iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra

Apple's latest Pro Max finds itself in the usual tough crowd, competing against the best offerings from all the big names in the business. Archrival Samsung has had its ultimate S24 Ultra on the market for what's approaching a year now, but it remains a productivity powerhouse with varied camera capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, brings Apple's latest silicon, a few minor camera tweaks, and some endurance improvements. So which one is better?

Table of Contents:

• Design
• Display
• Battery Life
• Charging
• Speaker Test
• Performance
• Cameras
• Verdict

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following text.

Size comparison

If the Max and Ultra names don't get the message across, the numbers probably will - the two phones are large and heavy. The Pro Max gained a few millimeters in height and a mil in width over the previous generation, plus it's now a few grams heavier. The Galaxy is closer in dimensions to its predecessor, but it's still larger, bulkier, and ever so slightly heavier than the iPhone.

The iPhone has an extra button this time around, which adds camera functionality and/or allows the previously available action key to serve purposes other than launching the camera. The Galaxy has more than just an extra button - it packs a stylus, the S Pen offering tons of functionality for both work and play. We reckon the latter is more useful.

Color options are rather subdued on the iPhone, while the Galaxy offers a somewhat more exciting selection, particularly if you're to buy directly from samsung.com, where some exclusive brighter colorways can be found.

Both phones employ titanium in one form or another for their frames. We're not entirely sure whose method for attaching the exposed bits to the internals is superior, but in both cases, your fingers will be touching titanium - possibly different alloy compositions, too, but try telling them apart and you will see it's impossible.

The Galaxy is protected by Gorilla Armor, Corning's latest glass that's unique in its low reflectivity. Meanwhile, the iPhone uses a new generation of their tailor-made Ceramic Shield, also coming from Corning.

The iPhone carries the same IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, but Apple is eager to promise higher resistance than what the standard requires - 6m of depth vs. 1.5m (both for 30 minutes).

Display comparison

The iPhone's display grew in size this generation; the 16 Pro Max's 6.9-inch diagonal is now slightly larger than the 6.8-inch S24 Ultra panel. Both screens are plenty sharp, have adaptive high refresh rate support, promise super high brightness, and are HDR-compliant.

The iPhone's 460ppi pixel density means it's now got a 1,320x2,868px resolution (density is the fundamental spec in the Apple world), while the Galaxy's 1,440x3,120px resolution results in a slightly higher 505ppi. Both panels have the same aspect ratio, at 19.5:9.

In our testing, we measured 1,796nits on the iPhone and 1,447nits on the Galaxy in their respective auto brightness modes, and the iPhone also had an advantage in manual operation (900 vs 755nits). It's a largely immaterial difference, but still, the iPhone can go brighter. The Galaxy's low reflectivity may give it an advantage in certain situations though, or at least negate the iPhone's superior… nittage.

Both phones support HDR10, but the iPhone is also Dolby Vision capable, while Samsung is insisting on HDR10+ instead. Both will also do HDR in photos in their galleries as well as compatible images on the internet.

Battery life

Apple upped the battery capacity for this year's Pro Max to 4685mAh, while the Galaxy S Ultra model's battery has been at 5,000mAh since there is a Galaxy S Ultra.

Even before this year's iPhone capacity increase, Pro Maxes typically outlasted competing Galaxies in our testing, and this is also the case between the 16 Pro Max and the S24 Ultra.

The iPhone has a notable advantage in web browsing and video playback, and a less significant but still meaningful edge in gaming. The fact that the Galaxy snatches a victory in voice calls is less important, we think.

Charging speed

The Galaxy may not last as long as the iPhone on a single charge, but it does take less time to top up. Samsung's hardly on the forefront of speedy charging tech, but the S24 Ultra is still significantly quicker than the 16 Pro Max - a difference you'll be feeling often.

Neither phone comes with a charger bundled, though, so you may be getting vastly different results depending on what you plug into your iPhone or Galaxy - or what you slap to their backs, as both phones also support wireless charging. The iPhone is rated for up to 25W with MagSafe chargers and 15W with third-party pads, and the Galaxy maxes out at 15W according to its specs.

Speaker test

Both phones have stereo speakers, and they employ the usual arrangement - one speaker on the bottom, another one above the display that also works as the earpiece. Both phones earned the same 'Very Good' rating for loudness, with very close integrated loudness values in our test. Still, if we had to pick one, it would be the iPhone.

Performance

The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses Apple's newest A18 Pro chipset, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra relies on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. That means the iPhone has cutting-edge silicon, unlike the Galaxy, whose chip has just been replaced, and we'll be seeing more powerful Androids in the coming weeks and months. That said, there's a good two to three months before a Galaxy shows up with the Snapdragon Elite, so this is as good as you can get from Samsung now.

Apple's fitted 8GB of RAM on the 16 Pro Max, while the Galaxy comes with 12GB, though each operating system has its own specifics in dealing with memory, so these numbers don't mean a lot in a direct comparison. Storage is more straightforward and both phones start at 256GB and can be had with up to a terabyte.

Benchmark performance

In benchmarks, the iPhone significantly outperforms the Galaxy under raw CPU load, while the Galaxy has an advantage in GPU tests (more significant in ray-tracing tests). Overall, both phones are plenty powerful and future proof.

Another aspect of futureproofing is long-term software support. Samsung promises 7 major OS releases and 7 years of security updates. Apple's policy isn't as explicit, but 5 years of support appears to have been established as the norm. Again, you'll be set for a long time with one of these.

Camera comparison

A key aspect of the iPhone vs. Galaxy rivalry is the camera performance, and the two phones are among the better options for picture-taking and video capture. Their hardware isn't as comparable as between some other pairs we've seen, but they do share a few similarities.

The Galaxy is, by all accounts, better equipped on the long end of the zoom range. While both phones feature 5x optical zoom, the S24 Ultra's sensor is larger, and higher-res, plus its 5x camera can do some reasonably nice closeups, unlike the iPhone's. Then there's the second zoom camera of the Galaxy that nicely bridges the gap between the main one and the telephoto.

Speaking of main ones, the Galaxy's 200MP sensor is actually that little bit smaller than the iPhone's 50MP unit, but the difference is negligible. Looking at the ultrawides, the iPhone's sensor should be a little better in theory, but both are the same size - and both have AF on the ultrawide cameras too.

There's some 'niche' camera functionality for each of these, the iPhone having a new button this time around, while the Galaxy's S Pen has something to offer itself. The 16 Pro Max's Camera Control key lets you launch the app and tweak settings inside it, but is the stylus' remote shutter release a more universally usable feature?

Image quality

Photos from the two main cameras carry each brand's signature approach to processing. The Galaxy's output is more expressive, with brighter exposures and more vibrant colors, next to the more restrained iPhone pictures. The Galay's images are cleaner and sharper, while the iPhone lets more noise in the final results.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight photo samples, 1x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 1x

Samsung has caught up with Apple in terms of 2x zoom results and while the 16 Pro Max does a respectable job, the S24 Ultra has a bit of an edge.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight photo samples, 2x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 2x

Then there's the dedicated 3x camera that the Galaxy has. With Samsung's superiority already established at 2x, we figured we wouldn't embarrass the iPhone and only show the S24 Ultra's 3x photos. If you happen to take a lot of shots around the 70mm focal length (equiv.), perhaps the Galaxy is the better idea.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 3x

At 5x, even though the iPhone has a camera to sort of match the Galaxy, the images out of the S24 Ultra have an edge in detail and clarity. That's before you try to shoot small-ish things from up close where the Galaxy has a considerable advantage in minimum focus distance.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight photo samples, 5x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 5x

We'd also prefer the Galaxy's results at 10x - the iPhone captures similar detail, but it's blotchy rendition isn't remotely likable.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight photo samples, 10x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 10x

Comparing the photos from the ultrawides, those from the Galaxy just might be a little bit sharper, but it's not a difference that you should make a big deal out of.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight photo samples, 0.5x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight photo samples, 0.6x

The two phones capture great selfies, but we'd say the ones from the Galaxy have an edge in detail and they also have livelier, more lifelike colors.

Selfie samples: iPhone 16 Pro Max • Galaxy S24 Ultra

In the dark, it's the Galaxy that returns noisier photos, but we don't mind the extra grain when it comes with plenty of detail to make up for it. The iPhone's kinda-sorta approach to Night mode means you might be getting 24MP shots in the dark (strictly 12MP when Night mode kicks in), but regardless of nominal resolution, it's the Galaxy's photos that tend to have better definition.

iPhone 16 Pro Max low-light photo samples, 1x

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light photo samples, 1x

At 2x, things are more of a toss-up between the two - detail is more or less the same.

iPhone 16 Pro Max low-light photo samples, 2x

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light photo samples, 2x

Again, the mere fact that the S24 Ultra has a 3x camera, gives it an advantage over the iPhone. But it's not like the Galaxy's 3x images are simply better than nothing - they're actually quite solid, even though it's a relatively small sensor that's doing the work.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light photo samples, 3x

At 5x in the dark, the iPhone does alright, but the Galaxy has the upper hand when it comes to detail.

iPhone 16 Pro Max low-light photo samples, 5x

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light photo samples, 5x

The S24 Ultra also wins for ultrawide photo quality in the dark, with a meaningful advantage in definition and detail.

iPhone 16 Pro Max low-light photo samples, 0.5x

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light photo samples, 0.6x

Video quality

Video recording is one of those areas iPhones normally hold a strong advantage. In this particular case, we wouldn't say either phone has a meaningful advantage when comparing footage at 1x, 2x or 5x zoom levels, and the ultrawides are looking very similar too, when it comes to objective properties. The Galaxy is obviously vastly better at 3x, and has a bit of an edge at 10x.

Below, we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it's easier to compare to one another.

iPhone 16 Pro Max daylight video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x • 10x

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x • 10x

In the dark, the Galaxy has a small advantage at the ultrawide end, while the iPhone somehow inches ahead at the 5x level, if only barely. The main cameras are roughly on par.

iPhone 16 Pro Max low-light video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

Verdict

An iPhone vs Galaxy comparison is another one of those slightly theoretical endeavors - sure, you can explore how they stack up, but it's more likely that you'll be choosing one based on ecosystem considerations rather than performance in the areas that aren't OS-specific. So if you're into Apple land, get the 16 Pro Max; if you're an Android die-hard, the Ultra makes all the sense.

If you look long and hard at the numbers and photos on this page, you just might find a few areas where one is objectively better than the other, though. For example, while the Galaxy is no slouch in battery life, the iPhone offers longer endurance in our testing. Samsung counters have faster charging. Why can't we have both on the same phone?

The S24 Ultra beats the iPhone in a couple of more important ways, too. One is the S Pen, which opens up many possibilities for productivity but also just general usefulness. The other key advantage is on the telephoto side of the camera system, where the Galaxy fares better for distant subjects at several zoom levels, plus it can also do closeups. So if you're not married to iOS, perhaps it's worth looking into getting the S24 Ultra for its more versatile camera system and the built-in stylus.

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