Apple iPhone 17 Air vs Samsung Galaxy S26
A spec-by-spec comparison of the Apple iPhone 17 Air and the Samsung Galaxy S26, taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Our rating | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Battery | 3,149 mAh | 4,300 mAh |
| Wired charging | — | 25W |
| Storage (max) | 512 GB | 512 GB |
| Screen size | 6.5 in | 6.3 in |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Main camera | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | 165 g | 167 g |
| Released | Sep 2025 | Mar 2026 |
Summary: Apple iPhone 17 Air is ahead on screen size, weight (lower is lighter). Samsung Galaxy S26 is ahead on our rating, battery, main camera.
Display
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Type | Super Retina XDR OLED, 120Hz ProMotion, HDR | LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak) |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.3 inches, FHD+ |
| Resolution | 2736 × 1260 pixels, 460 ppi | 2340 x 1080 pixels |
| Brightness | 3000 nits peak brightness | — |
| Protection | — | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
Platform
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Chipset | Apple A19 Pro (6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy (3 nm) or Exynos 2600 (2 nm) (region dependent) |
| OS | iOS 26 | Android 16, One UI 8.0 |
| CPU | — | Octa-core |
| GPU | — | Adreno (Snapdragon) / Xclipse (Exynos) |
Memory
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR5X | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB NVMe | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Card Slot | — | No |
Main Camera
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Single | 48 MP, f/1.6, 26mm (wide), Fusion main camera | — |
| Lenses | — | Triple: 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), OIS; 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide); 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm (telephoto), 3x optical zoom, 30x Space Zoom |
| Features | — | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama |
| Video | — | 8K@30fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@240fps, HDR10+ |
Selfie Camera
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Single | 18 MP, f/1.9 (wide) | — |
| Lenses | — | 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF |
| Features | — | Dual video call, Auto-HDR |
| Video | — | 4K@60fps, 1080p@30fps |
Battery
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Type | Lithium-ion, 12.263 Wh (3149 mAh) | Li-Ion 4300 mAh, non-removable |
| Charging | MagSafe wireless, Qi 2 wireless, USB-C fast-charge | 25W wired, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless |
Body
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Dimensions | 156.2 × 74.7 × 5.64 mm (6.15 × 2.94 × 0.22 in) | 149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm |
| Weight | 165 g (5.82 oz) | 167 g |
| Build | Aircraft-grade aluminum construction, IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 min) | Glass front (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2), Armor Aluminum 2 frame |
| Colors | Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White, Space Black | — |
| SIM | — | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM and eSIM) |
| IP Rating | — | IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min) |
Comms
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) tri-band | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 6.0 (A2DP, LE) | 5.4, A2DP, LE |
| Positioning | Dual-frequency GPS (L1, L5), GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, NavIC | GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
| NFC | Yes (reader mode, Express Cards) | Yes |
| USB | USB-C (USB 2.0 speeds) | USB Type-C 3.2, OTG |
| UWB | Yes | — |
| Thread | Yes | — |
Launch
| Apple iPhone 17 Air | Samsung Galaxy S26 |
|---|
| Announced | September 9, 2025 | February 25, 2026 |
| Status | Released September 19, 2025 | Available. Released March 11, 2026 |
| OS | iOS 26, upgradable to iOS 26.6.1 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Which has the better battery, Apple iPhone 17 Air or Samsung Galaxy S26?
Samsung Galaxy S26 — 3,149 mAh for the Apple iPhone 17 Air versus 4,300 mAh for the Samsung Galaxy S26.
Which is lighter, Apple iPhone 17 Air or Samsung Galaxy S26?
Apple iPhone 17 Air — 165 g for the Apple iPhone 17 Air versus 167 g for the Samsung Galaxy S26.
Which is newer, Apple iPhone 17 Air or Samsung Galaxy S26?
Samsung Galaxy S26 — Sep 2025 for the Apple iPhone 17 Air versus Mar 2026 for the Samsung Galaxy S26.
Is the Apple iPhone 17 Air or the Samsung Galaxy S26 rated higher?
We rate the Apple iPhone 17 Air 8/10 and the Samsung Galaxy S26 9/10.
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