Phone comparison · UK prices · October 2026
Galaxy S26 or Pixel 10: which should you buy?
The short answer
The Galaxy S26 leads on speed and is thinner and lighter. The Pixel 10 leads on battery life, the camera and toughness. We have no current UK price for the Galaxy S26.
Comparing 2 phones
Galaxy S26Overall score 87/100
Pixel 10Overall score 85/100
Differences in daily life
Battery and charging
Best: Pixel 10The Pixel 10 has the bigger battery (4,970 mAh vs 4,300 mAh on the Samsung), which may help it last longer between charges.
Screen
EvenBoth have similar peak brightness (2,600 nits and 3,000 nits) and similar sharpness (411 ppi and 422 ppi), close enough not to matter much day to day.
Camera
Best: Pixel 10The Pixel 10's zoom lens reaches further (5x vs 3x on the Samsung), for closer shots of faraway subjects.
Speed
Best: Galaxy S26The Galaxy S26's chip (Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (United States), Samsung Exynos 2600 (International)) scores higher in benchmark tests than the one in the Pixel (Google Tensor G5), so it should feel quicker in demanding apps and games.
Toughness
Best: Pixel 10The Pixel 10 has the better water and dust rating (IP69 vs IP68 on the Samsung), so on top of surviving a dunk it is also rated against high-pressure water jets.
Size and weight
Best: Galaxy S26The Galaxy S26 is thinner (7.2 mm vs 8.6 mm on the Pixel), so it feels slimmer in the hand.
It is also lighter (167 g vs 204 g on the Pixel), so it is easier to hold and carry.
Still can't decide?
Up to 2 quick questions, one tap each.
Scores
| Score | Galaxy S26 | Pixel 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery | 64 | 72 |
| Screen | 88 | 89 |
| Camera | 89 | 86 |
| Speed | 94 | 80 |
| Toughness | 92 | 96 |
| Connections and extras | 93 | 88 |
| Overall | 87 | 85 |
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
- Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2XLTPO OLED
- Resolution
- 1080 × 2340 pixels1080×2424 pixels
- PPI
- 411422
- Aspect ratio
- 19.5:920:9
- Screen-to-body ratio
- 90 %86.1 %
- Display features
- Capacitive Touchscreen, HDR10+, Multi-touch displayCapacitive Touchscreen HDR10+ Multi-touch display
- Max rated brightness
- 2600 nits3000 nits
- Screen protection
- Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Mohs level 5Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Mohs level 4
Core Specifications
- Chipset
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (United States), Samsung Exynos 2600 (International)Google Tensor G5
- CPU cores
- 8 (United States), 10 (International)8
- Fabrication Technology
- 3 nm (United States), 2 nm (International)3 nm
- CPU max frequency
- 4.6 GHz (United States), 3.8 GHz (International)3780 MHz
- Microarchitecture
- 2x 4.6 GHz – Oryon V3 Phoenix L, 6x 3.62 GHz – Oryon V3 Phoenix M (United States), 1x 3.8 GHz – C1-Ultra 3x 3.25 GHz – C1-Pro 6x 2.75 GHz – C1-Pro (International)1x 3.78 GHz – Cortex-X4 5x 3.05 GHz – Cortex-A725 2x 2.25 GHz – Cortex-A520
- GPU
- Qualcomm Adreno 840 @1.20 GHz (United States), Samsung Xclipse 960 @985 MHz (International)IMG PowerVR DXT-48-1536
- Storage
- 256GB, 512GB128GB, 256GB
- Storage Type
- UFS 4.0N/A
- Expandable Storage
- NoN/A
Software
- Operating System
- Android 16 (Baklava), with up to 7 major Android upgradesAndroid 16 (Baklava) , with up to 7 major Android upgrades
Main Camera
- Matrix
- 50 MP48 MP
- Video Resolution
- 4320p @ 24/30 fps, 2160p @ 30/60 fps, 1080p @ 30/60/120/240 fps2160p @ 24/30/60 fps 1080p @ 24/30/60/120/240 fps
- Video Features
- 10-bit HDR, Gyro-EIS, HDR10+, Stereo Sound Rec10-bit HDR, Gyro-EIS, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
- Features
- Auto-HDR, Best Face, Horizon Lock, PanoramaPanorama
- Lenses
- 50 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) - predictive dual pixel (PDAF) 12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 13 mm, 120° ( Ultra-wide angle ), 1.4 μm, 1/2.55" Sensor size - Super Steady Video48 MP , ƒ /1.7, 25 mm ( Wide-angle ), 0.8 μm , 1/2.0" Sensor size Dual-Pixel PDAF Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) 10. 8 MP , ƒ /3.1, 112 mm ( Telephoto ), x5 optical zoom, 1/3.2" Sensor size - Dual-Pixel PDAF - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) 13 MP , ƒ /2.2, 120° ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 1/3.1" Sensor size - PDAF
Selfie camera
- Matrix
- 12 MP10 MP
- Lenses
- 12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 26 mm ( Wide angle ), 1.12 μm, 1/3.2" Sensor size, predictive dual pixel (PDAF)5 MP , ƒ /2.2, 20 mm , 95° ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 1.22 μm , 1/3.1" Sensor size - PDAF
- Video Resolution
- 2160p @ 30/60 fps, 1080p @ 30 fps2160p @ 30/60 fps 1080p @ 30/60 fps
- Video Features
- HDR10+ High Dynamic Range (HDR)N/A
- Features
- predictive dual pixel PDAFHigh Dynamic Range (HDR) Panorama
General
- Announced
- Wednesday, 25 February 2026Wednesday, 20 August 2025
- Released
- Friday, 06 March 2026Thursday, 28 August 2025
Battery
- Capacity
- 4300 mAh4970 mAh
- Wired charging power
- 25 W30W
- Wireless charging power
- 15 W15W
- Fast charging support
- Yesno
- Features
- Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging, Wired charging from 0-55% in 30 minutes (as advertised)Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging,
Battery Life Test
- Browsing
- N/A16:11 hh:mm
- Video watching
- N/A10:40 hh:mm
- Playing games
- N/A10:13 hh:mm
Design
- Height
- 149.6 mm152.8 mm
- Width
- 71.7 mm72 mm
- Thickness
- 7.2 mm8.6 mm
- Weight
- 167 g204 g
- Resistance certificate
- IP68IP68, IP69
Network
- Network_5G bands
- n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n26, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n75, n77, n78N/A
- Network_4G bands
- 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, b71LTE: b1 (2100), b2 (1900), b3 (1800), b4 (1700), b5 (850), b7 (2600), b8 (900), 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), b38 (2600), b39 (1900), b40 (2300), b41 (2500), b42 (3500), b46 (5200), b48 (3800), b66 (1700), b70 (2000), b71 (600 MHz)
- Network_3G bands
- HSPA: 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHzHSPA: 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 / 800 MHz
- Network_2G bands
- GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, CDMA: 800 / 1900 MHzGSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
Connectivity
- WiFi support
- Yes (Wi-Fi 7)Yes ( Wi-Fi 6 )
- Bluetooth support
- Yes, v5.4Yes, v6.0
- USB ports
- USB Type-C 3.2, DisplayPort 1.2USB Type-C 3.2,
- GPS features
- BDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS, QZSSBDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS (L1 & L5), NavIC, QZSS
- Wi-Fi standards
- 802.11/a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be802.11/a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- Wi-Fi features
- Tri-band, Wi-Fi DirectDual-band
Multimedia
- Audio type
- High-bitrate audio support, Stereo speakersStereo speakers,