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Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

82 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
VS
94 out of 100
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A18 Pro and came out 1 year and 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 30W)
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Weighs 32 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • Shows 32% longer battery life (35:01 vs 26:32 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 49% higher peak brightness (1807 against 1213 nits)
  • The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • The phone is 1 year and 7 months newer
  • 19% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1839K versus 1541K)
  • Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • 17% higher pixel density (458 vs 393 PPI)
  • 90% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3519 and 1856 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus 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
Phone:
Galaxy S23 Plus
vs
iPhone 16 Pro Max

Display

TypeDynamic AMOLEDOLED
Size6.6 inches6.9 inches
Resolution1080 x 2340 pixels1320 x 2868 pixels
Aspect ratio19.5:919.5:9
PPI393 ppi458 ppi
Refresh rate120 Hz120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rateYes (24-120 Hz)Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness800 nits2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR1750 nits1600 nits
HDR supportYes, HDR10+Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protectionGorilla Glass Victus 2Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio89%92.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space97.4%99.6%
PWM240 Hz240 Hz
Response time1 ms1 ms
Contrast∞ Infinity∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S23 Plus
1213 nits
iPhone 16 Pro Max+49%
1807 nits

Design and build

Height157.8 mm (6.21 inches)163 mm (6.42 inches)
Width76.2 mm (3 inches)77.6 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness7.6 mm (0.3 inches)8.25 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight195 g (6.88 oz)227 g (8.01 oz)
WaterproofIP68IP68
Advanced coolingVapor chamber -
Rear materialGlassGlass
Frame materialMetalMetal
ColorsWhite, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, YellowWhite, Black, Silver, Gold
Fingerprint scannerYes, in-displayNo
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max in the benchmarks
SoC
ChipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for GalaxyApple A18 Pro
Max clock3360 MHz4040 MHz
CPU cores8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)6 (2 + 4)
Architecture- 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3		- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
L3 cache8 MB -
ManufacturingTSMCTSMC
Lithography process4 nanometers3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU)HexagonNeural Engine
GraphicsAdreno 740Apple A18 Pro GPU
GPU shading units1536768
GPU clock719 MHz1490 MHz
FLOPS~2089 GFLOPS~2289 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU389273475293
GPU601839719585
Memory294144259838
UX256634385136
Total score15418901839852
Samples[26 tests][6 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature36.2 °C42.9 °C
Stability65% -
Graphics test72 FPS -
Graphics score12142 -
PCMark 3.0
Web score13800 -
Video editing7825 -
Photo editing33973 -
Data manipulation12408 -
Writing score19640 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size8 GB8 GB
Memory typeLPDDR5XLPDDR5X
Channels44
Storage
Storage size256, 512 GB256, 512, 1024 GB
Storage typeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory cardNoNo

Software

Operating systemAndroid 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14)iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2)
ROMOne UI 6.1 -
OS size42.5 GB18 GB

Battery

Capacity4700 mAh4685 mAh
Max charge power45 W30 W
Battery typeLi-IonLi-Ion
ReplaceableNoNo
Wireless chargingYes (10 W)Yes (15 W)
Reverse chargingYes, (wireless)Yes
Fast chargingYes (57% in 30 min)Yes (46% in 30 min)
Full charging time1:05 hr1:57 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing10:37 hr14:34 hr
Watching video15:54 hr22:01 hr
Gaming06:37 hr07:12 hr
Standby128 hr163 hr
General battery life

Main camera

Matrix50 megapixels48 megapixels
Image resolution8160 x 61208000 x 6000
ZoomOptical, 3xOptical, 5x
FlashLEDDual LED
StabilizationOpticalOptical
8K video recordingUp to 30FPSNo
4K video recordingUp to 60FPSUp to 120FPS
1080p video recordingUp to 120FPSUp to 120FPS
Slow motion960 FPS (1080p)240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens120°120°
Lenses1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) 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 resolution50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.8
Focal length23 mm24 mm
SensorSamsung S5KGN3Sony IMX803
Sensor size1/1.57"1/1.28"
Pixel size1 micron1.22 micron
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution10 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.4f/2.8
Focal length70 mm120 mm
SensorSamsung S5K3K1Sony IMX913
Sensor size1/3.94"1/3.06"
Pixel size1 micron1.12 micron
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX564Sony IMX972
Sensor size1/2.55"1/2.55"
Pixel size1.4 micron0.7 micron
StabilizationDigitalDigital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh7080
Preview7293
Zoom126142
SamplesPhoto samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus from DxOMarkPhoto samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels12 megapixels12 megapixels
Image resolution4000 x 30004032 x 3024
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSamsung S5K3LUSony IMX714
Sensor size1/3.24"1/3.6"
Pixel size1.12 micron1.12 micron
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Video resolution2160p (4K) at 60 FPS2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D)NoYes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standardWi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)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 version5.35.3
Bluetooth featuresLELE
USB typeUSB Type-CUSB Type-C
USB version3.23.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPortYes, DP 1.2Yes
GPSGPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSSGPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC*YesYes
Infrared portNoNo
Network
Number of SIM*1 -
Type of SIM cardNanoeSIM
Multi SIM modeStandby -
eSIM support*YesYes
Hybrid slotNoNo
LTE Cat*20 -
5G supportYesYes

Sound

SpeakersStereoStereo
Headphone audio jackNoNo
FM radioNoNo
Dolby AtmosYesYes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

CategoryFlagshipFlagship
AnnouncedFebruary 2023September 2024
Release dateFebruary 2023September 2024
Launch price$999$1199
SAR (head)0.57 W/kg1.22 W/kg
SAR (body)1.4 W/kg1.45 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 chargerNot includedNot included
Further details
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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