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It is Samsung Unpacked season, which suggests antsy cellphone consumers are getting a number of new fashions to noticeably take into account. In the event you’re an influence person specifically, it’s possible you’ll be weighing the brand new Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely towards the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL, each of which may be argued to supply one of the best of Android telephones within the first half of 2026.
Since Unpacked, the ZDNET group has hung out with each telephones to get a way of their distinctive strengths and weaknesses. In the event you’re cut up between the 2, listed below are the important thing shopping for causes for every, together with our alternative if we needed to decide one.
You can purchase the Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely if…
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1. You like Samsung’s kitchen sink method to software program
Whereas Samsung’s software program expertise has develop into much less buggy and chaotic for the reason that outdated TouchWiz days, OneUI, now on model 8.5, stays one of the vital feature-rich variations of Android available on the market. The native launcher allows you to customise components akin to wallpaper shade, widget kinds, swipe animations, and extra.
On a tool just like the Galaxy S26 Extremely, you may get extra note-taking options to profit from the built-in S Pen stylus — although you may not use Bluetooth gestures like you can with older fashions. There are a number of new Galaxy AI options as effectively, together with context-based Now Nudge, much like Google’s Magic Cue, and an upgraded rip-off detection device.
Samsung additionally continues to match Google’s promise of at the least seven years of software program updates for its Galaxy S fashions. That’s to say, you may really feel such as you bought your cash’s price when splurging on Samsung’s flagship cellphone.
2. You need the superior smartphone show, in a number of methods
I’ve examined nearly each main cellphone launch previously 12 months, together with a big-screen foldable, and the Galaxy S26 Extremely has one of the best show I’ve seen. It is a 6.8-inch AMOLED LTPO panel that refreshes between 1Hz and 120Hz and will get loads brilliant throughout the daytime. By the best way, these specs are practically similar to the Pixel 10 Professional XL. What units the Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely aside is its glare-free coating, which considerably reduces gentle reflections, and its new Privateness Show.
Additionally: Each Samsung Galaxy S26 mannequin in contrast: Do you have to purchase the bottom, Plus, or Extremely?
Privateness Show is a {hardware} improve that alters how the S26 Extremely’s pixels disperse gentle, making the display seem off when seen at an off-angle. This function behaves equally to a privateness display protector, tinting your display when necessary notifications or content material seem so passersby or eavesdropping strangers cannot see what you may.
3. You need a better-performing smartphone
The brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite chipset has already set benchmark information in contrast with earlier variations, and we anticipate it to outperform Google’s Tensor G5 typically efficiency and energy administration. This goes hand in hand with Samsung’s upgraded 60W wired charging price, which lets the S26 Extremely high up from 0 to 75% in half an hour.
You can purchase the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL if…
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
1. You like Google’s cleaner method to software program
One of many largest distinctions between the Google Pixel and nearly each different Android mannequin is the software program expertise. I would not categorize the newest Pixel launcher, on Android 16, as bare-bones, but it surely’s definitely much less intrusive and feature-packed than Samsung’s OneUI. There is a handful of customization instruments for the house and lock screens, however do not anticipate to tweak each little side of what you see.
Additionally: I in contrast two of one of the best Android digital camera telephones proper now – there is a shock winner
Naturally, the cleaner aesthetic of the Pixel launcher and using an in-house Tensor G5 chipset enable Google to distribute the newest Android options and safety updates. Like Samsung, the corporate guarantees as much as seven years of working system updates, however Google additionally packages frequent Pixel Function Drops and safety patches to maintain its telephones related till at the least 2032.
2. You need essentially the most forgiving digital camera system available on the market
Certain, the Pixel 10 Professional XL could not have all of the digital camera bells and whistles of the Galaxy S26 Extremely, however the place it lacks in sensors, it makes up for it in computational tuning and picture recognition. The perfect instance is after I examined the Pixel’s 100X Professional Res Zoom, which leverages its 48MP telephoto lens and the Tensor G5’s ISP to acknowledge distant topics and AI-generates misplaced particulars. The consequence, as surveyed by a crowd of media members, confirmed the Pixel beating the Galaxy’s 100X zoom by an extended shot.
Additionally: The perfect Android telephones to purchase in 2026
Moreover having among the finest point-and-shoot digital camera methods on any smartphone, the Pixel 10 Professional XL additionally options many AI instruments that assist customers seize, edit, and reproduce images to their liking. I will acknowledge right here that there is a entire “What’s an image?” debate tied into the generative AI insanity.
Nonetheless, for purchasers who favor idealism over realism and comfort over labor, instruments like the improved Add Me, Professional Res Zoom, and the brand new Digicam Coach, which guides framing and mode choice throughout the viewfinder in actual time, give the Pixel 10 Professional XL one of the vital forgiving digital camera methods available on the market.
3. You need a cellphone that is much less of a burden to carry, and sticks
Sure, the Pixel 10 Professional XL is $200 cheaper than the Galaxy S25 Extremely, however maybe extra importantly, it is really comfy to carry. Contemplating how typically you may be carrying your cellphone, holding it up, and interacting with it day by day, hand really feel is without doubt one of the most missed but very important elements of cell gadgets.
Additionally: PixelSnap is the MagSafe for Android telephones we have been ready for – this is our first look
In contrast with the boxy, sharp-cornered design of the Samsung, the Pixel 10 Professional XL has flat edges that allow you to grip the cellphone firmly and refined curves that assist scale back the general footprint. Put a case on each gadgets, and you will discover the distinction much more.
Google additionally gives its PixelSnap system of magnetic equipment that leverages the Pixel 10 Professional XL’s Qi2 wi-fi charging. Along with simpler docking and stand placement, PixelSnap allows you to mount hand grips and kickstands with out the necessity for third-party adapters and mounts. Samsung, disappointingly, nonetheless does not supply built-in magnet assist.
Author’s alternative
Between the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely, I might select the latter for its extra succesful function set, however I might maintain off on shopping for the Samsung except there is a becoming trade-in deal or basic low cost. Some retailers could also be bundling present playing cards with S26 Extremely preorders proper now, in order that’s price contemplating.
It helps that Samsung has been working carefully with Google on Gemini-enhanced AI options, and now with Perplexity, too, so you do not essentially miss out on too many software program instruments by choosing it.
I’ve additionally discovered Samsung’s digital camera system delivers extra vivid imagery that requires little enhancing after the very fact. In the event you’re heavy on social media utilization and sharing the newest happenings with family and friends, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely’s digital camera is healthier suited to you.
