Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
85
out of 100
VS
94
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.78-inch Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite) that was released on February 6, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A18 Pro and came out 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra
- Has 2x more RAM: 16GB versus 8GB
- 57% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2853K versus 1819K)
- Comes with 815 mAh larger battery capacity: 5500 vs 4685 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 30W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Delivers 9% higher peak brightness (1959 against 1795 nits)
- Slow-motion recording at 480FPS
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Shows 59% longer battery life (35:01 vs 21:58 hours)
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- 18% higher pixel density (458 vs 388 PPI)
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3564 and 3164 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Review
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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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 testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.78 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1320 x 2868 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 388 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 2500 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | 1-120 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88% | 92.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 99.6% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.8 mm (6.45 inches) | 163 mm (6.42 inches) |
| Width | 77 mm (3.03 inches) | 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 220 g (7.76 oz) | 227 g (8.01 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Green, Yellow | White, Black, Silver, Gold |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Apple A18 Pro |
| Max clock | 4320 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M) - 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L) |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 830 | Apple A18 Pro GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1100 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3379.2 GFLOPS | ~2289 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 610195 | 476273 |
| GPU | 1227773 | 714883 |
| Memory | 546153 | 252148 |
| UX | 469673 | 376139 |
| Total score | 2853794 | 1819443 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [12 tests] |
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5333 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 256, 512, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.3) |
| OS size | - | 18 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5500 mAh | 4685 mAh |
| Max charge power | 65 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (77% in 30 min) | Yes (46% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:45 hr | 1:57 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:46 hr | 14:34 hr |
| Watching video | 12:28 hr | 22:01 hr |
| Gaming | 07:02 hr | 07:12 hr |
| Standby | 98 hr | 163 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 480 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 32 MP 3) Ultrawide: 13 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 |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony LYT-700 | Sony IMX803 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" | 1/1.28" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 32 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.8 |
| Focal length | 65 mm | 120 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX913 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | 1/3.06" |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.0" | 1/2.55" |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 93 |
| Zoom | - | 142 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 22 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | 1/3.6" |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 | 5.4 | 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2025 | September 2024 |
| Release date | February 2025 | September 2024 |
| Launch price | $999 | $1199 |
| SAR (head) | - | 1.22 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.45 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - 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 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.
