Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: how do the flagship phones compare?

Battle of the big boys

Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy S25 range. As the flagship, the S25 Ultra looks mighty impressive, with slimmer bezels, a bigger screen and new features galore.

Viewed in isolation, it looks like a doozy. But phones don't exist in isolation – on the contrary, they land in a fiercely competitive field of rival smartphones where they must fight for survival. Top dog is the iPhone 16 Pro Max. So how does Samsung's latest compare?

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: price

First, the good news: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has the same starting price as its predecessor. The bad news? £1249 (about $1530 / AU$2480) is a lot of money, even for a 256GB smartphone with these kinds of specs. The 512GB model is £1349 (about $1659 / AU$2650) and the 1TB is £1549 (about $1900 / AU$3000).

That's a little pricier than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, whose 256GB variant will set you back £1199 / $1199 / AU$2149. The 512GB is £1399 / $1399 / AU$2499, while the 1TB is £1599 / $1599 / AU$2849. Those prices are still considerable, but are £50 cheaper than the S25 Ultra.

We're still waiting on international pricing on the S25 Ultra. We'll update this article once we have them.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: design

Samsung has followed Apple's lead and enlarged the size of the S25 Ultra's screen. It now stands a mighty 6.9 inches across the diagonal, compared to 6.8 inches on the S25 Ultra. Not a massive increase, admittedly, but an increase all the same.

It doesn't make for a large and bulky phone, though. Far from it. The S25 Ultra's bezels are 15 per cent slimmer than its predecessor's, and it's actually 15g lighter than the S24 Ultra, and 9g lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max (218g to 227g). That will be thanks to its titanium frame.

It should be strong, too. The S25 Ultra's Corning Gorilla Armour 2 display covering is 29 per cent more effective at reducing scratches and fractures.

The screen has a max brightness of 2600 nits. There's also a new ProScaler feature which can upscale lower resolution content with 43 per cent more detail, according to Samsung.

The S25 Ultra has more rounded corners than its predecessor, and it's a flatter design overall.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max's screen doesn't go quite as bright, topping out at 2000 nits. Like the S25 Ultra, the Pro Max's screen is equipped for 4K at 120Hz, which is the same as the best gaming TVs. And also like the S25 Ultra, it's made of titanium, making it strong yet light.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: features

Samsung has made a big deal of the S25 Ultra's AI features. The AI photo editing tools have been upgraded, and now feature a more effective Generative Fill tool thanks to an on-device large language model. Which should make for more realistic-looking photo edits.

All capacities feature the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor with 12GB of RAM. There's also a new 50-megapixel ultrawide camera alongside the existing 200-megapixel main snapper, 10-megapixel telephoto and 50-megapixel periscope sensors. The front-facing camera is 12 megapixels.

The S25 Ultra runs Samsung's One UI 7 (which is based on Android 15) with seven years of OS and security updates promised. So it's not going to go out of date tomorrow.

Both the S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 pro Max come in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variants.

Chief among the iPhone 16 Pro Max's features is the Camera Control button. It's capacitive, which means it reacts differently depending on how you press it. Click it once and the camera app opens. Click it again to take a photo. And clicking to hold will start recording a video. A light press shows a preview of what you're about to shoot, while a new overlay gives you access to functions like the zoom and switching between lenses.

An AI feature called Visual Intelligence gives you contextual info on whatever you point your camera at, be it the Statue of Liberty or an unknown breed of dog. The Pro Max has a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 48-megapixel fusion, and 12-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom.

Away from the cameras, the 16 Pro Max features Apple's A18 Pro processor, with Apple Intelligence features available since December 2024. It also has four studio-quality mics, and Spatial Audio capture for a more immersive listening experience. There's a new audio mix feature, powered by AI, which identifies and separates background sound from speech, and lets you choose what to prioritise.

The Dynamic Island, USB-C port and 25W MagSafe wireless charging are also present and correct.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: picture

We're still in the process of reviewing the Galaxy S25 Ultra, so can't comment definitively on its picture skills. Our demo was restricted to some brief YouTube content, but the picture was plenty bright and sharp. We could tell the ProScaler feature was in action from the level of detail on show, and colours were nice and punchy, typically for Samsung.

If it proves to be anything like its predecessor, it'll be very good indeed, but just short of great. The S24 Ultra's picture is very similar to that of Samsung's TVs: bright, punchy and sharp. But like Samsung's TVs, it is outdone by rivals for subtlety. Though it depends on what you watch.

Top Gun: Maverick looks fabulous. "The sun gleams and reflections on the jet as it weaves through the course are dazzling thanks to the S24 Ultra’s brilliantly high brightness," we wrote in our review. We did suffer some movement issues with certain content, but not this.

Skin textures are impressive, but flesh tones are a little overdone. It's fine for blockbusters, but if it's a more authentic picture you're craving, you will find better elsewhere.

We haven't reviewed the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but we have tested the standard iPhone 16 Pro, which is basically the same but a bit smaller. So we have a pretty good idea of how it will perform.

And that is very well indeed. "A balanced, sharp and bright image that looks stunning regardless of the content we throw at it," was our verdict of the 16 Pro Max.

Top Gun: Maverick looks warm, rich and engaging, with a good level of detail in both dark shadows and bright highlights. It's rich and punchy, yet also very well balanced. Another stellar performance from Apple.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: sound

Again, our listening of the S25 Ultra has so far been limited to a crowded – and noisy – demo room, so we can't offer a definitive verdict on the sound quality yet. But its predecessor fared very well in this round, though again was let down on subtlety.

The S24 Ultra is "a perfectly good device for listening to music on", we noted in our review. It's just bettered by its rivals. There's plenty of energy to the S24 Ultra's performance, but rivals prove richer and more textured. There's impressive clarity and a decent sense of space. But rivals just pip it for detail.

Apple's iPhone 16 Pro is, we declared, "easily the best-sounding phone we’ve heard all year." The sound is more refined than before – "warm, smooth and dynamic", we said, but "this year it digs out even more detail."

Tracks are bursting with detail, while it keeps time well with even the most complex arrangements. Even the built-in speakers fare well. Samsung has its work cut out.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: early verdict

Until we've reviewed both models, we're going on specs and past experiences. But that does give us a pretty good impression of how this duel will go.

Samsung has real ground to make up in terms of picture and sound quality – the iPhone is one of the best portable AV machines around. But initial signs are promising. We applaud Samsung for the ProScaler feature especially – most phone makers don't offer meaningful upgrades to picture quality from one year to the next, and even those that do often don't consider it worth mentioning during their presentations. Kudos, Samsung.

If Samsung can dial down the overdo it machine that it seems to employ for its picture processing, the S25 Ultra might be one of the best smartphones of the year. Game on.

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