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

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

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is no exception. It’s polished and powerful, sure, but not quite the kind of upgrade that makes you fall in love with it right away. That said, this year does bring one excellent addition: the Privacy Display. It’s a feature that changes how I use my phone in public, and honestly, it’s something I want on every Android I use, including my favorite phone from last year: the OPPO Find X9 Pro. Still, a single standout feature doesn’t completely shift the value equation at a $1,300 starting price.

And when put next to the OPPO Find X9 Pro, the crème de la crème of Android phone cameras, suddenly, the S26 Ultra feels hard to justify at that price. Don’t get me wrong. I still like the Galaxy S26 Ultra for what it offers. 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 that.

One of the biggest reasons why I love the OPPO Find X9 Pro is its cameras. To give you a sense 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 rear setup works just as well for personal use as it does for professional. Recently, I took the OPPO Find X9 Pro on vacation and relied on it for photos and videos. One moment that stood out for me was at a cafe overlooking the beach. The frame had everything: rocks, water, sand, and even distant mountains. What I got back was a vibrant, lively image. Here, the Hasselblad tuning really shows its character in how it handles color science and post-processing. Even with haze in the air, the phone didn’t flatten the scene.

That consistency doesn’t just stop at casual shots. Most of the phone images I shoot for my articles are taken on this device. The portrait mode, in particular, stands out. It cleanly isolates the subject while keeping colors natural and the blur controlled.

To really test that consistency, I even compared it with shots from the Pixel 10 Pro. With the Pixel, I noticed slight variations between pictures of the same subject. The Find X9 Pro, on the other hand, took three consecutive shots of the same scene, which came out almost exactly as expected every time. That repeatability makes a real difference when you’re working with it regularly. And when it came to shooting the OPPO Find X9 Pro itself for this piece, of course, I had to bring out another camera. At least for me, very few phones come close to what this one consistently delivers.

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

Speaking of which, the digital zoom can go all the way up to 120x, and while AI processing kicks in at that point, the fact that it still remains usable is impressive in itself. There’s also a Hasselblad teleconverter kit you can buy separately, but at a beginner level, it feels a bit unnecessary for me. That said, it does show how far OPPO is willing to go for people who want a more serious photography setup.

One feature that I loved experimenting with was the XPAN mode. It’s a classic Hasselblad mode that captures cinematic, ultra-wide panoramic shots with a distinct look and an aspect ratio of 65:24.

The OPPO Find X9 Pro also has a 50MP selfie camera with autofocus, and it’s a little too good at its job. The moment I started clicking selfies, every tiny detail on my face came into surprising clarity. It’s impressive, no doubt, but also the kind of detail that makes you question a few things about your own skin. Jokes aside, it might not always be flattering, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to and does it really well.

The whole point of shooting with the Find X9 Pro for me is reliability. I know, that doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but hear me out. Every time I framed a shot on the OPPO Find X9 Pro, I had a fairly clear idea of what I would get. The post-processing is consistent and, more importantly, predictable. And for me, that predictability matters more.

With my time using the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve at times run into shutter lag and some dynamic range inconsistencies that can throw a shot off just enough to be noticeable. That said, the Find X9 Pro isn’t flawless either. It does occasionally miss, but even then, the results feel like predictable misses. And in a weird way, that’s easier to work with than inconsistency.

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

My day usually starts around 9 am, and my usage revolves around clicking photos, shooting videos, scrolling through apps, and spending more time than I’d like to admit on YouTube Shorts. My screen time is easily on the higher side, but at no point did I feel like I needed to keep an eye on the battery. And that’s saying something, because battery anxiety is very real for me — I used to own an iPhone. With this Find X9 Pro, though, it just wasn’t a thing. I was comfortably getting close to two days on a single charge.

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

What stood out just as much was how well the Find X9 Pro handled thermals. Even without a case, it never felt uncomfortably warm, especially at lower battery levels where most phones tend to struggle. That same stability carried into heavier tasks as well. I edited a few reels on the VN app and exported high-quality videos without missing a beat.

Under the hood, OPPO’s phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9500, and throughout my time with it, performance felt consistently smooth and reliable. Whether it was everyday use or something more demanding, the phone held its ground. 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 throwing tantrums, I’m good.

That’s really what this comes down to. I like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — I genuinely do — but it still can’t quite outdo the OPPO Find X9 Pro. For me, the priorities are fairly straightforward: 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 be setting the benchmark, not trying to catch up. And yet, that’s exactly what it’s doing.

That said, the Find X9 Pro isn’t perfect either. ColorOS still doesn’t feel as intuitive and feature-rich as Samsung’s One UI, and Galaxy AI remains one of Samsung’s biggest strengths — something OPPO hasn’t quite matched yet. There’s also a clear iOS-inspired influence in OPPO’s software, which could do with a bit more originality. Software matters, and so does long-term support — and in that regard, Samsung still has the edge. Simply put, I’ll be able to use the Galaxy S26 Ultra for a couple of years longer than the Find X9 Pro.

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