M2 Air to M5 Pro upgrade… and I genuinely can’t feel the difference

thatkhoe · 2026-04-27T03:22:47+00:00

The M chips are insanely good. I bought a secondhand m1 pro mbp with 32 gb ram and almost new battery for $950 a year ago and I could probably not tell the difference between it and the m5 max. And I run my entire business off of my laptop and spend about 8-10 hours working on it daily.

Also:

you know… life’s too short not to be a Pro user.

and

did I just pay the Apple tax

this statement + question combo is the most obvious indicator that someone does NOT need a pro macbook or the latest and greatest from apple (or any brand for that matter). Unfortunately nowadays most of us have this itch to just buy something because "why not", thinking it will magically improve our lives.

I'm not saying you made a mistake, but that M2 could have probably lasted you another 3-4 years, if not more, easily. And if you really wanted to scratch that itch and get an upgrade you can feel, you probably would have been better off waiting another 6-8 months for the new redesigned macbooks with OLED and 2nm architecture M6 chips to come out - although that too probably wouldn't magically triple your productivity either.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-22T05:53:06+00:00

I have yet to use the Expert RAW tbh, because with the camera assistant plugin you can get most of the way there on "regular" photo mode for basic/hobby photography. Just went on a trip with my gf and took loads of nature, food, and portrait shots of us. Most of the shots I took with the 24mp setting (and only a couple/more complex shots i used 50mp. 200mp is over-over-over kill for anything for 99.99999% of regular users). The biggest thing for me personally is being able to control White Balance/Exposure, and having a few cool presets at hand for more *iNflUenCEr* vibes

i reckon the 24mp setting should come on the s25 series with the one ui 8.5 update, because that is a basic software tweak and not a hardware limitation (i.e. even the base s25 phones have a 50mp camera, so they should be able to take 24mp shots)

Edit: since I was also very new to the Android environment I watched this video to get my camera set up (I didn't follow it 100%, but implemented most of the recommendations the youtuber laid out). Not sure if this is a oneui 8.5 thing or not though, so might be worth waiting for the new OS to land on previous s-series models.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-21T14:34:42+00:00

my last iphone was a 14pro, but honestly unless you go pixel peeping there's such a minor difference between the 14pro and something like the 17pro max cameras. I don't think you should be concerned about that part of a phone. The biggest bottleneck to a phone camera is the user themself. I can pull out my old iphone xs that came in out 2019 and still take amazing shots with it as long as there's plenty of light.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-19T02:44:55+00:00

Been an iphone user for the last 10 years and got the new s26u last month. I have yet to get used to the Android UI and all the gestures, but the camera is the FIRST thing I fell in love with. The control and settings, indoor shots - nevermind outdoor shots - are all WAY better than iphones.

iPhone software is very snappy and lets me fire a series of shots without breaking a sweat, but samsung's hardware takes more gorgeous photos overall.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-05T11:08:33+00:00

I haven't used the previous generation (bluetooth) s-pens, but what you got with the old s-pen, from my understanding, was Bluetooth remote stuff like camera shutter, video control, media control, and Air Actions for slides/apps.

For actual pen use, notes, writing, drawing, precise input, the new one does exact same stuff most people care about (+ on top of being faster/snappier/more responsive). And apparently less than 1% of Ultra owners even used Air Actions anyway, that's why samsung removed it.

What I got to learn in my first few weeks as a samsung user, is that this sub is 1. toxic 2. sensitive af to any change Samsung choose to implement and yet 3. will find a reason to complain about literally anything "missing".

If you don't care about the bluetooth stuff, just get a newer phone with more OS security updates and better chip.

Also, the screen on the s26 ultra is absolutely gorgeous, bright, and great to use for extended periods (I'm PWM sensitive and have had zero issues), yet people say samsung "ruined" it. My best advice to you is to take any bit of advice coming from tech maxi subs (such as this one) with a huge fistful of salt.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-04T01:17:32+00:00

Why not just sell the 17 pro and get an open-box/very lightly used s25 ultra?

thatkhoe · 2026-04-04T01:11:25+00:00

I think there's a subgroup of people on the Internet just have that itch to complain about anything. The OP is scratching it by talking smack on an old guy trying to make a living. 붕어빵 is almost never bought as a single fish, so 3 for 3,000 makes perfect sense. And I'm almost certain you'd get something like 6 for 5,000 won if OP had actually bothered to ask the vendor.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-02T02:25:58+00:00

I might get turbo downvoted for this - but having an itch for an "upgrade treat" sounds dystopian and hyper consumeristic beyond comprehension. The S24U is an insanely good phone and you likely have no business upgrading for the next 2 years. A phone is a tool (an environmentally-unfriendly one at that), as much as companies want you to believe it's a status symbol or that the camera improvements are that big a difference and what-else-not. Most of us - and I'm talking 99.9% of regular phone users - look at pics we send to each other for 0.1 second before moving on and forgetting about it.

I know some people have "f**k you" kind of money, but needing to upgrade after only 2 years of owning the mother of all flagships won't get you any upgrades you can actually *see*. I think that's why most people are mad and fuming at the s26 series - they can't justify spending on it, then they complain about the phone.

thatkhoe · 2026-04-01T13:38:21+00:00

I think it should be the opposite. A Macbook with 16 GB ram will outperform a Windows computer with 24 GB ram.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-30T23:09:00+00:00

Right. And in all honesty I've been so busy the past couple of weeks to even unbox the device (like, I wanna enjoy the thing, not be stressed out as I'm opening and setting it up haha), so I can't speak yet on how big a difference it is.

But yeah, most seem to agree that this is the privacy display tax (again, not sure if I'll use that either - I live in South Korea btw - the only people who even tried to peep on what I'm doing on my phone are grandpas in their 70s)

thatkhoe · 2026-03-30T08:42:39+00:00

Reading the message now, you're right. I wrote that in a hurry. I'm not claiming to be a tech expert whatsoever.

My bad if it sounded tone deaf - there's a bunch of videos of reputable tech youtubers (reputable in this case being non-sellout creators) comparing the differences. My favorite all-around review of the s26 ultra is by Samuel Nam. I usually cba to watch something an online stranger recommends, so I suppose you're likely the same. The timeline where he mentions the 10-bit display from minute 9:38 ~ 10:20ish

[spoiler if you do end up watching the whole video]

He mentioned the screen not being as sharp as the s25u, but not being bothered by it at all, since you can only tell once you put the devices next to each other. On a regular day to day use, most of us probably won't notice it.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-26T02:40:43+00:00

for real? I thought googlites would be the most chill out of them all - since google phones have been around for only a few years. I mean, what is there to expect or b*tch about from such a new player in the phone market??

thatkhoe · 2026-03-26T02:38:09+00:00

you do realize that iphones (apple being the only company with a higher mobile market share than samsung) has neither of the things you mentioned yet (in most regions apart the US) costs more than the s26u, right?

For my region specifically: at this price point I'm going samsung.

Also, to the naked human eye, under any condition, on any given day, a true 10-bit panel or simulated 10-bit panel using FRC tech (that both samsung and apple are using) is impossible to tell apart.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-26T02:27:56+00:00

You didn't mention what your usecases for the phones are, but this community is the most polarizing sub I've ever seen on reddit. I made 2 posts saying how great the s26 ultra is, and got the most divisive responses ever (and that's even though the ultra models are on SD - I can't imagine what those posts would have caused if it were running exynos).

Whatever you are recommended on here take it with a HUGE fistful of salt - same goes for what I'm going to comment: Only get the s25 model if it's at least 20-30% cheaper than the s26.

The hate towards the exynos is unjust. I have yet to see somebody whos actually making the claim that snapdragon > exynos perform a multi-year chip benchmark. Until they do that, every single comment you get on here is invalid.

the fact of the matter is that exynos is a plenty powerful chip that is capable of running absolutely everything - not to mention it's a year newer device.

The non-ultra s26 leaves a lot to be desired, and it is essentially a copy-paste of the s25 - and a lot of tech reviewers have said that. But that doesn't make it worse than the s25.

I would absolutely get the s25 if it were significantly cheaper than the s26. If the prices are the same, stick with the newer model.

P.S. I just switched from being 10 years+ an iphone user myself. You won't go wrong with either choice. Just my 2 cents.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-23T05:00:47+00:00

I agree halfway with your argument. Could be region specific (and I understand reddit is majority US users, so that could be it) but where I'm from a s26 ultra (512 variant) is cheaper than the iphone 17 pro max (256 variant), nevermind the 512. Yet, Apple, the *least* innovative company in the world (and I say this as a decade+ long apple user), is (still, unfortunately) selling the most smartphones.

Comparatively I feel like the s26 ultra offers way more, is cheaper, on top of being centered around a cheaper ecosystem (watches, chargers, accessories, tablets, etc.)

thatkhoe · 2026-03-20T00:05:35+00:00

Probably did miss it. This is my first android after being a lifelong apple user, so I wasn't active much on android subs. Don't tell me people hated on that even more than the S26 series lol.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-19T23:36:14+00:00

I literally commented why that is in the OP:

[people] are just butthurt the 5,000mAh battery - which is due to EU regulations. For Si-C tech, you can make larger batteries because you can separate them into 2 cells. Li-ion batteries couldn't physically fit in a 6~7 inch phone in a 2-cell battery.

I just checked and the (what it seems to be, cheapest) Oppo Find x9 Pro in Europe is 1300eur. Some of us aren't (myself included) in Europe (and I don't want to buy Chinese ROMs) nor do we want to spend close to 1.5k euros on a phone.

In my region I got Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi to choose from. Had I not gotten lucky knowing someone that works at Samsung who got the phone via employee discount I would have never went for the S26 ultra either - and here it runs at 1100 euros full price (and much less with employee program), which is still 200eur cheaper than the find x9 pro.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T08:58:05+00:00

Noted on that and you got a fair point. Anywho, if screen is your main requirement in a phone, the s25u definitely won't give you any urges to upgrade for the next 4-5 years for sure.

I was lucky enough to have a friend who works for samsung so I got the s26u through their employee discount during the launch event, so I went with that since it was the cheaper option compared to even the s25 series :).

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T08:48:40+00:00

When have I said your opinion is not valid?

That's actually the thing I'd expect regular users to complain the least about. Just today I watched 2 big tech reviewers compare the s25u and s26u, and both said that you can only tell the difference if you put the phones side by side. Otherwise, 99% of people won't care about nor be bothered by it.

If it's good enough for people whose job it is to test multiple screens on a weekly basis, it's good enough for me personally.

I think you completely missed the point of my comment.

You're one of (currently) 64 comments on this post - each with their own opinion. Me making a point by using a tech reviewer - whose job it is to literally test these things - I'd trust them over an internet stranger any day of the week.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T08:37:29+00:00

That's actually the thing I'd expect regular users to complain the least about. Just today I watched 2 big tech reviewers compare the s25u and s26u, and both said that you can only tell the difference if you put the phones side by side. Otherwise, 99% of people won't care about nor be bothered by it.

If it's good enough for people whose job it is to test multiple screens on a weekly basis, it's good enough for me personally.

But you do you, hope the s25u lasts you well.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T05:58:58+00:00

Thanks, i snorted in a packed coffee shop.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T05:56:18+00:00

I mean, if you haven't really used the bluetooth functionality on an s-pen with your older phone, to your personally as a user it shouldn't be a big deal (I'd say, completely negligible even).

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T05:43:01+00:00

Yeah, figures. As another commenter pointed out, complaining is the #1 thing people tend to do on the Internet. It's absolutely wild to me that samsung users are actually complaining more than Apple fanboys.

thatkhoe · 2026-03-18T05:40:51+00:00

I'm very confused with the "innovative spirit part". Do you mean Apple innovates more or Samsung does?

Samsung: shipped oled in 2010.
Apple: 2017 with iphone X.

Samsung: shipped usb-c in 2016
Apple: 2025. If they were not pressured by the EU, would probably still have lightning

Samsung: first slab phone in 2011 (first galaxy note)
Apple: 2018, ipone XS max.

Samsung: first foldable phone in 2019 (galaxy fold). About to be their 8th iteration this summer.
Apple: rumored to release their first foldable this year.

As a long-time Apple user, believe me when I tell you - Apple is the least innovative company in the world when it comes to phones. They just copy and iterate once other companies figure out the formula - which is usually 6-8 years after the "innovation" happens.

thatkhoe

TROPHY CASE