Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra can’t beat this 2025 Android phone

Every year Samsung releases a new Galaxy Ultra and somehow it still feels like the same familiar formula with a few improvements.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra not an exception. It’s polished and powerful, but not the kind of upgrade that makes you instantly fall in love with it. However, this year brings one great addition: Privacy Screen. It’s a feature that changes how I use my phone in public, and honestly, it’s something I’ve wanted on every Android I’ve used, including my favorite phone from last year: the OPPO Find X9 Pro. Still, a single standout feature doesn’t completely change the value equation at a starting price of $1,300.

When placed next to the cream of Android phone cameras, the OPPO Find X9 Pro, it suddenly becomes difficult to justify the S26 Ultra at this price. Don’t get me wrong. I still like the Galaxy S26 Ultra for what it has to offer. But when a more affordable phone from last year starts beating it in key areas, it’s hard to ignore. And I have my reasons for this.

One of the biggest reasons I love it OPPO Find X9 Pro are his cameras. To give you a feel of the setup, it packs a 50MP primary camera, a 200MP periscope telephoto lens with up to 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP ultra-wide sensor on the back.

For me, this backend setup works just as well for personal use as it does for professionals. I recently took the OPPO Find X9 Pro on vacation and relied on it for photos and videos. One of the highlights for me was at a cafe overlooking the beach. Everything was in the frame: rocks, water, sand and even distant mountains. What I got back was a vivid, vivid image. Here, Hasselblad tuning really shows its character in color science and post-processing management. Even with fog in the air, the phone couldn’t fix the scene.

This sequence does not stop at random shots. Most of the phone photos I take for my articles are taken on this device. Portrait mode is especially noteworthy. It cleanly isolates the subject while keeping colors natural and controlling blur.

I even compared it to this sequence to really check it Screenshots from the Pixel 10 Pro. I noticed slight differences between images of the same subject with the Pixel. The Find X9 Pro, on the other hand, took three consecutive shots of the same scene, and it came out as expected almost every time. This repeatability makes a real difference when you work regularly. And when it came to shooting the OPPO Find X9 Pro itself for this piece, of course I had to pull out another camera. Few phones come close to what this consistently delivers, at least for me.

The same reliability is even more noticeable when you move to the telephoto system. I mostly stick to the 3x optical zoom as the 70mm focal length works well for human portraits and product shots. In fact, the 6x hybrid zoom also works well when you really need close-up shots without sacrificing detail.

Speaking of which, the digital zoom can go up to 120x, and while the AI ​​processing kicks in at this point, the fact that it still remains usable is impressive in itself. There’s also a Hasselblad teleconverter kit that you can buy separately, but at the entry level it seems a bit redundant to me. However, it does show how far OPPO is willing to go for people looking to build more serious photography.

This was one of the features I loved experimenting with XPAN mode. This is a classic Hasselblad mode that captures cinematic, ultra-wide panoramic shots with a distinctive look and 65:24 aspect ratio.

The OPPO Find X9 Pro also has a 50-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus, and it’s a little too good at what it does. As soon as I started taking selfies, every little detail on my face became surprisingly clear. It’s certainly impressive, but it’s also a detail that makes you question a few things about your own skin. All kidding aside, it may not always be flattering, but it does exactly what it needs to do, and it does it really well.

For me, the whole point of shooting with the Find X9 Pro is reliability. I know this doesn’t sound very exciting, but hear me out. Every time I took a shot on the OPPO Find X9 Pro, I had a pretty clear idea of ​​what I was going to get. Post-processing is consistent and more importantly predictable. And for me, this prediction is more important.

This was not always the case during my time with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. I’ve experienced occasional shutter lag and some dynamic range inconsistencies that can be noticeable. That said, the Find X9 Pro isn’t flawless either. Sometimes it misses, but even so, the results feel like predictable misses. And oddly enough, it’s easier to work with than inconsistency.

The OPPO Find X9 Pro doesn’t just stop at cameras; it has the same confidence in performance and battery life. The 7,500 mAh battery sounds big on paper and actually holds up in real life.

My day usually starts around 9am and my usage revolves around clicking pictures, shooting videos, swiping between apps and spending more time on YouTube Shorts than I care to admit. My screen time is easily on the high side, but I never felt like I needed to be concerned about the battery. And that’s saying something, because battery anxiety is very real to me – I used to own an iPhone. With the Find X9 Pro, though, it wasn’t just anything. I was comfortably approaching two days on a single charge.

Now, when you put the OPPO Find X9 Pro next to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the difference is impossible to look past. Samsung has been running with a 5,000mAh battery since the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, and it really makes you wonder how much it has hindered progress all these years.

What stood out the most was how well the Find X9 Pro handled heat. Even without the case, it never felt uncomfortably hot, especially at low battery levels where most phones struggle. The same stability carried over to more difficult tasks. I edited several reels in VN software and exported high quality videos without missing a beat.

Under the hood, OPPO’s phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9500, and performance was consistently smooth and reliable during my time with it. Whether for everyday use or something more demanding, the phone has hit the spot. To give you a better idea, I play Call of Duty: Mobile almost every day, usually jumping into a quick team deathmatch round, and the experience has been solid. At the end of the day, if the phone I’m using isn’t annoying, I’m fine.

This is what it really is. I like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra – I really do – but it still can’t quite beat the OPPO Find X9 Pro. For me, the priorities are simple enough: strong battery life, great cameras, and reliable performance. The Find X9 Pro nails all three.

That’s what makes this comparison a little awkward. Because for a flagship in 2026, the Galaxy S26 Ultra should ideally not try to catch it, but set the benchmark. And yet it does just that.

That said, the Find X9 Pro isn’t perfect either. ColorOS is still not as intuitive and feature-rich as Samsung’s One UI, and Galaxy AI remains one of Samsung’s biggest strengths – something OPPO has yet to quite match. There’s also a clear iOS-inspired influence in OPPO’s software, which could do with a little more authenticity. Software is important, and so is long-term support – and in this regard, Samsung still has the upper hand. Simply put, I’ll be able to use the Galaxy S26 Ultra for a few years longer than the Find X9 Pro.

But even with that advantage, it’s hard to lose sight of the bigger picture. The Find X9 Pro gets the basics so right that Samsung, with all its resources and flagships, still can’t convincingly answer the most basic question: What does $1,300 really get you?