Xiaomi 15 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26
Verdict
Xiaomi 15 Ultra scores higher on the OH Rank (77 vs 76), winning 4 of 10 categories including Battery and Screen. Xiaomi 15 Ultra is 3.3mm wider than Samsung Galaxy S26. Samsung Galaxy S26 is the more recent release, from Mar 4, 2026.
Score Breakdown
Performance /15
Battery /15
Screen /15
IP Protection /15
Main Camera /15
Selfie /5
Video /5
SD Memory /5
Software /5
Desktop Replacement /5
TOTAL
77
76
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
75mm (2.95in) · Feb 27, 2025 · Rank #24
11+11+15+12+15+3+5+0+5+0 = 77
FLY* TOP Screen* TOP Camera* TOP Video Recording
EDITORIAL: This year, one of the TOP 5 camera phones came with a significant battery endurance improvement. The main camera retained the 1" sensor, lost the variable aperture but the 2 zoom cameras are now better then ever. There is no AF on the selfie and like last year, there is an extra camera grip available for the ultimate photo & video creation. Still missing are SD memory card and the desktop replacement feature. Promised are 4 years of OS updates.
PROs
SnapDragon 8 Elite processor with UFS 4.1 fast overall performance, a 5410mAh Silicone Carbon battery (6000mAh in China) with a >30hr endurance, 90W wired or 80W wireless charging, >1500nits bright 500+ppi LTPO OLED screen with Dolby Vision, one of the best cameras on the market: 50MP 23mm main + 200MP 100mm tele + 50MP 70mm tele (all with PDAF & OIS) + 50MP 14mm PDAF ultrawide, great back camera recording, 4 years of OS updates
CONs
32MP 21mm selfie with no OIS or even AF, lack of expandable SDmemory storage (while offering 8k video recording) and a lack of desktop replacement software
Samsung Galaxy S26
71.7mm (2.82in) · Mar 4, 2026 · Rank #29
13+7+13+12+12+5+4+0+5+5 = 76
* TOP Selfie* TOP Software* TOP Desktop Replacement* TOP Compact
EDITORIAL: Like S26 Ultra and the S26+, the vanilla S26 will be remembered for the sad lack of improvement. S26 gained the latest processor and a silly 300mAh more of battery capacity. And that’s it. Oh, it grew 1.2mm in width – when rivals are all shrinking. Still, in a small world of compacts (pun intended) many will love this phone’s performance, bright screen, proficient imaging, Samsung’s polished ecosystem and having the DeX on board.
PROs
one-hand friendly and well build, fast SD 8 Elite Gen 5 (Exynos 2600 in EU) with UFS 4.0 performance, 24hr endurance from a 4300mAh (old Lithium tech) battery with sub-70min 25W (15 wireless) charging, IP69 protection, very good (same as last year) front and back camera setup with a 50MP 24mm main + 10MP 67mm telephoto (both OIS PDAF) + 12MP 13mm sans-AF ultrawide, excellent 12MP 26mm dual pixel PDAF selfie, above average video recording skills, polished and AI feature-packed OneOS with up to 7 years of updates, excellent DeX and fast USBC 3.2 port with DisplayPort and OTG
CONs
same as last year save for updated processor and extra 300mAh of battery, wider then S25, no expandable memory, walled-off Samsung garden you may wish you didn’t enter
Both phones here were scored by me, using the same ten categories, with no ads, sponsorships, or manufacturer relationships — this comparison is as objective and honest as it gets.
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