Samsung's Camera Finally Caught Up to iPhone — And It Only Took a Software Revolution to Do It

The UI overhaul in One UI 8.5 is subtle but telling. Samsung removed a significant number of the features it had been stacking on for years — the gimmicks, the duplicate apps, the toggles nobody used. Rivera noted that the experience is now "a tie" with iOS in day-to-day use — something that would have been laughable to say two years ago. [1] That's not a small thing. Samsung's Android skin has historically been the biggest single reason iPhone users refused to switch. It felt cluttered, overwhelming, and weirdly anxious — like Samsung was terrified you'd forget it had more features than Apple. One UI 8.5 reads like Samsung finally got over that fear. The design language followed the same logic. The S26 Ultra is thinner than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, back to polished aluminum (like iPhone), and Rivera gives it the edge on aesthetics. The camera bump wobble is still a concern, and the lack of magnets limits wireless charging flexibility — but these feel like nits compared to the broader swing in competitive position. [1]

The Display Tricks No One Is Talking About

The headline camera story is obvious, but the display win is underrated. Samsung's privacy display — which narrows pixel visibility during notifications, specific apps, or across the whole screen so the person next to you can't read your texts — is genuinely clever. Instead of slapping a dark screen protector on your phone, the hardware itself becomes the privacy tool. [1] S Pen support is still there too, and while it's less central to Samsung's identity than it once was, it's the kind of practical differentiator that matters in specific use cases — signing documents, taking quick notes, annotating screenshots. Apple has no equivalent. At the same size and similar pixel density, both phones are excellent. But Samsung brings extras that actually make the screen more useful, not just more impressive in a spec sheet.

The Wildcard: Agentic AI

Here's where it gets interesting for the next six months. Samsung's big "agentic phone" selling point — the idea that your phone can understand context and take actions across apps — is launching today, on Galaxy S26 release day. Rivera was holding back his full review specifically to test these features: "The whole agentic phone selling point is not ready until launch day." [1] Meanwhile, Apple Intelligence is delayed. Again. The features Apple previewed — Siri with contextual awareness, cross-app actions, deep system integration — are still rolling out in pieces, with meaningful capabilities pushed to later updates. Apple shipped the hardware. The software is still catching up. If Samsung's agentic AI actually works at launch, that's a real competitive shift. Not because Samsung "won AI" — it's too early to say that — but because it flips the narrative. For years, Apple could say: "Yes, Samsung has the hardware. But our software is tighter." That defense becomes harder to make when your software is the thing running behind schedule. Separate corroboration comes from Aesthetic Unboxing's full demo, which showed Galaxy AI features — photo editing, Creative Studio, the Now Nudge context feature — functioning smoothly on release hardware [2]. A French tech reviewer running a detailed camera comparison also found Samsung winning on stabilization in high-movement video scenarios [3].

I think Samsung has discovered something Apple mastered years ago, and it's that throwing specifications at a phone is pointless without good implementation. Mastering the marriage of software with hardware is what delights consumers — and that's what this Galaxy has finally done.

— Jaime Rivera, Pocketnow — Galaxy S26 Ultra VS iPhone 17 Pro Max [1]

Should You Actually Switch?

Rivera's honest answer — which is the right one — is that his personal pick is still the iPhone. He uses his phone as a professional video camera replacement, and he believes it still has the higher ceiling for that specific use case. But the gap in his words is "really close to insignificant" now, and his overall verdict lands differently: "For the first time ever, I can actually recommend a Galaxy for creators." [1] That's a meaningful statement from someone who has reviewed both platforms every year for a decade. It's not "Samsung is better than iPhone now." It's "Samsung is finally in the same conversation." And for a Galaxy that costs the same as an iPhone 17 Pro Max, being in the same conversation is exactly where Samsung needs to be. For Android users considering an upgrade, the S26 Ultra is an easier recommendation than any Samsung has been in years. For iPhone users? You're probably not switching over a camera tie. But if you were already considering Android for the customization, the agentic features, or the S Pen — the camera excuse just evaporated.