Amazon UK Prime Day: Special Discounts on Samsung Galaxy S26 and Xiaomi 17 Flagships

Traditionally, flagship smartphones with smaller screens have gravitated towards a 6.3-inch display size. However, this measurement alone doesn't capture the entire picture. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Xiaomi 17, both available at special prices during Amazon Prime Day, illustrate this diversity.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 serves as a reliable option, having achieved impressive sales. Its predecessors, the S22 through S25, have also garnered strong sales figures, despite Samsung being slow to upgrade the smaller S models.

On the other hand, the Xiaomi 17 stands out due to its robust camera system. It features a larger 50MP main camera sensor (1/1.31” vs. 1/1.56”), a 50MP telephoto module offering 2.6x optical and 5x lossless zoom (60mm lens versus 67mm lens, compared to the Galaxy's 10MP sensor), and a 50MP ultra-wide camera that captures more detail than the 12MP unit on the Samsung device. The selfie camera also boasts a larger 50MP sensor, surpassing the aging 12MP sensor used on the Galaxy.

Samsung has been lagging in adopting Silicon-Carbon battery technology. As a result, the Galaxy S26's 4,300mAh battery falls short by 2,030mAh compared to the Xiaomi 17. This difference is evident in our testing, where the S26 achieved an Active Use Score of 15:20h, while the Xiaomi outperformed it with a score of 21:46h. The charging technologies also vary significantly; despite the Xiaomi having 47% more capacity, its 100W charger fully charges the device in just 46 minutes, whereas Samsung’s 25W charger takes 1 hour and 4 minutes.

Nevertheless, the Galaxy S26 boasts its strengths as well. One UI is favored by many users for its rich features and customization options, while Xiaomi's HyperOS has faced criticism. Additionally, the Samsung device is thinner (7.2mm vs. 8.1mm) and lighter (167g vs. 191g), which may appeal to some customers.

It's worth noting that the European version of the Galaxy S26 is equipped with an Exynos 2600 chipset, while the Xiaomi 17 houses a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Both models come with 12GB of RAM.