The ultimate Ultra?
Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra is a beast of a flagship. It features a flagship Qualcomm processor, 60W fast charging, and improved camera specs for better low-light photos. The Ultra is also much slimmer and lighter than the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which should be a huge selling point.
Pros
- Slimmer and lighter than the Pixel 10 Pro XL
- Seven years of software support
- 60W wired and 25W wireless charging is a big step up
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC delivers amazing performance
- Wider aperture for main and tele cameras should offer quality boost
Cons
- 16GB RAM only for 1TB variant
- Battery capacity is the same
- No change to selfie camera
- Expensive
Bold and beautiful
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the larger version of the Pixel 10 Pro, offering a larger screen and better battery life. It continues to offer some of the best on-device AI features, the new Pixelsnap Qi2 implementation is very handy, and there's a notable improvement in performance over the previous generations.
Pros
- Pixelsnap Qi2 implementation is brilliant
- Access to all of Google's latest AI gadgets and apps
- Most AI features are processed on-device
- Excellent accessory ecosystem (first and third party)
- Notably improved gaming performance vs Pixel 6-
Cons
- eSIM-only in the U.S.
- Forced battery throttling at 200 cycles
- Doesn't support the latest version of Vulkan
- Performance is less than half of Qualcomm's at times
- PWM rate is still bad
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the best phone Google offers right now and is the closest equivalent to an iPhone in the Android space. The only other company that offers an equivalent alternative to the Pixel is Samsung, with its Galaxy line of phones. Whether it's long-term software upgrades, great cameras, or long battery life, a Galaxy S series flagship is the only other phone you should be considering as an alternative to the Pixel.
This brings us to the Pixel 10 Pro XL's biggest competitor, which is currently the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has many strengths to stand tall on, but equally, it has a few big shortcomings that can't be ignored. If you're having a tough time deciding between the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL, allow me to clear some of that confusion.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Design and display
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra gets the redesign we've been seeing in some of the leaks for the past few months. The softer edges and new design cues makes it look less intimidating and more welcoming for everyday use. It's not just the visual appeal though that's gotten better, Samsung has reduced weight down to 214 grams and the thickness down to 7.9mm. These two factors alone put it ahead of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which is 8.5mm thick and weighs 232 grams.
When it comes to the display, you should expect nothing but the best in brightness, durability, and color reproduction. The Galaxy S26 Ultra features a slightly larger 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel compared to the 6.8-inch on the Pixel. The resolution is a sharp QHD+ just like before and it gets the best scratch protective glass over the display.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is built extremely well and feels premium through and through thanks to generous helpings of glass and aluminum. It might not be an easy phone to live with, though, for some, as it's quite heavy and bulky. Some of that added weight is due to the built-in magnets for Pixelsnap, which allows you to use the 10 Pro XL natively with the best MagSafe accessories. Other than this, the 10 Pro XL looks virtually identical to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, so it's familiar in that sense.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL has a 6.8-inch display with plenty of brightness and an adaptable refresh rate. In our review, we found the display to be very legible even under direct sunlight. One thing that hasn't quite been fixed is the PWM dimming rate, which will be an issue if you have sensitive eyes. The 10 Pro XL has a 480Hz PWM rate, but this is still very low when compared to some of its peers, like the OnePlus 13, which has a 2,160Hz PWM rate.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Performance and specs
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra uses the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC. Samsung's partnership with Qualcomm allows it to use a souped-up version of the chip for better performance. The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 promises a 20% boost in CPU and GPU performance, while using 20% less power.
Other specs of the Galaxy S26 Ultra include up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, although the base and middle storage tiers still get 12GB of RAM only. A new Galaxy S line usually comes with new colors, and the S26 Ultra comes in Colbalt Violet, Sky Blue, and Black. You'll be happy to know that Samsung hasn't increased the base price, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,299.99.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL retails for $1,199 for 256GB of storage, and this goes up to $1,549 for the 1TB variant. It gets 16GB of RAM on all storage tiers, which leaves it good headroom for future AI features. The 10 Pro XL comes in four colors, but only the Obsidian shade has the 1TB variant. This Pixel uses the Tensor G5 SoC, which we found to be much faster than the Tensor G4, but still trails behind Qualcomm's previous flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, in benchmarks.
While games do run well on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, future titles might not run the best, as it lacks support for the latest version of the Vulkan API at launch. It's doubly strange to see this missing, especially after Google made Vulkan the default standard in Android 16. Google says it will be adding this in a future update, but till then, be prepared for spotty performance in certain apps and games.
Category |
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra |
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL |
|---|---|---|
Display |
6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED, 120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate |
6.8-inch Super Actua QHD+ OLED, 120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate, Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 3,300 nits peak brightness |
Processor |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy |
Tensor G5 |
RAM |
12GB / 16GB |
16GB |
Storage |
256GB / 512GB / 1TB |
256GB / 512GB / 1TB |
Rear Camera 1 |
200 MP, f/1.4,(wide) |
50 MP, f/1.7, 25mm (wide) |
Rear Camera 2 |
10 MP, f/2.4, 3x (telephoto) |
48 MP, f/2.8 (periscope telephoto) |
Rear Camera 3 |
50 MP, f/2.9, 5x (periscope telephoto) |
48 MP, f/1.7 (ultrawide) |
Rear Camera 4 |
50 MP, f/1.9 (ultrawide) |
|
Front Camera |
12 MP, f/2.2 |
42 MP, f/2.2 |
Ingress Protection |
IP68 |
IP68 |
Connectivity |
5G (sub-6GHz, mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, UWB, Bluetooth 6.0 |
5G (sub-6GHz, mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, UWB, Bluetooth 6.0, eSIM only (in U.S.) |
Battery |
5,000mAh |
5,200mAh |
Charging |
60W, Qi 2.2 Magnetic Compatibility w/ 25W wireless speeds |
45W wired, 25W wireless Qi2 (Pixelsnap) |
Dimensions |
163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm |
162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm |
Weight |
214 grams |
232 grams |
OS |
One UI 8.5 w/ Android 16 |
Android 16 |
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra does not get any improvement in terms of battery capacity but I'm glad Samsung has managed to retain the current 5,000mAh capacity in this slimmer design. Charging speeds has improved drastically to 60W wired and 25W wireless.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is actually the only phone in the 10 series to support Qi 2.2 or Qi 25W fast charging. It has a 5,200mAh battery, which helps it last up to 90 minutes more than the Pixel 9 Pro XL. One thing worth noting is that Google will forcibly throttle charging speeds beyond 200 charge cycles, via its new Battery Health Assistance feature. This is not something many users are going to be happy with.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Cameras
The headliner feature of the Pixel 10 Pro XL's cameras is the new Pro Res Zoom, which extends the zoom range to 100x, with the help of AI. The latter has a tendency to mess up at times, as even blurred text in extreme zoom shots is made clearer, but the result is often gibberish since there's no way for the AI to know what the original text said in the first place.
Our Senior Editor, Nicholas Sutrich, noticed this "overconfident hallucination" of the AI zoom feature when trying to improve clarity of other aspects, too, like textures on objects. Thankfully, you can disable this feature so you don't have to use it if you don't like it.
Aside from this, the Pixel 10 Pro XL's cameras are excellent. Portrait mode shots look a lot more natural with the right elements being blurred, and the new AI features like Auto Best Take are a terrific upgrade of the Best Take feature.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra uses the same resolution sensors as the Galaxy S25 Ultra but with wider apertures for the main and 5x telephoto cameras. This should allow the S26 Ultra to capture clearer low-light photos. Overall, you should expect a fantastic all-around camera system yet again with the S26 Ultra.
The S25 Ultra had a pretty solid camera system to begin with, as Samsung fixed the shutter lag issue from the S24 Ultra, so that moving subjects were less blurry. The telephoto camera system is also among the best, thanks to the dual zoom lenses.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Which one should you buy?
Some of the big reasons to get the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra over the Pixel 10 Pro XL is the slimmer and lighter design, S Pen support, and the more powerful processor. The wired charging speed is also much faster which is yet another bonus. Keep in mind though you're likely to find better discounts on the Pixel compared to the Galaxy right now, since it's already been a few months since the 10 Pro XL is on sale.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is one of the best Android phones in the market, and will be in 2026. But despite the high cost, you'll still have to settle for a SoC that struggles to compete with its peers, the weird restrictions on charging beyond a certain point, and a display that's still not exactly eye-friendly. The Galaxy S26 Ultra addresses all these shortcomings while matching Google in software update longevity.
The best Ultra phone
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is yet another version of refinement for the series. It packs in everything you'd hope to expect, all in an incredibly slim and light body.
Leading in AI
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL has some of the best AI features, many of which now run on-device. The design is great, it's built really well, and you can enjoy up to seven years of OS and security updates.
