“Which is better: Apple or Android?” This is the age-old question that resurfaces every time a new flagship is launched or you’re about to upgrade. We often compare cameras, displays, and software, but a recent report takes the rivalry even further, pitting Apple’s latest N1 wireless networking chip introduced with the iPhone 17 series against its Android counterparts. The report tests the performance of the iPhone 17’s N1 chip by comparing it with the Google Pixel 10 series, Samsung Galaxy S25 series, and Xiaomi 15T.

Based on six weeks of global Speedtest Intelligence data collected after the iPhone 17 launch, analysts evaluated how Apple’s new N1 chip stacks up against its Broadcom-based predecessor and top Android flagships running on Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Broadcom Wi-Fi hardware. And here’s what he found.

iPhone 17’s N1 chip vs Android flagship chipset

According to Ookla’s report, Apple and Google are face to face in the global Wi-Fi race. The Pixel 10 Pro took the top spot in terms of global average download speed at 335.33 Mbps, beating the iPhone 17 family’s 329.56 Mbps. However, Apple’s new iPhones led in lower network conditions, with a 10th-percentile (worst-case) speed of 56.08 Mbps, which is slightly ahead of the Pixel 10 Pro’s 53.25 Mbps.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s 15T Pro delivered excellent upload and latency performance. Built on MediaTek’s Wi-Fi platform integrated with the Dimensity 9400(+) chip, it topped the charts for best download speed (887.25 Mbps), upload speed in all percentages, and achieved the lowest average latency (15 ms) worldwide.

Huawei’s Pura 80 series, powered by in-house “self-developed chip-level collaboration” (presumably HiSilicon), lagged behind its rivals due to the absence of 6 GHz support. This difference was most pronounced at the higher end, where the lack of 6 GHz severely limited peak speeds. Nevertheless, when limited to non-6 GHz networks, the Pura 80 performed competitively, ranking second in Wi-Fi 6 upload speed (603.61 Mbps) in Southeast Asia among Android flagships.

The data also underscores how the Wi-Fi 7 and 6 GHz bands are changing wireless performance, although their adoption is uneven. Across all Android devices, the average download speed at 6 GHz was at least 77 percent faster than at 5 GHz, while upgrading from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 yielded a comparable increase. However, there is great variation in regional penetration: in North America, more than 20 percent of Galaxy S25 Wi-Fi samples recorded at 6 GHz, compared to only 5 percent in Europe and Northeast Asia, and only 1.7 percent in the Bay Area.

Takeaway? Apple’s new N1 chip makes the iPhone 17 lineup a Wi-Fi powerhouse, but Android flagships like the Pixel 10 Pro and Xiaomi 15T Pro continue to push the boundaries, showing that the battle for wireless supremacy is far from settled.

iPhone 17 series performance compared to iPhone 16

Speedtest Intelligence data shows that while the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 share similar on-paper specifications, Apple’s new N1-powered iPhone 17 makes a clear leap in actual Wi-Fi performance. Typically, new devices post higher speeds in their initial weeks, as early adopters often come from markets with advanced network infrastructure. However, the scale and consistency of the iPhone 17 lead suggests genuine hardware improvement rather than a launch-stage skew.

To rule out any regional bias, the researchers compared markets with the most consistent data samples across both generations, including the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy and India. In each of these countries, the iPhone 17 outperformed its predecessor in download performance. This trend proved true not only in high-speed markets like France but also in areas with more typical Wi-Fi conditions, reinforcing the conclusion that the benefits come from the device itself.

In all percentiles, 10th, middle, and 90th, and almost every area studied, the iPhone 17 achieved higher download and upload speeds than the iPhone 16. The global average download speed of the iPhone 17 reached 329.56Mbps, which is almost 40 percent faster than the iPhone 16’s 236.46Mbps. Similar progress was seen in upload speeds, which increased from 73.68 Mbps to 103.26 Mbps.

Interestingly, the N1 chip provided a more significant generational uplift at the 10th percentile than at the 90th percentile, indicating that Apple’s custom silicon improves performance more dramatically in weak network conditions than ideal ones, a pattern also seen with the company’s in-house C1 modem.

In practice, this means the iPhone 17 offers a more reliable and consistent Wi-Fi experience in different environments, especially when connections are less stable. At the lowest performing 10th percentile, speeds were more than 60 percent higher than the iPhone 16, while at the top end there was an improvement of just over 20 percent.