iPhone 17 just did these 6 things better, Samsung should take notes

Apple unveiled four new iPhones on September 9. They are the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. All of them now have 120Hz OLED displays, like all Galaxy S phones have had over the past five years. They have six features that Samsung should seriously consider for future all Galaxy S series devices, including Apple's ground-breaking selfie camera sensor.

Samsung introduced an anti-reflective screen with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it received widespread praise for its practicality in fighting off glare and reflections. However, Samsung failed to bring that technology to other Galaxy S models like the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and the Galaxy S25 Edge this year.

Apple brought a similar anti-reflective panel to all its new iPhones, including the base iPhone 17. A feature with such huge practical benefits should be brought over to all Galaxy S models in the future.

While Samsung upgraded from a 10MP selfie camera to a 12MP selfie camera last year, Apple has taken a giant leap forward with its new 18MP front-facing camera used in all the new iPhones. And the company hasn't just increased the resolution or size of the sensor, it has used a new sensor with a GoPro Hero 11-like square aspect ratio.

This allows the phone to capture portrait and landscape orientation images and videos without the need for the phone to be turned into landscape mode. So, whether you hold your phone vertically or horizontally, you can capture photos and videos in your preferred orientation, perfect for posting them on social media.

Samsung should also consider using such a square front-facing camera sensor in the future.

While Samsung upgraded its Plus and Ultra models to 45W fast wired charging, its base and Edge models are still stuck with just 25W fast charging. In comparison, Apple has upgraded to 40W fast charging for all new iPhones, including the ultra-thin iPhone Air. This allows the new iPhones to charge up to 50% in just 20 minutes.

While Samsung is rumored to be upgrading to 60W fast charging on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, it is time Samsung switched to 45W or faster wired charging for all Galaxy S series models. It should also adopt the Qi 2.2 standard for 25W fast wireless charging and magnetic alignment with built-in magnets.

One of the advantages Samsung's base Galaxy S phones had over base iPhones in the past were the presence of a dedicated telephoto camera. However, the South Korean firm is still stuck to old 10MP and 12MP sensors for telephoto and ultrawide cameras on base and Plus Galaxy S phones.

In comparison, Apple has switched to 48MP ultrawide and telephoto cameras with its new iPhones. Even the base iPhone 17 uses a 48MP primary and a 48MP ultrawide camera.

Samsung should also bring 48MP or 50MP camera sensors for ultrawide cameras on all Galaxy S models. On the base and Plus Galaxy S series phones, it should ideally use a 50MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom while staying with a 50MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom in Ultra models.

Despite the release of the Bluetooth 6.0 standard last year, Samsung hasn't brought it to its new high-end phones. The South Korean firm used to be among the first in the world to use newer technology standards. However, over the past few years, it has stopped doing that. Now, even Apple has used newer standards in its devices.

Samsung should equip all its future Galaxy S and Galaxy Z phones with Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB. Bluetooth 6.0 brings improved security and more accurate location ranging performance. Similarly, UWB offers more reliable performance of things like digital keys for cars, homes, and offices.

Since the Galaxy Note 7 (launched in 2016), Samsung has been stuck with 5Gbps USB Type-C ports on its Galaxy S series phones. However, Apple has upgraded to 10Gbps data transfer speeds on its Pro series iPhones after adopting the USB Type-C standard.

Samsung should follow suit and use 10Gbps or faster USB Type-C ports on its future Galaxy S phones. This, combined with the new Samsung DeX, could significantly improve multitasking and productivity.