iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Apple’s latest top-end flagship, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, is poised to take on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra for the title of ultimate premium smartphone for 2021.

Boasting among the best features and designs you will find in any smartphone today; these two devices are for the most discerning buyers.

Both feature premium glass and metal finishes that make them stand out and both are among the biggest smartphones you can buy.

Apple’s phone, however, is wider, thicker, and heavier than the Galaxy S21 Ultra, while the latter is slightly longer.

Apple users will finally get the smoother navigation experience that many Galaxy S flagships have had for some time.

Its display now also supports an adaptive high refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a larger screen with a higher pixel count and pixel per inch density (515 versus 458), making for a bigger and more detailed image.

It also has a hole-punch selfie camera instead of a notch, which provides a less interrupted viewing experience.

When it comes to sheer power, however, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has the upper hand.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max boasts the new 6-core A15 Bionic processor, which Apple has claimed offers 50% better performance than the leading competition.

The company did not say exactly which processor it considered competition, but its 4-core A14 Bionic was already faster than the Snapdragon 888 in the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Early Geekbench benchmarks show the A15 Bionic could be as much as 55% faster than its predecessor.

Another critical area for many will be photo and video quality.

On the face of it, the Galaxy S21 dominates, packing a quad-camera setup consisting of a 108MP wide lens, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto, and 10MP macro sensor.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 Pro Max boasts a triple camera system consisting of three 12MP lenses — wide, ultrawide, and telephoto sensors.

However, when it comes to photo and video capabilities, the megapixel count is not a true reflection of the resulting quality.

In fact, if Apple’s claim that the iPhone 13 Pro Max is an improvement over its predecessor is true, it should beat the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

According to reputed camera review site DXOMark, the iPhone 12 Pro Max already outranks the S21 Ultra.

However, the Galaxy S21 Ultra could still be dominant in long-distance shooting, with up to 100x digital zoom, whereas the iPhone 13 Pro Max only has 15x digital zoom.

It can also record video in 8K at 24fps, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max can only go up to 4K at 60fps.

However, the addition of ProRes codec recording on the iPhone 13 Pro Max could be a defining factor in quality.

Finally, no one wants to have access to premium features and only be able to use them for less than a day.

Despite a substantial increase in battery size over its predecessor, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is still at a disadvantage to the Galaxy S21 Ultra when it comes to total capacity.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 5,000mAh pack, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max will sport a 4,373mAh battery.

Once again, this will not be a clear indication of expected performance due to different software and optimisation.

The S21 Ultra also has faster wired charging of 25W, compared to 20W on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Head-to-head specs

Below are images and specifications of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Galaxy S21 Ultra.

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Galaxy S21 Ultra

Main Image; unsharednews