Samsung Galaxy S26 / Apple iPhone 16e

Samsung varies the processor by market: the US, China and Japan versions use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. This entry covers the Exynos 2600 SM-S942B version.

The viewable area is smaller than the rectangular measurement because of the corners and camera hole.

Typical maximum brightness is 800 nits and HDR peak 1,200 nits; 2,000,000:1 contrast, P3 wide colour and True Tone. Apple does not list Dynamic Island or ProMotion for this model.

The panel lowers its rate to match the content, slowing down on static images to save power and rising to 120 Hz for scrolling and games.

This is Samsung's peak figure, not a brightness held across the full screen.

Samsung says this GPU supports hardware ray tracing and is up to 50% faster at it than its predecessor.

Samsung states up to 29% better heat dissipation for the S26; this is a figure from the maker's own testing.

Usable space is lower than the total because of preloaded software. Options vary by country and carrier.

The 2x optical-quality zoom uses the centre of the main camera's Adaptive Pixel sensor; it is not a separate lens.

The rear camera offers optical and cinematic stabilisation for video, spatial audio recording and wind noise reduction.

Samsung quotes up to 30 hours of video playback; the typical figure was measured by a third-party lab to IEC 61960.

The figure was measured from 0% with a 25 W Samsung adapter and 3 A USB-C cable, screen off. The adapter and cable are sold separately.

PowerShare works only with certain Qi-compatible phones and wearables and may not work below 30% battery.

Wi-Fi 7 speeds need a Wi-Fi 7 router; 6 GHz use varies by country.

USB 3.2 Gen 1 carries up to 5 Gbit/s of data, which speeds up wired transfers of large video files to a computer.

Models sold outside the US also have a physical SIM tray.

Band support varies by market.

Weight may vary by country and configuration.

Water and dust resistance can decline over time with normal wear.

Apple says resistance may decrease over time and liquid damage is not covered by warranty.

The A18 in the iPhone 16 has a 5-core GPU; the 16e has one GPU core fewer. The GPU supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The C1 is the first Apple-designed modem used in an iPhone. mmWave 5G is not supported; that band is used only in some countries for very high short-range speeds.

Apple lists the 2x telephoto as a mode the main camera “also enables”; there is no separate lens. Digital zoom up to 10x. There is no ultra-wide or macro camera.

Up to 21 hours of streamed video and 90 hours of audio playback. Apple does not list MagSafe or Qi2. No power adapter is in the box, only a 1 m USB-C cable.

Moving large video files over a cable is slower than on Pro models with USB 3.

Emergency SOS, Messages and Find My via satellite are supported; availability depends on the country.