I put the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra through a 7-round face-off — here’s the winner

Samsung came out swinging for the fence with the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, largely propelled by the slew of Galaxy AI features included on the device. It’s been the top contender in our best Android phones list since then, but Apple’s new flagship is the matchup we’ve been waiting for. That’s why an iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra face-off is necessary to once and for all have a definitive winner as our best phone.

Given how things turned out in our Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max comparison, it inherently gives the newer iPhone 16 Pro Max an edge edge heading into this matchup. That’s because there’s an 8-month gap between the arrival of these two devices, giving Apple the advantage of having the newer handset.

We’ll look at all aspects surrounding the two phones, including their battery life, software, displays, AL features and much more to tell you exactly which one offers more value. These phones don’t come cheap and they’re the epitome of the ultra premium segment that come with extra features you don’t find in other phones.

In this iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra showdown, there can only be one that comes out on top. Let’s get started!

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Specs

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Price

Neither of these phones come cheap. They’re at the top of their class for good reason, so expect to pay a hefty amount if you’re after the best of the best.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the lower starting price of the two at $1,199 for the base model with 256GB of storage. Although, you’ll spend upward of $1,599 for the model with 1TB of storage. 

Samsung’s flagship costs even more with a whopping $1,299 sticker price for the base model with 256GB of memory. That balloons up to $1,659 for 1TB of storage, which on paper is a surprise better because it closely matches the storage/cost value of the iPhone. But still, the lower-cost iPhone 16 Pro Max is an easier choice for most people.

Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max 

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Design

To be fair, both phones make slight alterations with their designs, but they mostly follow the same design language as previous phones. While both phones have flat edges that let them stay upright on their own, that’s about where their similarities end.

Samsung’s design is boxier looking, evident in the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s hard angled corner. You could argue that Samsung’s design looks like the more boring of the two, but it’s much harder to comfortably use one-handed because it’s larger and heavier. While the S24's titanium frame gives it a premium look, the overall look can’t compare to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

But to be fair, Apple’s design is mostly recycled too. Still, its rounded corners, lighter weight, and slimmer frame make it feel much more manageable. It’s still massive in size, but it helps that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is accompanied by a more solid construction that makes its design feel polished.

Another difference worth pointing out is that the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with the S Pen, which discreetly tucks into the lower left corner of the phone when it’s not being used. Not only does it help in giving off that paper meets pen experience, but it’s also a handy tool for other functions — such as acting as a remote control for the camera.

Meanwhile, Apple introduces the Camera Control button to give users better access to the most popular settings and tools to take better photos. It’s unique in the sense that it can sense swiping gestures in addition to pressure sensitivity, which frees up the Action Button to do other things.

Winner: Draw

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Display

In the past, Samsung has historically featured the bigger display, but that changes with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This is a shakeup because the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra packs a 6.8-inch Super AMOLED panel.

There’s a lot to like about both OLED displays because they’re perfect for just about everything, from reading an ebook with ease thanks to their high resolutions, all the way to catching up on your favorite streaming shows because of their exceptional viewing angles and rich colors. Believe us when we say you’ll be enchanted by just looking at them. They’re that good!

However, today’s phones are mainly judged by how bright they get — and in our testing, it’s the iPhone 16 Pro Max that’s brighter. It reaches a peak brightness of 1,553 nits, which makes it more visible to the eyes with direct sunlight. Even though the Galaxy S24 Ultra earns a respectable mark of 1,363 nits, it doesn’t get as bright when compared to the iPhone. For this reason, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is our choice here.

Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Ultra S24: Cameras

Without spilling the beans on which has the better cameras, it’s worth noting that these two phones have everything for shooting photos and video with unprecedented quality. Apple fashions a familiar triple camera setup as before that consists of a 48MP main shooter, refreshed 48MP ultrawide, and a 12MP telephoto with 5x zoom. On paper it matches the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s setup, which includes a 200MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto with 3x zoom, and a 50MP telephoto with 5x zoom.

These cameras are no doubt versatile in covering all the ranges, but each has their own charm with the experience. Take the new Camera Control button with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is a button on the phone's side that allows you to quickly take photos much like an ordinary shutter button on a mirrorless camera. One unique way Apple makes Camera Control stand out is how it can also sense how hard your pressing; it recognizes swiping gestures, too. That makes it easier to zoom and go through all of the iPhones modes and settings.

But the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera app is more suitable to handle the needs of power users and enthusiasts. That’s because it features proper manual controls for photos and video recording, while also throwing in several others like dual recording. And while it lacks a similar shutter button, the S Pen can be leveraged to take photos as well by pressing down its button.

We'll briefly touch up on the most important areas with their cameras, but our 200 photos with the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra better dives into the differences.

There's very little to complain about either main camera during daytime use. At first, the beach shot above might look similar, but zooming into parts of the photo quickly reveals the better details and definition captured by the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the red Adirondack chair in the foreground.

With its refreshed ultrawide camera, the iPhone 16 Pro Max makes easy work out of macro photographs because we're able to get much closer to our subjects than we can with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The iPhone is so good here that we can see the hidden spider in the middle of the flower, while the Galaxy suffers from an over-sharpening effect.

Again it's an even match in the zoom comparison because each phone features telephoto cameras with 5x optical zoom. Detail capture looks identical with the 5x zoom shots of the signs above, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max does a better job at exposing the scene — especially in the shadows, which is pronounced with the tree in the lower left corner.

While the iPhone has a wider field of view with its front-facing camera, making it more suitable with ground photos, the Galaxy S24 Ultra produces the overall sharper image with more definition around the face.

In low light situations, the iPhone 16 Pro Max excels in not only lighting up the entire scene, but it also captures the sharper details with the sign on the left side.

Both phones have the ability to shoot video in 4K 120 fps, but for this comparison, we're going to compare them at their default mode of 4K 30 fps.

iPhone 16 Pro Max: Sample video (4K) - YouTube

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Galaxy S24 Ultra: Sample video (4K) - YouTube

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We will admit there's a lot to like about the video recording performance of both phones. For starters, we like how the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers a smoother transition with zooming and how it also captures a more realistic looking blue sky. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Ultra captures excellent detail and we like how the trees in the far background look brighter.

The coolest new iPhone 16 Pro Max video feature is Audio Mix. It uses a combination of the spatial audio capture and AI to help minimize background noise. And you’re in control with multiple options. The in-frame mode isolates the voices in front of the camera, the Studio option makes it sound like the speakers are recording in a studio with the mics close up and Cinematic lets in some environmental noise for a movie-like effect.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Performance

It came out to a draw between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max with their performance when we put those two phones to the test, but this time there’s a clear winner. Based on a new 3nm manufacturing process, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s A18 Pro chip proves it has the muscle power to handle whatever we dish out to it.

In Geekbench 6, the iPhone 16 Pro Max widens the divide by posting single and multi-core scores of 3,400 and 8,341 respectively. That’s a much bigger increase from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and it certainly shows when you're using Apple's phone and notice the instant response and zippy feel.

Despite its newer hardware, the iPhone 16 Pro Max still can’t eclipse the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powered Galaxy S24 Ultra when it comes to graphics processing. In 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited test, the Galaxy posts an impressive average frame rate of 121.81 fps, which is smoother than the 107.53 fps rate that the iPhone averages.

And finally, there’s our Adobe Rush Premiere test that times how long it takes a phone to transcode a video. Between them, the iPhone posts a faster time of 0:21, which is nearly half the time it takes the Galaxy S24 Ultra to complete the same task.

Synthetic benchmark tests are great to objectively compare both phones, but the iPhone by and large exhibits smoother responses with normal, everyday tasks such as opening apps and scrolling.

Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Battery

Even though Apple doesn’t list the battery capacity in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the company does say that it’s bigger than the power pack inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But honestly, it really doesn’t matter because the iPhone 16 Pro Max posts an unbelievable time with our battery benchmark test.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s time of 15 hours and 41 minutes was one of the best when it launched, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max exceeds that with a better 18 hours and 6 minutes time. In our best phone battery life list, it places the iPhone in the third position only bested by the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro and OnePlus 12R, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra finds itself in the sixth position.

Over on the recharging side, the Galaxy S24 Ultra easily edges out the iPhone 16 Pro Max thanks to its faster 45W wired charging speed. The S24 Ultra is able to get up to 39% in 15 minutes, then to 79% in 30 minutes. In contrast, the iPhone gets to 29% and 55%, respectively.

Sure, the faster charging speeds of the Ultra are great, but there’s a bigger disparity between their battery life that gives this one to Apple.

Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Software and AI

Apple’s software has always been intuitive to use, and that’s no different with iOS 18 running on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. On the surface, the latest software update doesn’t shake up the experience as much as previous releases, but it’s nice to see that Apple pays more attention than ever before in giving more customization, personalization, and privacy with its software. We detail everything new and exciting about it in our iOS 18 review.

But the greatest part about the software has nothing to do with iOS 18 at all; instead, the focus is on the features that are unlocked with Apple Intelligence. We’ve been using Apple Intelligence with the iOS 18.1 beta to fully get a grip of what it’s able to do, and for the most part, it elevates the experience to the same level as Samsung’s Galaxy AI. There are handy summarizing tools that gives us oversight to our most important notifications, a new Siri that’s much more conversational, and magic of the Photo Clean Up tool — all of which exists to some degree with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung’s One UI 6.1 goes deeper by offering a slew of features that cater to power users. Not only can we access useful AI-assisted features such as Circle to Search and Google Gemini, but Galaxy AI features enhance the overall experience. Generative AI is clearly well represented in stuff like Generative Edit for removing reflections and unwanted subjects in photos, as well as how Instant Slow-Mo turns any video recording into a slow motion clip.

We also can’t neglect to mention how the S Pen adds to the S24 Ultra experience. It’s a valuable tool with many purposes with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, including the ability to instantly take notes without unlocking the phone, signing PDFs, and using it as a remote shutter for the camera. If that’s not enough to convince you how the Galaxy S24 Ultra is meant for power users, the phone also packs one of the most underrated phone features you’ll find — Samsung DeX. This allows the Galaxy S24 Ultra to mimic the experience of a traditional desktop PC, which is still something you won’t get with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

All of these are reasons why the Galaxy S24 Ultra continues to have the more compelling software.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Verdict

 After putting the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra through the seven categories we’re grading them in, the final tally gives a clear win to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This shouldn’t be too much of a shock given how their releases are spaced significantly apart from one another, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max getting the upper hand in many areas. Most notable, it has a brighter display, better cameras, and longer battery life.

For now, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is enjoying the time it has left before sailing into the sunset at the start of 2025. Despite offering the richer software, its age is beginning to show and this comparison proves that. Unless you can find Samsung's phone at a good discount somewhere, you might hold off and save your money on the Galaxy S25 Ultra next year. It’ll be a decent wait for it, but we anticipate bigger upgrades that will make it a more formidable challenger.