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 8 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

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
  • 34% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2341K versus 1750K)
  • 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 (1811 against 1459 nits)
  • 55% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3507 and 2259 points
  • The phone is 8 months newer

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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 256 GB
15.9
(Bad)
Value Index
60.2
(Average)

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 460 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 -
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)
1459 nits
1811 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

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
Repairability - Average (2.83/5)
Drop resistance - Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
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
GPU
Graphics Adreno 750 6 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 1536 768
GPU clock 903-1000 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS ~2774 GFLOPS ~2289 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 15386 33340
Single-core score 2259 3507
Multi-core score 7330 8789
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
2341394
CPU 717970 508577
GPU 790073 540541
Memory 341284 191233
UX 492067 509980
Total score 2341394 1750331
Samples [42 tests] [4 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 71% 74%
Graphics test 11 FPS 13 FPS
Graphics score 1527 1718
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability 63% -
Graphics test 29 FPS 28 FPS
Section 1 36 FPS 34 FPS
Section 2 29 FPS 29 FPS
Section 3 23 FPS 21 FPS
Graphics score 7748 7448
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 59% -
Graphics test 27 FPS -
Graphics score 4531 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 18499 -
Video editing 8001 -
Photo editing 35916 -
Data manipulation 15552 -
Writing score 22696 -
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#185th place)

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-24 (Denislav Antimov)AnTuTu 122573019
📘 2026-09-23 (DEMON77)AnTuTu 122536327
📘 2026-09-22 (Blackz)AnTuTu 112368229
📘 2026-09-05 -> Rabbit5656AnTuTu 112327770
📘 2026-09-05 (Rabbit5656)AnTuTu 112327770
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-23 -> RappzzzzAnTuTu 112043169
📘 2026-09-20 (thuanday)AnTuTu 112043169
📘 2026-09-17 (Jonibek)AnTuTu 111692383
📘 2026-07-21 (l1tsemerr)AnTuTu 111650968
📘 2026-04-27 -> hoduyhaodzso1tgBattery lifeSOT 12:58 / –

Memory

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

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
ROM One UI 8.0 -
OS size 28 GB 18 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

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
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (69% in 30 min) Yes (46% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:05 hr 1:57 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
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
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (122nd and 14th place)

Main camera

Matrix 200 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8064 x 6048
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" (≈ 0.77 inch) 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch)
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" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
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" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 160
Preview 82 93
Zoom 145 130
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" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
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
DxOMark front camera
Photo - 149
Video - 155

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 (MSRP) $1299 $1199
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
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.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
2660 (64.2%)
1486 (35.8%)
Total votes: 4146

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
Avatar
OneplusGoated July 31, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Why is people being biased with samsung?Its shown here that iphone 16 pro max is clearly better,. The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses the Apple A18 Pro chip built on a more advanced 3nm process. It destroys the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in single-core tasks and is more power efficient. That means smoother performance, better thermals, and longer sustained speed during heavy workload
+7 Reply
Avatar
Admiral Kizaru September 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Have you used any of them???
+6 Reply
Avatar
Dustin February 3, 2025 at 03:05 AM
The s24 Ultras geekbench 6 scores are in the high six thousands, not the low seven thousands.
+6 Reply
Avatar
John Willie December 19, 2024 at 10:38 AM
S24 ultra is still the best in the market
+23 Reply
Avatar
Harry November 17, 2024 at 04:43 AM
iPhone 15 pro max will still be better than the upcoming s25 ultra
+17 Reply
Avatar
User372 December 3, 2024 at 03:10 AM
Wrong, don't listen to this guy. The S24 Ultra is already better than the 15 Pro Max, S25 ultra will smoke the 15 Pro Max. This guy is just a big apple fanboy
+31 Reply
Avatar
John Crete December 25, 2024 at 08:08 AM
Coulf you please tell us the basic advantages of iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to S24 Ultra ?
+9 Reply
Avatar
Fxxking harry July 22, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Don't be dumb s24 ultra already bettet and shot 16 pro max down
0 Reply
Avatar
MMM October 31, 2024 at 03:53 AM
Apple calls everything NEW , but we are not dumb for God's sake 🙂
+28 Reply
Avatar
Ampro July 29, 2025 at 03:09 AM
Big boy like Samsung made anything new; you just listen to their propaganda in the media, you Samsung glazer.
+2 Reply
Avatar
Mehran October 31, 2024 at 03:52 AM
The coating technology Samsung uses on the Galaxy S24's screen alone makes it superior to the 16's display even the material itself is better Higher PPI and brightness and the screen protector , all should be considered And now you can correct the scores ......
+28 Reply
Avatar
Steve October 23, 2024 at 05:20 PM
the gaming performance score seems low in the 16pm and for the a18 pro? I saw a test that shows the 16PM performing better than the S24u in Genshin, WuWa, and codm and yet it says they have the same gaming score/performance? please fix that
+12 Reply
Avatar
Mehran October 31, 2024 at 03:56 AM
And yeah that's correct All because it's better optimized on the iPhone and that's all Maybe M series chips can compete with the snapdragon's GPU power but A series chips are still inferior
+3 Reply
Avatar
somone#47 November 7, 2024 at 07:13 PM
Mehran, Sure but not twice as optimized
+1 Reply
Avatar
nobody October 4, 2024 at 07:21 AM
Do you know people who always say apple has no innovations? Because i think it isn‘t like it seems, because Samsung has mostly no innovations too, yes they have galaxy ai, but i hope you understand what i meen. Mostly the other have no innovations too, only the battery performance camera and the display are a bit better, so i don‘t 7nderstand why all people say apple has no innovations.
+32 Reply
Avatar
DDa October 23, 2024 at 03:56 PM
Yes, you are correct.
+3 Reply
Avatar
Nerd May 20, 2025 at 01:13 AM
Well if galaxy has AI what apple have as new?
+1 Reply
Avatar
nobody October 4, 2024 at 07:18 AM
I think the iphone is better, even thoght it has a lower performance and the camera resolutions are lower, because it has a much better battery and the camera software is better.
+21 Reply
Avatar
Mehran October 31, 2024 at 03:59 AM
Finally Someone who understands that the reason everything is smooth or looks good on the Iphone , is because of the optimizations they make
+11 Reply
Avatar
Mateo October 3, 2024 at 04:30 PM
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Mx is available for $600usd The iPhone 16 Pro Mx comes with 6.9-icnh OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and Apple's A18 Pro processor. Specs also include Triple camera setup on the back and better battery life than the previous model. Pros 5G ready High screen-to-body ratio (92.35 %) autowarehouse.int@gmail.com
+7 Reply
Avatar
akp831 October 7, 2024 at 12:51 PM
I don't think that is true
+5 Reply
Avatar
user372 December 8, 2024 at 03:54 PM
Careful this is a scam!
+4 Reply
Avatar
akp831 September 30, 2024 at 03:51 PM
Apple is in big trouble now. SD 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 beats the A18 Pro in performance Samsung S25 Ultra will eat the iPhone 16 PM for breakfast (for sure).
+30 Reply
Avatar
NemanjaPro0440 October 2, 2024 at 09:28 AM
Nah, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is enough to beat Apple in performance
+17 Reply
Avatar
S24Glazer October 13, 2024 at 05:41 AM
Well, according to AnTuTu, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is faster than the A18. And the S24U scored 1.9 mil Compared to the iphones 1.7 mil
+10 Reply
Avatar
somone#47 October 18, 2024 at 06:15 PM
S24Glazer, AnTuTu deoesn't just depend on the chip, it also depends on the devices OS
+9 Reply
Avatar
Khalid November 10, 2024 at 03:20 PM
NemanjaPro0440, You can see comparisons on this same site to see all the specifications
+1 Reply
Avatar
Kin September 24, 2024 at 05:21 AM
They are comparable. The difference is minimal
+6 Reply
Avatar
Customer Xxx September 21, 2024 at 07:24 PM
Wait for the S25 Ultra and see the difference :)
+16 Reply
Avatar
Klk October 1, 2024 at 03:45 PM
🤦🤦🤦. The Samsung S24 Ultra was released this year, as well as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. If you want to compare the S25 Ultra, then you should wait for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, not compare every new Samsung model with every iPhone model.
+20 Reply
Avatar
Mehran October 4, 2024 at 06:24 PM
Klk, The year of release has nothing to do with the comparison, it's the generation that matters and their release time since start Please , do some research before commenting nonsense
+10 Reply
Avatar
OP IPHONER October 5, 2024 at 12:08 PM
Klk, Bro, it was 12 PM vs S21, 1 PM vs S22, 2 PM vs S23, 3 PM vs S24, 4 PM vs S24 Ultra. You have the wrong calculation of time.
+2 Reply
Avatar
Facts October 13, 2024 at 11:59 AM
Klk, It's about months' difference, not year. The S25U will be closer to a 16 PM release than 17 PM. We are speaking October and January. You can't compare 16 PM with S24U when it's so much older. You are supposed to compare it with S25U once it comes out.
+7 Reply
Avatar
Somebody October 15, 2024 at 01:41 PM
Facts, Can't be compared in performance but they cost the same?
+1 Reply
Avatar
Elcan September 21, 2024 at 11:15 AM
S25 ultra will punch iPhone 16 PM obviously
+13 Reply
Avatar
Muniz September 11, 2024 at 07:53 PM
It's already very obvious that the iPhone is much better than Samsung
+21 Reply
Avatar
Rose September 22, 2024 at 02:05 PM
Not really iphones litterally have the tech to blow off the competition but thier inability to get innovative with thier releases made them very vulnerable. Like the xiaomi 14 U takes better shots than the iphone and that should not have happen Samsung was supposed to be 2nd place but it most definitely is competing with first. 2010 iphone is a no brainer but in the 2020s androids are just giving them a run for thier money
+3 Reply
Avatar
Mincho September 25, 2024 at 10:25 PM
Better in what? Unnecessary garbage buttons? 5% better camera? Define better? iOS is SHIT. even a fucking S3 is better than ANY iPhone for the software capabilities alone. Let alone S24U/S25U. Not even gonna go on about DeX, reverse charge, zoom, S-pen etc etc. When, Apple? 2050?
+17 Reply
Avatar
Michael Kaliisa September 29, 2024 at 07:47 AM
Mincho, You are right. IOS is bogus
+3 Reply
Avatar
Someone November 5, 2024 at 08:22 PM
Mincho, the most facts spoken
0 Reply
Avatar
someone September 10, 2024 at 06:50 PM
i phone 16 is not out yet we dont know the full potential
+11 Reply
Avatar
Mar September 10, 2024 at 03:04 PM
S24 ultra still the best phone available
+39 Reply
Avatar
someone September 10, 2024 at 06:48 PM
nice joke i phone 16 pro is better in every single way and will also better then s25 ultra
+99 Reply
Avatar
steve September 11, 2024 at 03:36 AM
someone, iPhone display is not as good as the Samsung.
+21 Reply
Avatar
steve September 11, 2024 at 03:37 AM
it has the 2oo mp camera.
0 Reply
Avatar
Human September 12, 2024 at 01:40 AM
someone, Nice joke apple fanboy Samsung s24 only lags in performance but other then that s24 ultra takes the lead
+11 Reply
Avatar
User Tech September 12, 2024 at 03:25 AM
someone, Please provide some reasons for the Technical Superiority of iPhone 16 Pro. Please, do not mention the A18 Pro. This SoC will be devastated in some weeks from now from the Snapdragon 8 gen 4 and MediaTek Dimensity 9400.
+10 Reply
Avatar
steve September 18, 2024 at 01:16 AM
Agree, I use the Samsung Flip 6.
0 Reply
Avatar
Charles September 29, 2024 at 09:33 AM
Human, How the does urs lag? Mine hasn’t even show any slight shutters or lag in anyway
+4 Reply
Avatar
mee October 1, 2024 at 03:29 PM
Human, What performance? If you're referring to gaming, well then, you just gotta check out its 3D Mark WildLife Extreme test results. It's all over YouTube, and even when super Apple fanboys are reviewing it, the Snapdragon smokes the Bionic in the WildLife Extreme FPS and CPU performance. Yes, the iPhone's a bit faster, but who cares? I mean, a clip will render a few seconds faster or a few more FPS in "WL Extreme" test, CPU or GPU, which is a huge deal? It comes down to user preference. I've nothing against the iPhone, by the way.
+2 Reply
Avatar
Steve#2 October 12, 2024 at 08:14 PM
steve, Megapixels wont mean anything, a camera with just 12 mp is already better
0 Reply
Avatar
NN. September 10, 2024 at 07:41 AM
S24 ultra has 120 fps on 4K as well. Just enable pro mode.
+41 Reply