Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy)) that was released on January 17, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A18 Pro and came out 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Comes with 315 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4685 mAh
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 30W)
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • Shows 32% longer battery life (35:01 vs 26:30 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 24% higher peak brightness (1807 against 1456 nits)
  • The phone is 7 months newer
  • 55% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3519 and 2271 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.9 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1320 x 2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 501 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 2600 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Armor Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 88.5% 92.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.5% 99.6%
PWM 480 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1456 nits
1807 nits

Design and build

Height 162.3 mm (6.39 inches) 163 mm (6.42 inches)
Width 79 mm (3.11 inches) 77.6 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) 8.25 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 232 g (8.18 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Yellow White, Black, Silver, Gold
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy) Apple A18 Pro
Max clock 3390 MHz 4040 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
L3 cache 12 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 750 Apple A18 Pro GPU
GPU shading units 1536 768
GPU clock 1000 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS ~2774 GFLOPS ~2289 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1952680
CPU 474941 475293
GPU 764723 719585
Memory 400984 259838
UX 312032 385136
Total score 1952680 1839852
Samples [29 tests] [6 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 46.8 °C 42.9 °C
Stability 53% -
Graphics test 95 FPS -
Graphics score 16026 -
PCMark 3.0
Web score 18245 -
Video editing 8000 -
Photo editing 36519 -
Data manipulation 15998 -
Writing score 22603 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 4200 MHz -
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 256, 512, 1024 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2)
ROM One UI 6.1 -
OS size 28 GB 18 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4685 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes
Fast charging Yes (69% in 30 min) Yes (46% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:05 hr 1:57 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:18 hr 14:34 hr
Watching video 18:00 hr 22:01 hr
Gaming 05:51 hr 07:12 hr
Standby 122 hr 163 hr
General battery life
26:30 hr
35:01 hr

Main camera

Matrix 200 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 5x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 120FPS
1080p video recording Up to 240FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 200 MP
2) Telephoto: 50 MP
3) Telephoto: 12 MP
4) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 200 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.8
Focal length 23 mm 24 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Sony IMX803
Sensor size 1/1.3" 1/1.28"
Pixel size 0.6 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/3.4 f/2.8
Focal length 111 mm 120 mm
Sensor Sony IMX854 Sony IMX913
Sensor size 1/2.52" 1/3.06"
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX564 Sony IMX972
Sensor size 1/2.55" 1/2.55"
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 80
Preview 82 93
Zoom 145 142
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Sony IMX714
Sensor size 1/3.2" 1/3.6"
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 -
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2024 September 2024
Release date January 2024 September 2024
Launch price $1299 $1199
SAR (head) 1.06 W/kg 1.22 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg 1.45 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S24 Ultra:
    - There is a model with two physical SIM cards and no eSIM, and another with one physical SIM card and eSIM support.
Notes on iPhone 16 Pro Max:
    - The US version of the smartphone exclusively supports eSIM, while the international model features both a physical SIM slot and eSIM capability. In China, the device is available with dual physical SIM card slots only.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
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