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[00:00] So, what is up, guys? Nick here, helping you to master your technology. iPhone versus Android in 2026. Stop ignoring the truth. Now, what I'm talking about is the truth about the fact that Android phones are no longer devices that are behind.

[00:19] As a matter of fact, they have surpassed, and now they've become more desirable than ever before in 2026. And I've been testing throughout the years Android and iPhones, and iPhones have always, well, not always, but early on and for several years always had something over.

[00:38] But now the very things that Apple was really doing that was making Android phones feel like they were inferior, Android is starting to do now. And we're going to talk about why you might want to stop ignoring these devices in this video in our iPhone versus Android 2026 comparison.

[00:56] all right guys so let's talk about one of the first things price and value so in 2026 here

[01:10] iPhones are still pricing themselves very very high they're definitely what Apple's pricing them but they're priced very very high still for what you get now I understand they do have the Apple logo

[01:24] It is a status thing for some people. But at the end of the day, the actual hardware that you're buying, a lot of Android phones competing can do basically what these phones can do at a much lesser cost.

[01:37] This one right here, S25 Ultra, is not one of them. This actually details for higher than some iPhones. But you can find phones like OnePlus 15 or even the OnePlus 15R for significantly less than certain Pro iPhones

[01:51] and get triple cameras, better battery life, similar smoothness, similar display types, you know, similar brightness, overall similar experience generally. And so what I'm trying to get at is that price and value, Android has always had more offerings,

[02:08] but now the phones are really good at less price, meaning they're smoother than ever before, they get longer updates than ever before, and their cameras, while not always beating the iPhone, are still very strong.

[02:20] So technically, you can get Android phones at a higher price, but I still find that Apple, you tend to pay just a little bit more than the majority of competitors out there, including even Samsung.

[02:32] I mean, Samsung does retail higher, but they usually get bigger trading discounts. They usually don't pay as much, whether it's retailed like that or not. Most people don't really pay more than people are paying for iPhones. So let's go ahead and talk about the next one, build and design.

[02:46] Apple went back to aluminum. It's soft. It feels nice and it's smooth. It's definitely a nice look here on this classic silver 17 Pro right here. But Android phones are also getting really nice. This is a good example of one, the Honor Magic 8 Pro. You do have yourselves a pretty big camera bump, but generally the phone feels very nice in the hand. It's smooth aluminum on the rails as well.

[03:09] And then you got things like the Google Pixel right here in Moonstone. Beautiful design, one of the most beautiful phones of 2025. You'll see right here just a gorgeous piece of technology here. So Pixel does really well in this area.

[03:23] So you kind of can find phones on the computing side that are better looking now as well. And that didn't always used to be the case for, you know, Android phones. A lot of times Apple phones used to look a lot better.

[03:37] I'm thinking a little bit further back than you're probably thinking. But generally, you have phones that you could actually envy on the Android side. I don't think a lot of people buying iPhones love S25 Ultra look.

[03:49] A lot of them kind of think it's too boxy looking, the true constant iPhone users. But there are different options. You can get the S25 Plus, S26 Plus coming.

[04:01] And the Ultra line is going to get actually a little bit more rounded here at the end of the month with the S26 Ultra. So generally, you'll find yourself just designs that are definitely competitive now.

[04:13] And build quality arguably surpassing with titanium frames. Now they're on aluminum again for the iPhone. So, you know, let's not ignore the truth. The truth of the matter is that the Android devices are playing at the same level,

[04:27] whether you want to hustle it or not. We know that's the truth here. Now, let's talk about the spray quality. This is also an area where Android phones tend to outshine Apple, and one area specifically is the sharpness of the text that you are reading.

[04:42] You tend to have higher pixels per inch, which essentially is just higher resolution or a sharper display up close to the eye. You're going to find that the text is actually a bit sharper and easier to read.

[04:56] Specifically, I find that on the S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel Pro XL and the Pro line. So those phones have really, really beautifully sharp panels. I am on one of those night modes right here, but you do have a very, very sharp resolution on here.

[05:12] So you can find sharper panels in the iPhone. The deal of the iPhone, though, is they kind of get the latest display technology. So this is one of the later OLEDs from, you know, Samsung makes them. So they're really, really bright.

[05:25] They kind of have some of the brightest displays out there. So they still surpass a lot of Android competition and brightness especially outdoors But the display itself you can find better anti on the Galaxy S25 Ultra You can find more vivid displays on the competition

[05:41] And some of the competitors, you'll find much more eye care options, like on this Honor phone right here. Let's go ahead and look over here. You'll see they're really paying attention to things like, you know, dimming modes. If you don't want to deal with PWM issues, you have a lot more customization here.

[05:57] Now, Apple did throw in a little bit of that on the 17 Pro, but they're still doing it better here on some of the Android competition. You can see they really care about eye health on some of these phones. And so if you think about that, I think it is something to take note of.

[06:12] The competition is doing it a bit better in that department. They tend to also have these tiny punch holes on the Samsung phones. The Honor went with that Dynamic Island-looking thing, though, like the iPhone.

[06:24] But, you know, the Dynamic Island is still the biggest. of all of the islands. It's pretty much the largest. The notch is real large. This is large as well. And I'm not trying to say or remove a display

[06:36] for what you use the phone for. You're probably using it in portrait most of the time. It doesn't seem to bother people or it hasn't bothered people in a long time. But if we're talking about your hardware to hardware comparison here, you know, let's not let's not ignore the truth.

[06:49] These phones are more immersive with their smaller punch holes and closer to all screens. You can actually find all screen displays on some of those gaming phones that are on the market today as well. So you can find potentially better display experiences

[07:03] if you don't like display interruptions like Dynamic Island. Now, let's not ignore the truth about something else, software. Apple still wins on updates. They tend to give you the latest updates, and I actually have 26.3

[07:16] that just came out today on my 17 Pro Max, but I wanted to not do it here yet because I wanted to show you. immediately when the update goes live, it's going to be available here, pushed out to

[07:28] pretty much all the iPhones. Just give it a second and you'll see it appear. So I do have to say in 2026, Apple's still winning on software because they give you all, everybody the software at the same time.

[07:40] You just don't find that. You know, different regions get software first on Samsung phones and other Android phones. They don't always get it exactly the same day or hour or time, but Apple, it's pretty much up to the hour.

[07:52] you know, at the same time everywhere. So they still do that better. But where it used to be, you know, you had to get an iPhone for long-term software support, that's no longer the case. You can actually get seven years of updates on a Samsung phone.

[08:08] Some of these other competitors are starting to offer significantly longer updates as well. Coming very close, if not surpassing the iPhone. Apple doesn't even promise a specific date, but it's usually about six or seven years on these more modern flagships.

[08:21] The deal with Apple, though, is that I do think you tend to get it faster. That's the main thing. Like, if you're waiting for the 1UI 8.5, you'll probably get it quickly on the S25 Ultra. But if you're waiting for 1UI 8.5 on, like, a different Samsung phone that's not an Ultra phone,

[08:37] you might be waiting a little bit longer than you would like. You can go on the members app sometimes. There'll be a beta available, and the next day it's gone. So it's not, you've got to be on it quick, and I just don't like that. So I do kind of prefer Apple when it comes to consistency of them software updates.

[08:52] But honestly, you know, Apple's only on the updates. But software itself, there's just so much variety. If you want a smoother experience, you can go to some other phones on the market,

[09:04] like V1 Plus, for example, with Oxygen OS. You'll see a bouncy just like the iPhone, super buttery smooth, stays 120Hz all the time. If you want something feature-rich with all the features in the kitchen sink, you can come over here to Samsung and have a blast with this phone.

[09:20] So there's still a lot more variety with the software. But one area where Apple still tends to ice and do a really good job and probably still wins is just polish. It tends to just look really pretty. I have to just be honest about it.

[09:33] It just definitely looks nice. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care if it's not as fast as some software. It's unique. It looks very Apple. And I've even had some comments, people saying, I don't like how everybody, all these Android phones are just copying the iPhone these days.

[09:48] They've always been doing this back and forth, but nowadays a lot of them are kind of just taking the straight ripoff right out of Apple's playbook. So you can tell who's still leading when it comes to software.

[10:00] It's definitely, I would say, Apple and Samsung. These two right here, and Google as well, for sure. All three are just doing really, really good in this department, but Apple still has one of the more polished looking software on the market today.

[10:14] So that's definitely really good for them. Now for social media applications, I do think Apple still takes the victory. I think their cameras take photos and when they upload into the social media apps, they still tend to look a little bit better.

[10:27] I also found for some weird reason, certain social media apps tend to work better. Like they're just smoother to operate when I'm uploading to them on the iPhone. I don't know if it's like they're just developed better or something, but sometimes they're just a little laggier when I'm uploading stuff to social on the Android phone.

[10:47] Just a little bit choppier looking. They just don't look as smooth when I'm doing my social media uploads and stuff of that sort. So I do have the same for social. I think iPhone is still on top when it comes to that right there.

[11:00] But most of them work just fine on both. It just a little bit more I would say they just look a little smoother some of those social media apps on the iPhone Now when it comes to performance Android is actually ahead in CPU but I would say Apple is ahead in GPU

[11:15] They do their own in-house GPUs, but Android is one in CPU. Now, when you look at 3D Mark 4, the Galaxy actually beats most of the competition, 95%, and this is last year's model.

[11:27] Wait till the S26 Ultra comes, so I'm going to say 100%. Thermals are great. here, CPU speed, the day-to-day speed will just snap your back-to-day on the Galaxy, but gaming, I do find some of the

[11:40] graphics on certain games tend to look smoother and nicer on the iPhone, so if you're into gaming, I do like the iPhone's look. It just looks really, really good when doing games on here, and also

[11:52] they do have a really, really strong GPU, so if you are looking for a really strong, you know, cohesive CPU-GPU combo, So Apple does that really good because they're their phones, their CPU designs, their software, their hardware in-house.

[12:06] So it's really good in that respect with those A-series chipsets. Now, I will say the iPhone, we all know this one. This one's a pretty obvious one, but they're definitely behind AI.

[12:20] You know the Pixel. These Android phones are all getting the Gemini integration. Apple's finally getting Gemini integration later this year with their Siri updates. So definitely, we already know who's king right here.

[12:33] It's going to be Google with the Gemini, the AI stuff, stuff that they're doing right now. We've already seen ads for the upcoming Galaxy Impact to be focused on AI.

[12:45] And Samsung has been doing the AI really good for a long time. They're actually one of the earliest flagships to have it with the S24 series. So if we go over here, take it back a little bit, go to Galaxy AI,

[12:57] It's loaded with a lot of the stuff that Apple got later. But, yeah, they're just a little bit behind. They do have their visual intelligence. That works good. It's kind of integrated with ChatGPT. And their rewrite tools are pretty fantastic.

[13:10] I do have to give them that. But I just think they've got to get better AI integration on the phone, which is going to happen with that new Siri. So I think this is going to be a big year for Apple later this year.

[13:22] But currently, as of the recording of this video, Android is definitely ahead in the AI department, no questions asked. Now, video, or actually camera, let's start with camera. I think Android phones are ahead in cameras, but you have to choose the right ones.

[13:37] If you want a lot of zoom, clearly Samsung is one of the kings. So are the Pixel now with its magic zooming. You know, you could use the AI to process the zoom images on here that look ridiculous,

[13:49] like you wouldn't even expect it to use AI to make details look better. so cameras man if i'm taking photos and it's like my main thing i'm going with the android phone some of these um like these chinese phones like the honor magic 8 pro these devices man they have

[14:05] some seriously sharp photos and uh they just look very dreamy some of them that's the best i could describe it like very cinematic ish very like um i don't know how to describe it just looks very

[14:17] pleasing to look at like a warm, sharp image on some of these devices. So you can get like a lot of different features in here, a lot more things going on, especially in some of the Xiaomi products as well.

[14:31] But what Apple really shines is just simplicity. I mean, they even took out the features and kind of just, they're still there, but they kind of made it look like it's just photo and video here making things very simple. But they really shine in just an easy-to-use consumer camera.

[14:47] Everything is super good, super fast, reliable, and all of them are consistent. That's the name of the game for the iPhone is consistency, and they're actually winning in front facing camera, especially for slab phones and non-foldables.

[15:01] These phones are definitely winning, and Apple still wins to me on video. It's the phone I grab every time a video is my main concern. While I do like the way the Galaxy has the laws recording, the 8K,

[15:13] I feel like to get my favorite Galaxy results, I've got to use Pro most. So if I'm using regular video, the way it looks is just super smooth. It looks great when uploading to social. In 2026, I've got to give video to Apple for sure.

[15:27] Now, when it comes to battery, the battery might be great on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It really is. Honestly, it's phenomenal. I love it for daily use. And especially for a lynthium ion battery.

[15:39] It just works really fantastic. I never really worry about battery at all on this phone. I didn't bet much on 16 Pro Max either, but this one is just like on another level. It's just ridiculous.

[15:51] That's the best word I could describe this with, you know, you're finishing the days with like well over 50%, which is insane to say. But the deal is, is that Android, let's stop and man the truth, still has phones that have better battery life.

[16:05] This one right here is one example. The OnePlus over here, let's go down the battery here. This phone right here has high performance modes as well. But if we go down here, you're going to see 7300 silicon carbon battery.

[16:19] Now, some people talked about they don't trust this technology or they think it's too young. It hasn't given me a problem on the OnePlus 13 nor this one. So I'm pretty happy with it. Use the official chargers and take good care of your phone.

[16:32] You know, don't gap it too heavily and destroy it like maybe it will start smoking. I don't know. Like, just be careful. Charge it properly with the official OEM charger and take care of the phone you going to have no problem I mean I think that an unwarranted fear I haven even heard of any substantial issues with some of the more mainstream players using

[16:52] those battery types yet. OnePlus is doing pretty good in battery, but this is not a video about OnePlus. It's just about Android phones in general. You can find these phones, Android devices, with better battery life.

[17:04] The Honor Magic 8 Pro actually has a larger silicon carbon battery as well than the iPhone 17 Pro Max and actually gets a better battery life. So, again, these are not direct comparisons. Samsung still uses Olympium Ion, and it's behind the 17 Pro Max by a good margin. But

[17:20] the truth is, let's stop ignoring it. iPhones have great battery, but they're not the best. That's the bottom line. They don't get the longest battery life, even if they're great. Even the Pixel does very well for an Android phone, and not too far off, in my experience,

[17:34] of the 17 Pro Max. It gives me similarly great battery life. Charging too. We know for a fact that this phone cannot charge as fast as a OnePlus device. Not even close.

[17:46] It's no contest. So if you need the top up fast, you're on a trip, whatever, iPhone's just behind in that department. Audio though, I do have to give it to them. They sound better than most Android phones out there in the audio

[17:58] on the speakers. Definitely good there. Where they've actually shine a pretty good amount as well as in the phone call quality. They've been pretty good in this area, but Samsung has still

[18:10] given me better reception throughout the past year. I've been getting stronger signal, faster 5G on the road, on the move. It's faster on the iPhone now than it was on previous iPhones, but it's still

[18:22] not snappier than the Samsung, or more reliable. So I definitely like the connectivity more on the Samsung as well. Now, status here in 2026, the truth is, in the U.S., iPhone is still the king.

[18:36] People just love iPhone here, and that's just the bottom line. But other parts of the world, I'm not going to say it's the number one thing everybody cares about as much. They don't have as many, in other countries, they don't have all, that's not everybody's phone that

[18:52] everybody's using. But here in the U.S., for sure, they are the status king. Like, everybody thinks you should have an iPhone here because they have an iPhone, I guess. But yeah, that's the truth when it comes to the status game.

[19:04] But when we're talking about the resale game, iPhones are still ahead. You know, you can kind of sell iPhones for a bit more and they actually sell faster too, significantly faster. I've sold Samsung devices

[19:16] and iPhone devices before and my iPhone devices, I couldn't even blink an eye and it was already sold. Like, okay, let's be real. It was probably like three minutes and it was sold. I waited three days to sell the Samsung phones

[19:29] when I was doing that sale. That was a few years ago. I could imagine now it might be a little bit different, but the iPhone tends to resell not only faster, but usually for higher. Sometimes Samsung even gives you more for your iPhone

[19:41] than their own phones, but not always. A lot of times, they give you a really good amount for their phones as well, but you've got to check which specific phone we're talking about here. Now, in conclusion,

[19:53] iPhone versus Android in 2026 iPhone is still an iconic device it will always be I mean it was the phone that pioneered this like type of smartphone like the

[20:05] smartphone it's the one that started it all so it's always going to be iconic it's always going to be looked at as like like one of the top in the game forever like until smartphones are no longer a thing I think it's always

[20:17] going to be that way they just have that imprinted in the psychology of millions and millions and millions of people. And so that's just something that's going to happen. But the fact of the matter is, the truth is, let's stop ignoring it.

[20:32] The Android phones have surpassed the iPhones objectively. They have faster CPUs, more camera options, some of them better battery life, faster performance, similarly long updates.

[20:44] And only the lawyer users will probably still perceive them as trash or whatever comparatively because they're not, they haven't tried them, they actually haven't used them. But, I mean, even the Galaxy Z Fold is a really good example.

[21:00] This is actually my personal folding phone right here, Z Fold 7. And this is a great example right here. Apple is going to be going to likely a foldable phone this year as Samsung has had seven iterations to prove this concept works.

[21:15] And so we're going to be seeing Apple's first foray into that this year. And the bottom line is that, you know, Android's are more innovative as well. So that's the truth. Let's stop ignoring it.

[21:27] iPhone's still iconic, still great. And I'm not anti-Apple at all. You know, definitely not. You can tell by the channel I love the iPhone. I love Android phones too as well. And for those of you who wanted to know, like, well, which one side are you on?

[21:40] I've been using them, both of them, for my entire history of using phones. So it's just the way it's been. That's why I compare them all the time because I think it's fun. So anyway, thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Subscribe if you haven't already and let me know your thoughts.

[21:53] I think this is a great topic to discuss here in 2026, like how far the Android devices have come, how great the options are today. And I'd love to have a chat with you guys about this down below in the comments.

[22:06] So thank you very much for watching. Nick here. I'll catch you on the next episode. Be sure to be well and peace. Thank you.