Samsung Galaxy S26 vs S25: Which one to get?

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]What's up, guys? And welcome back to our head-to-head series. Today, we're comparing Samsung's Galaxy S26 with its predecessor, the Galaxy S25.

[00:00:10]Is the S26 a worthwhile investment, or is it better to go with the older model and save some money? Let's go through all of our test results and find out.

[00:00:22]Comparing these two flagships, Samsung has really stuck to the same mold. The Galaxy S26 and S25 have a near-identical design and the same premium build materials. The only differences are the shape of the camera setup, and that the new model is slightly larger and heavier.

[00:00:37]There's been no change in the ingress protection. Samsung is offering IP68 for another generation.

[00:00:43]When it comes to the displays, they're largely the same, except that the S26's is 0.1 in bigger. [music] The displays are flagship-grade and perform the same way, and the difference in size isn't that noticeable.

[00:00:56]And you get similar brightness on either panel, maxing out at nearly 1,400 nits in auto brightness mode.

[00:01:02]When it comes to speakers, these two phones have similar loudness, but the S26 has the warmer and richer sound.

[00:01:09]Let's have a listen to compare.

[00:01:14]>> [singing and music] >> At the time of this video, we just received an update to the latest One UI 8.5 for the Galaxy S25.

[00:01:26]>> [music] >> So, that means both of these phones are now running on the same software.

[00:01:30]Just keep in mind that as the newer phone, the S26's software support will last 1 year longer.

[00:01:36]You can check out the new features of One UI 8.5 in our dedicated video.

[00:01:40]Samsung is offering this year's S26 with either a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the US and China, or an Exynos 2600 for the rest of the world. That's the one we have here.

[00:01:51]Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 always comes with last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite.

[00:01:55]Again, an overclocked version for the Galaxy phones.

[00:01:59]In benchmarks, we see that the Exynos Galaxy S26 is indeed more powerful. But the gains are very modest here. And we didn't feel any difference performance-wise when using these phones.

[00:02:09]The S26 did do better in our prolonged stress test than the S25. But even though the thermal management has improved, it's still nothing to write home about.

[00:02:17]Samsung has increased the battery capacity of the S26. It's 4300 mA hours versus 4000 on the S25. As a result, the S26 has notably better battery life.

[00:02:28][music] In our test, it earned an active use score of over 15 hours compared to around 13 hours on the S25. These two Galaxy phones both support 25-W wired charging. And we'd expect similar charging times. However, in our testing, we did see an improvement in the new model. It charges to more at the half-hour mark. And it's also faster to charge to full.

[00:02:48]There are no upgrades to the wireless charging, though. Both devices are rated up to 15 W. And they both require magnetic And they both require magnetic cases in order to make use of magnetic wireless charging accessories.

[00:02:58]The Galaxy S26's cameras have remained unchanged compared to last year's model.

[00:03:03]On either phone, you get a rear setup which includes a main cam, a three-time zoom, and a fixed-focus ultra-wide.

[00:03:10]During the day, the main camera photos are quite similar. But the new model does show warmer colors, especially in greenery.

[00:03:16]It also has a bit less sharpening applied.

[00:03:19]At three-time zoom, you can expect to see the same detail presentation from both phones. But the S26 still insists on warmer greenery.

[00:03:28]Looking at some ultra-wide shots, there's a hint of that same yellowish-green tendency. But it's not as pronounced. Detail is practically the same between these two phones.

[00:03:37]At night, the main camera's default results are broadly similar between the two, with little noise reduction applied, plenty of grain, and not particularly great sharpness.

[00:03:47]The night mode behavior is automatic on the new model. And it's not very consistent to kick in. It also introduces a significant color shift.

[00:03:54]The old model's dedicated night mode is more reliable.

[00:03:57]The three times night time results aren't looking great from either phone, though they strike different balances with their sharpening and noise reduction choices.

[00:04:05]On the ultra wide cameras in automatic mode, we're seeing the two phones trade victories from scene to scene.

[00:04:12]While last year's Galaxy had a great selfie camera, the one on the S26 is even better. We're seeing sharper images from the new model with wider coverage.

[00:04:20]And here's a look at the 4K selfie video quality.

[00:04:24]Both phones offer nearly identical video recording capabilities. However, the S26 does have Samsung's new Horizon lock stabilization mode.

[00:04:33]Also, the new model can apply lookup tables when recording in log mode.

[00:04:37]Video quality in daylight is virtually the same between these two phones.

[00:04:41]Minute differences in color addition or sharpening can be spotted after staring long enough at side-to-side comparisons, but they're nothing significant.

[00:04:48]In the dark, the main cameras are again quite comparable.

[00:04:52]But the S25 is meaningfully better at three times zoom.

[00:04:56]However, the S26's ultra wide is a bit sharper when shooting at night.

[00:05:01]So, there you have it, guys. The Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S25. Let's do a quick recap of what you get with either phone.

[00:05:08]Both phones have a similar premium design, nearly the same display, and the camera experience is quite close between these two phones.

[00:05:16]The S26 has longer battery life, though, and the wired charging is a bit faster.

[00:05:21]There's a new chipset, [music] and the speakers sound better. Selfies are wider, and you get Horizon lock mode and log mode lookup tables for video recording.

[00:05:29]The S25, on the other hand, is able to provide a nearly identical user experience for less money.

[00:05:36]In the end, while the Galaxy S26 did do better in our battery and charging tests, and the chipset is a bit faster, it's overall essentially just a refresh over last year's model. And if you can live without those incremental upgrades, better go for the S25 and save some cash.

[00:05:52]Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one.