A Face-Off Between the Top Flagships Today

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, or Google Pixel 9 Pro XL? We take the best smartphones today on a stress-test

- Shouvik Das

India's smartphone market has changed, and one of the most pronounced shifts is in the way people look at buying top flagship phones. Today, the smartphone buyer is looking for premium options that last over three to four years, and thanks to affordable financing options, these are now no longer just ‘aspirational’. The size of their market is ever-growing: at the end of last year, premium smartphones priced about ₹50,000 accounted for one in every five phones sold in India—that's over 2.5 million flagship and premium phones sold in India each month.

It is, therefore, no surprise that Samsung, Apple and Google have each gone all out to market their most expensive smartphones in India right now. To do so, each has relied on the influx of AI as their key factor of appeal. Which, though, comes out on top?

AI: THE (E)X-FACTOR?

The jury is still divided on whether AI features on a smartphone have failed to arouse interest or if it's too early to judge this. So far, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has come out with a new interface design that's easy on the eyes. Our review of the S25 Ultra lauded this as the reason why Samsung's latest flagship felt fresh in an otherwise lacklustre year for the company's pinnacle of smartphone innovation.

This interface design makes a difference in the way you, the user, would use AI. It doesn't ask you to go out of your way to see how AI makes a difference. Instead, AI features are present within most mainstream apps, designed ergonomically. For instance, the Samsung photo editor app gives easy access to erasing the background of a photo—without needing to access a separate AI mode.

CAMERAS: FINE MARGINS