Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

91 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
VS
87 out of 100
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 5 months before. 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 (10)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Comes with 677 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4323 mAh
  • 37% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1245K versus 907K)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 27W)
  • Reverse charging feature
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • Shows 10% longer battery life (45:56 vs 41:50 hours)
  • Delivers 39% higher peak brightness (1756 against 1263 nits)
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
  • 24% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1885 and 1526 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 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.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
Connectivity:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
VS

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S23 Ultra
vs
iPhone 14 Pro Max

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1290 x 2796 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 19.5:9
PPI 500 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes
Max rated brightness 850 nits 1000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 88.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 99.9%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 2 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S23 Ultra
1263 nits
iPhone 14 Pro Max +39%
1756 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) 160.7 mm (6.33 inches)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) 77.6 mm (3.06 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.85 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 233 g (8.22 oz) 240 g (8.47 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple Black, Silver, Gold, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Apple A16 Bionic
Max clock 3360 MHz 3460 MHz
CPU cores 8 (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 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
L3 cache 8 MB -
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Apple A16 GPU
GPU clock 719 MHz -
FLOPS ~3481 GFLOPS -

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
Galaxy S23 Ultra +37%
1245329
iPhone 14 Pro Max
907685
CPU 266470 251271
GPU 530016 404052
Memory 245971 114622
UX 204051 145630
Total score 1245329 907685
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 34.8 °C 46 °C
Stability 64% 82%
Graphics test 73 FPS 58 FPS
Graphics score 12200 9849
Web score 15313 -
Video editing 7784 -
Photo editing 33888 -
Data manipulation 12574 -
Writing score 19878 -
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]
Submit your AnTuTu result

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 128, 256, 512, 1024 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 iOS 16 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5)
ROM One UI 5.1 -
OS size 39.9 GB -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4323 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 27 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (68% in 30 min) Yes (48% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 1:52 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 15:33 hr 15:02 hr
Watching video 19:27 hr 21:10 hr
Gaming 06:26 hr 07:13 hr
Standby 123 hr 156 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S23 Ultra
41:50 hr
iPhone 14 Pro Max +10%
45:56 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 200 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 3x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 4 (48 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.3", Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.28", Sony IMX803 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9
- Focal length: 230 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX754 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.8
- Focal length: 77 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.5" (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Sensor: 1/2.55" (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
Depth lens - Yes
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 14 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
Pixel size 1.12 microns -
Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" 1/3.6"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
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 version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 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 February 2023 September 2022
Release date February 2023 September 2022
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.4 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
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance, gaming, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. But if the software is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
5247 (81.4%)
1200 (18.6%)
Total votes: 6447

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6. iPhone 14 Pro Max or Galaxy S23 Plus
7. iPhone 14 Pro Max or iPhone 14 Pro
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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
Avatar
Yes 14 May 2023 06:46
Apple is the best, forget all these scores
+30 Reply
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Apple Samsung Fan 11 April 2023 22:20
Apple ARM Neoverse V2 : Samsung ARM Cortex X4, Apple iOS 17 : Samsung Android 14 One UI 6. Apple Samsung CPU GPU Hardware, Operating System Software.
+6 Reply
Avatar
Apple Samsung Fan 11 April 2023 22:15
Now, Samsung needs to improve its value, market cap, and CPU performance. Apple's CPU is ARM Neoverse V2, while Samsung's CPU is ARM Cortex-X3. Samsung requires an ARM Neoverse V3 CPU and GPU to compete. Even if Samsung's hardware surpasses Apple's hardware, they still lag behind Apple's software. Samsung must surpass both Apple's CPU and operating system to come out on top.
+11 Reply
Avatar
Lee 21 March 2023 03:28
Too bad android security is low. Their apps are horrible. Samsung support runs out twice as fast. The only chip that’s faster is the 12 ram. Which cost way more than the stock iPhone. iPhone works way better with Mac than android does with pc.
+19 Reply
Avatar
im not givin out my name 23 March 2023 17:52
none of this is true. security is great, apps are even more than iphone and work amazingly, the cpu actually is way faster in games, the fact that you said "12 ram" shows you know nothing about specs. windows has integrated android support that works great. samsungs are also cheaper. ive used iphones. i prefer android. you should try it
+41 Reply
Avatar
1234 07 April 2023 21:55
What do you mean, bruh? Apple only has one more year, not twice as much as Samsung. What "12 RAM" processor are you talking about? Also, Google doesn't own Windows, you moron. Don't expect them to help you with an OS they can't control. By the way, Chromebooks work way better with Androids than iPhones do with Macs.
+7 Reply
Avatar
im not givin out my name 11 April 2023 14:23
1234, true, but chromebooks barely work in the first place. on one right now and lagging with 4 tabs
0 Reply
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Parsa 09 March 2023 17:48
Let's look at the matter logically, s23 ultra is better without prejudice, but it depends on your habit and taste
+35 Reply
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Competition 06 March 2023 11:11
Technically s23's rival is the 15 pro max
+25 Reply
Avatar
LeBron 11 March 2023 18:06
No, cause the iphone launch is in November
+17 Reply
Avatar
You dont need my name 10 February 2023 20:18
The S23 Ultra is definitely better in a lot of ways.
+83 Reply
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Mateo 16 February 2023 17:45
As an iPhone user, I can agree that Samsung really hit it out of the park with their S23 and S22 Ultras.
+52 Reply
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Leo 10 February 2023 05:21
Even though Samsung S23 Ultra is similar (or even better) in comparison to iPhone 14 pro max, the majority will go for iPhone only in that price range, because of the strong brand image, customer support, iOS software, and exclusive apps and features it offers.
+64 Reply
Avatar
Unknown 2 11 April 2023 04:58
Leo, one UI 5.1 is more stable and more smoother than ios 16.4.1 too and it has many things that ios will never receive till 2100.
+17 Reply
Avatar
Unknown 03 February 2023 00:49
Now SAMSUNG is the king forever
+102 Reply
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Opz 02 February 2023 18:28
For the first time, Samsung beats the iPhone in performance.
+118 Reply
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Has 04 February 2023 15:46
Snapdragon gen 1 Samsung beats it Exynos 2100 beaten a12 each gen phone has been beating each other different is iphone stick with the same chip.
+46 Reply
Avatar
im not givin out my name 20 March 2023 21:05
not the last time!
+10 Reply
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