Are Samsung Phones Better Than Google? What Consumer Reports Data Says

In the Android community, Samsung and Google provide some of the best phones available. While deciding Apple's best phones usually means discussing different model years, pricing, and features of those particular flagships; in the Android department, the competition is way higher. Comparing the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 10 Pro, it's hard to decide which one is the best. After all, both phones have impressive cameras, flagship processors, great battery life, and impressive AI features.

However, if you're in the market for a new phone, and you're between Samsung or Google's phone, you should first understand what you're looking for. Specs aside, owning a Samsung phone means you have a complete SmartThings hub, which means your phone can easily integrate with any Samsung device you have at home. On the other hand, if you have a Google Pixel phone, you'll likely have the best Android experience specifically. 

After all, Google is responsible for the Android software, which means Google Pixel phones usually get new features first, and they also have the deepest hardware and software integration for Android phones. That said, Consumer Reports data suggests there's a clear winner.

According to Consumer Reports, the organization's findings concluded that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a marginally better phone than the Google Pixel 10 Pro. However, it's interesting to note that in the research data, Samsung's phone competes with the smaller Google Pixel Pro phone (not the XL model). One of the things that might make consumers prefer the Galaxy S25 Ultra instead of a Google phone might be Google's own Tensor G5 chip. Samsung uses a custom Qualcomm chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy.

As a result, even with the Google Pixel 10 Pro offering more RAM (16GB against 12GB on the Galaxy), the S25 Ultra has more horsepower than Google's offering. In the camera department, Samsung offers more lenses, but the selfies on Google Pixel look sharper and with better quality; not only due to the higher resolution, but also due to Google's hardware-software integration.

Consumer Reports praises the rear camera system, durability and display quality, and the overall battery life of both Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 10 Pro, even though the S25 Ultra has a longer lifespan due to its bigger size. At the end of the day, it all depends on how much you're willing to spend, and if you'd like a complete Samsung experience, or a more integrated hardware-software experience with a Google phone.