Looking for the biggest, most powerful smartphone you can get your hands on? Well, look no further than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – or the Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max?
With Samsung's Unpacked 2025 event now behind us, we now have two brand-new current generation powerhouse smartphones on the market: The new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Should you finally leave the Apple ecosystem behind you? Or is sticking with iOS over Android still the way to go? Lets take a look at what Samsung announced and then compare the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Specs
Both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are powerhouses.The Galaxy S25 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and the iPhone is powered by Apple's Apple A18 Pro chipset. Both were designed for maximum performance and processing power as they were built with each smartphone's new AI feature set in mind.
In Mashable's previous hands-on comparison of both previous generations of smartphones, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the iPhone eked out ahead of the Galaxy phone in performance tests. While we wait to get hands-on with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, we will say this: Both smartphones are so powerful that the vast majority of users will not be able to tell the difference. In fact, many users of either smartphone will likely never even utilize the full extent of either's processing power.
There is one variable here where the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may come ahead of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The former comes packed with 12GB of memory as opposed to the latter's 8GB. Yes, Apple's chipsets are known for making the best of whatever RAM is included with a device. However, for hardcore multitaskers, this may be something to keep an eye on when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Cameras
Cameras are areas where you really see differences between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
On paper, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has the iPhone 16 Pro Max's number. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has 200MP wide, 50MP ultrawide, and 50MP telephoto cameras. The iPhone 16 Pro Max only has 48MP wide, 48MP ultrawise, and 12MP telephoto cameras, respectively. The more megapixels often equates to more detailed and higher resolution photos.
But, again, while that sounds good on paper, there's more to a good photo than megapixels. Other factors play a role as well, such as the camera's lens and sensor.
As we previously mentioned, Mashable compared the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max before. But, we also did a more extensive test comparison on the cameras and resulting photography from both previous generations as well. We found that more often than not, the majority of us felt that the iPhone 15 Pro Max produced a better photo with richer color, despite the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra having more megapixels.
Will the Galaxy S25 Ultra outdo its predecessor in the camera department? It's possible! However, it will likely come down to individual taste as to which smartphone produces the better quality photo.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a slightly larger battery at 5,000 mAH when compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max's 4,685 mAH battery.
However, despite the same being true with their predecessors as well, Mashable found that the iPhone 15 Pro Max had a slightly longer battery life than the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
The chipset powering each device plays a role here, so it's very possible that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and its reported efficiency can outdo the iPhone 16 Pro Max here with battery life.
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Price
Interestingly, one has the upper hand here for being a slightly more affordable option.
Both Samsung and Apple's base model devices, the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16, start at $799. However, for the premium models of the current generation of smartphones, those prices diverge.
The base iPhone 16 Pro Max with 256GB of storage space is priced at $1,199. That's $100 less than Samsung's $1,299 pricing for the base Galaxy S25 Ultra with the same amount of storage space.
As I'll get into, if one of your main priorities is getting the best bang for your buck, the Galaxy S25 Ultra may not have too much over the iPhone 16 Pro Max to warrant spending the extra $100 bucks.
Which one to get?
Both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max are among the most powerful smartphones on the market. So, which one should you get?
That's really going to be up to your personal preferences. Aside from their differences, both smartphones have plenty of similarities too. For example, both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max have 6.9" displays and were designed with processing power specifically with AI capabilities in mind.
Are you willing to jump ship from Apple's iOS walled ecosystem and start anew on a more open Android device or vice versa? Does Apple Intelligence or Samsung's AI features speak to you more? At the end of the day, the decision between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be less about the actual hardware and more about the operating system running and software available on each device.
