Specifications
- Chipset
- Apple A19 ProQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (US and China), Samsung Exynos 2600 (International)
- CPU cores
- 58 (US and China), 10 (International)
- Fabrication Technology
- 3 nm3 nm (US and China), 2 nm (International)
- CPU max frequency
- 4260 MHz4.6 GHz (US and China), 3.8 GHz (International)
- Microarchitecture
- 2x 4.26 GHz – Performance cores 4x X.X GHz – Efficiency cores2x 4.6 GHz – Oryon V3 Phoenix L, 6x 3.62 GHz – Oryon V3 Phoenix M (US and China), 1x 3.8 GHz – C1-Ultra 3x 3.25 GHz – C1-Pro 6x 2.75 GHz – C1-Pro (International)
- GPU
- Apple A19 Pro GPUQualcomm Adreno 840 @1.20 GHz (US and China), Samsung Xclipse 960 @985 MHz (International)
- Storage
- 256GB, 512GB, 1TB256GB, 512GB
- Storage Type
- NVMeUFS 4.0
- Expandable Storage
- N/ANo
Software
- Operating System
- iOS 26Android 16 (Baklava), with up to 7 major Android upgrades
Main Camera
- Matrix
- 48 MP50 MP
- Video Resolution
- 2160p @ 24/25/30/60/100/120 fps 1080p @ 25/30/60/120/240 fps4320p @ 24/30 fps, 2160p @ 30/60 fps, 1080p @ 30/60/120/240 fps
- Video Features
- 10-bit HDR, 3D (spatial) video/audio, Apple Log 2, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), ProRes, ProRes RAW, Stereo Sound Rec10-bit HDR, Gyro-EIS, HDR10+, Stereo Sound Rec
- Features
- Photonic Engine Deep Fusion Smart HDR 5 Next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control Portrait Lighting with six effects Night mode Panorama (up to 63MP) Latest-generation Photographic Styles Spatial photos 48MP macro photography ProRAW Advanced red-eye correction Auto image stabilisation Burst mode Photo geotaggingAuto-HDR, Best Face, Horizon Lock, Panorama
- Lenses
- 48 MP , ƒ /1.6, 24 mm ( Wide-angle ), 1.22 μm , 1/1.28" Sensor size - Dual-Pixel PDAF - sensor-shift OIS 48 MP , ƒ /2.8, 100 mm ( Periscope telephoto ), 0.7 μm , x4 optical zoom, 1/2.55" Sensor size - 3D sensor‑shift OIS - PDAF 48 MP , ƒ /2.2, 13 mm , 120° ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 0.7 μm , 1/2.55" Sensor size - PDAF50 MP, ƒ/1.8, 24 mm ( Wide angle ), 1.0 μm, 1/1.56" Sensor size, - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), - predictive dual pixel PDAF 10 MP, ƒ/2.4, 67 mm ( Telephoto ), 1.0 μm, x3 Optical zoom, 1/3.94" Sensor size - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) - PDAF 12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 13 mm, 120° ( Ultra-wide angle ), 1.4 μm, 1/2.55" Sensor size - Super Steady Video
- Flash
- Dual-LED Dual-Tone FlashLED flash
Selfie camera
- Matrix
- 18 MP12 MP
- Lenses
- 18 MP , ƒ /1.9 ( Wide-angle ) - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) - PDAF12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 26 mm ( Wide angle ), 1.12 μm, 1/3.2" Sensor size, predictive dual pixel PDAF
- Video Resolution
- 2160p @ 24/25/30/60 fps 1080p @ 25/30/60/120 fps2160p @ 30/60 fps, 1080p @ 30 fps
- Video Features
- 3D (spatial) audio, Apple Log 2, Dolby Vision HDR, Gyro-EIS, HDR, ProRes RAW, Stereo Sound RecHDR10+, High Dynamic Range (HDR)
- Features
- Dolby Vision HDR High Dynamic Range (HDR)predictive dual pixel PDAF
General
- Announced
- Tuesday, 09 September 2025Wednesday, 25 February 2026
- Released
- Friday, 19 September 2025Friday, 06 March 2026
Battery
- Capacity
- 3988 mAh4900 mAh
- Wired charging power
- 25W45 W
- Wireless charging power
- 25W20 W
- Fast charging support
- noYes
- Features
- MagSafe fast wireless charging, Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging, Wired charging from 0-50% in 20 minutes (official specs),Qi2.2 wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging, Wired charging from 0-69% in 30 min (as advertised)
Battery Life Test
- Browsing
- 13:36 hh:mmN/A
- Video watching
- 8:44 hh:mmN/A
- Playing games
- 8:26 hh:mmN/A
Design
- Height
- 150 mm158.4 mm
- Width
- 71.9 mm75.8 mm
- Thickness
- 8.8 mm7.3 mm
- Weight
- 206 g190 g
- Resistance cert. meaning
- Dust-tight and water-resistant (submersible up to 6m for 30 minutes)Dust-tight and water-resistant (submersible up to 1.5m for 30 minutes)
Network
- Network Type support
- EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps, 5G, LTE, HSPA5G, LTE (CA), HSPA
- Network_5G bands
- 5G: n1 (2100), n2 (1900), n3 (1800), n5 (850), n7 (2600), n8 (900), n12 (700), n14 (700), n20 (800), n25 (1900), n26 (850), n28 (700), n29 (700), n30 (2300), n38 (2600), n40 (2300), n41 (2500), n48 (3500), n53 (2500), n66 (2100), n70 (2000), n71 (600), n75 (1500), n77 (3700), n78 (3500), n79 (4700), n258 (26000), n260 (39000), n261 (28000 MHz)n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n26, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n75, n77, n78, n257, n258, n260, n261
- Network_4G bands
- LTE: b1 (2100), b2 (1900), b3 (1800), b4 (1700), b5 (850), b7 (2600), b8 (900), b11 (1500), b12 (700), b13 (700), b14 (700), b17 (700), b18 (800), b19 (800), b20 (800), b21 (1500), b25 (1900), b26 (850), b28 (700), b29 (700), b30 (2300), b32 (1500), b34 (2000), b38 (2600), b39 (1900), b40 (2300), b41 (2500), b42 (3500), b48 (3800), b53 (2500), b66 (1700), b71 (600 MHz)b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b7, b8, b12, b13, b14, b17, b18, b19, b20, b25, b26, b28, b29, b30, b32, b38, b39, b40, b41, b48, b66, b71
- Network_2G bands
- GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz CDMA: 800 / 1900 MHzGSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, CDMA: 800 / 1900 MHz
Connectivity
- WiFi support
- Yes ( Wi-Fi 7 )Yes (Wi-Fi 7)
- USB ports
- USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort,USB Type-C 3.2, DisplayPort 1.2, USB On-The-Go
- USB connectivity
- USB chargingUSB charging, USB Mass Storage device (UMS)
- GPS features
- BDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS (L1 & L5), NavIC, QZSSBDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS
- Wi-Fi features
- Mobile Hotspot, Tri-bandTri-band, Wi-Fi Direct
Multimedia
- Audio type
- Stereo speakers,High-bitrate audio support, Stereo speakers