When the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra was launched in late February, it was the primary time in years that I felt excited for a brand new flagship launch, due to rumors of improvements just like the Privacy Display within the lead as much as the large reveal. On seeing the brand new cellphone in particular person, even the Super Steady Horizontal Lock feature for shooting videos appeared like a wonderful thought.
As a latest iPhone convert from solely a 12 months in the past, I truthfully thought the S26 Extremely would lure me again to Android, particularly since my iPhone 16 Pro Max is a technology behind.
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AI cellphone? No thanks
Samsung leaned onerous into the Galaxy S26 Extremely being an “AI cellphone”, and rightly so. The Tremendous Regular function and the AI-powered name screening had been highlights for me, however a lot of the AI additions had been novelties that aren’t significantly helpful.
The “Now” options had been highlighted in the course of the launch, however none of them had been helpful to me. The Now Transient widget was meant to point out me how my day went, but it surely was nothing greater than the climate, my calendar and beneficial YouTube movies that had been already on my Watch Later playlist.
The Now Bar works considerably equally to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, however I discovered it much less helpful — plus it solely lives within the dwelling display screen whereas the Dynamic Island is all the time there. Now Nudge, in the meantime, felt like nothing greater than glorified predictive texting, and it additionally doesn’t assist that it’s solely out there by way of Samsung Keyboard (I want Gboard for Android telephones).
The S26 Extremely added a prompt-based generative AI picture modifying device known as “Picture Help” , which is helpful in principle, however the finish end result makes it apparent that AI did a number of the heavy lifting. The picture technology function, Inventive Studio, can also be simply one other novelty, and it additionally outputs lower-quality footage.
Samsung additionally added Perplexity to its Bixby voice assistant, which simply looks like a replication of the prevailing Google Gemini integration that I already use, which is greater than sufficient for my wants.
That digital camera bump and what’s not there
Samsung additionally boasted how a lot slimmer and lighter the S26 Extremely is in comparison with its predecessor, which sadly resulted in a way more outstanding digital camera bump.
The bump is so huge that the handset wobbles fairly vigorously when positioned on a flat floor — hardly the sort of motion I need to see from a tool this costly. Seeing the bump instantly made me search for a case thick sufficient to make the S26 Extremely lie slightly bit flatter. This implies I’d find yourself hiding that skinny chassis that Samsung was boasting about inside a thick case, which sort of defeats the aim.
Talking of instances, utilizing them so as to add magnetic charging simply isn’t the identical because the built-in magnets in iPhones and Google Pixel telephones. It doesn’t assist that the S26 Extremely’s digital camera bump design additionally blocks some equipment from attaching correctly to the instances’ magnets.
The S26 Extremely additionally switched again to aluminum after utilizing titanium, with Samsung citing higher thermals, ergonomics and value causes. It’s comprehensible, however I’ve gotten so used to my iPhone’s titanium chassis that the S26 Extremely now feels comparatively cheaper.
It’s iOS for me… no less than for now
With the AI overload from the Galaxy S26 Extremely, I’m really glad that Apple Intelligence didn’t take off, as my iPhone is just about generative AI-free. I don’t have Siri activated, and having that choice is an enormous plus for me. I exploit Gemini for all my AI wants, which isn’t a complete lot — like analysis for purchasing and searching up recipes.
The iPhone 16 Professional Max does have a outstanding digital camera bump as properly, however its design makes the handset much less wobbly when positioned on a floor. My iPhone case additionally doesn’t add an excessive amount of thickness to the handset, whereas additionally making it lie flatter on a desk.
MagSafe is, in my view, a sport changer — and it’s not due to improved wi-fi charging. I like the way it modified the best way equipment interface with iPhones, the place I don’t have to fret about low cost plastic mounts and tripods rubbing on the handset.
My final level is considerably unfair to the S26 Extremely, however I’ve invested in different Apple gadgets like an iPad, an Apple TV 4K and a Mac mini, so their integration with my iPhone was one thing I missed after I quickly switched to the S26 Extremely. I additionally personal a pair of AirPods and a few AirTags, and even a Discover My-compatible MagSafe pockets to additional entrench me into the Apple ecosystem.
With all that stated, my ideas on the S26 Extremely may nonetheless change in a couple of months (perhaps Samsung delivers one thing game-changing with its software program updates?), provided that the iPhone 16 Professional Max can also be an older system. However then once more, there are various extra flagships anticipated to come back out later within the 12 months, so I’m not holding my breath.
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