Pondering a phone upgrade
Last weekend, my wife upgraded her Apple Watch; she had her current watch she's wearing, and a series 11 watch that was gifted to her (her sister won it in a raffle draw, but her sister is smart and uses Android1). Since we were in the Apple Store, I had a look at the new line of phones for 2026.
Obviously I had to at least look at the Duo. I'm not interested in a folding phone (and least of all the Duo) but they're fun to look at in the store. (Actually, if I were to get a folding phone, I would probably get Samsung's Z Fold which is basically a Star Trek tricorder.)
But I like the general look and feel of the current iteration of the iPhone, except for the camera bump. I don't like the camera bump in any phone, Apple or Android. They're light, but feel solid in the hands. I like the squared edges rather than the thin, rounded edges I have on my S21+. I've been thinking about the iPhone as a potential upgrade, but since recently upgrading my Galaxy Watch, I'm going to stick with the Samsung ecosystem.
I looked at the S26 lineup and compared the base S26 against my S21+. I haven't seen the S26 lineup in stores recently, but if memory serves the build of these (and the Pixel lineup) are similar to the iPhone: brick-style, squared edges instead of the thin rounded edges.
Overall the specs appear to be an improvement, with the exception of a smaller battery, which I expected. The brightness of the screen is drastically improved, with a peak brightness of 2600 nits, which beats my current brightness of 13002.
Where I got caught up is the comparison of the main camera.
| Lens | S21+ | S26 |
|---|---|---|
| Wide | 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76", 1.8µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS | 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56", 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS |
| Telephoto | 64 MP, f/2.0, 29mm (telephoto), 1/1.72", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 1.1x optical zoom, 3x hybrid zoom | 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm (telephoto), 1/3.94", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom |
| Ultrawide | 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55" 1.4µm, Super Steady video | 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55" 1.4µm, Super Steady video |
Wait a sec. I see a definite improvement in the wide-angle lens, sure. The ultrawide lens looks the same. But what about the telephoto lens? We're going from 64 MP to 10 MP. Yes, there are changes to the aperture and focal length, as well as an improved optical zoom (3x optical instead of 3x "hybrid"), but that seems like a staggering drop in quality.
I wondered if this was because I was looking at the base model, so I compared against the S26+. Nope...same specs. The only model in this series to get an upgrade in lens quality is the Ultra:
| Lens | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Wide | 200 MP, f/1.4, 23mm (wide), 1/1.3", 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS |
| Telephoto | 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm (telephoto), 1/3.94", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom |
| Periscope telephoto | 50 MP, f/2.9, 111mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.52", 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom |
| Ultrawide | 50 MP, f/1.9, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.5", 0.7µm, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video |
The problem is that for me, the Ultra is overkill. I want to downgrade the size of my phone. It bothers me that an upgrade to my phone — hardware, software — is actually a downgrade in camera quality. Is Samsung the only company that is downgrading the camera quality of its base models compared to competitors?
Am I interpreting this wrong?
I'm less inclined than ever to upgrade my phone; not that I am specifically concerned with the cameras, but it doesn't make sense to lose what good quality pictures I can take now as a trade-off for newer, flashier software updates.