Home Phone comparison Apple iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra - Which is better?

Apple iPhone 16 vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

86 out 100
Apple iPhone 16
VS
94 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Apple iPhone 16
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Apple iPhone 16 Manufactured in September, 2024, with display 6.1 with chipsetApple A18, vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Manufactured in February, 2025with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 16
  • Lighter design: 170g vs 218g
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 498ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 3561mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Fingerprint scanner

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 8/512 GB		 - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB
- 16/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Apple iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Apple iPhone 16
vs
Galaxy S25 Ultra

Display

Display quality comparison
Type OLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.1 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1179x2556 pixels 1440x3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 460 ppi 498 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 2000 nits 2600 nits
HDR support Yes Dolby Vision Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 86.4 % 92.4 %
Features DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Apple iPhone 16
1719 nits
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
1403 nits
sRGB gamut99.7 %97.7 %
PWM (Flicker)60 Hz240 Hz
Response time3 ms1 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Apple iPhone 16], [Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 147.6 mm (5.81 in) 162.8 mm (6.41 in)
Width 71.6 mm (2.82 in) 77.6 mm (3.06 in)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 in) 8.2 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 170 g (6 oz) 218 g (7.69 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Pink		 - Black
- Silver
- Gray
- Blue
Fingerprint sensor No Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Apple iPhone 16
86.4 %
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
92.4 %

Performance

Testing Apple iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Apple A18 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Max Frequency 4040 MHz 4470 MHz
CPU Cores 6 (2 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/2.42 (Sawtooth)
- 2/4.05 (Everest)		 - 6/3.53 (Oryon (Phoenix M))
- 2/4.32 (Oryon (Phoenix L))
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 3 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Neural Engine Hexagon
Graphics Apple A18 GPU Adreno 830
GPU Cores 640 1536
GPU Frequency 1490 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS 1907 GFLOPS 3379.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Apple iPhone 16
3283
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
3147
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Apple iPhone 16
8094
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
9750
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)32833147
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)80949750
Geekbench Compute (GPU)2805525681
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Apple iPhone 16], [Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Apple iPhone 16
1580390
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
2795139
CPU439113659871
GPU6111111294167
Memory181791471319
UX348375369782
NanoReview Score15803902795139
3DMark Wild Life
Sources: 3DMark [Apple iPhone 16]

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB - 12 GB
- 16 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency n/a 5333 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity128 GB- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB
Storage TypeNVMeUFS 4.0
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS iOS 18 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.5) Android 15
OS Size 16 GB 30.4 GB
UI Skin n/a One UI 7.0

Battery

Volume 3561 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 30 W 45 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging Yes Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (59% in 30 min) Yes (72% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:42 h 0:59 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Apple iPhone 16
29:45
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
31:10
Web Browsing13:44 h11:10 h
Video Playback18:09 h19:32 h
Games05:56 h06:22 h
Standby Mode130 h160 h

Main camera

Matrix 48 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 8064x6048 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom 116 Optical, 5x
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 240 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix48 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.6f/1.7
Focal length26 mm23 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KHP2
Sensor size1/1.561/1.3
Pixel size1 μm0.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a50 MP
Aperturen/af/3.4
Focal lengthn/a111 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX854
Sensor sizen/a1/2.52
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal length13 mm13 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KJN3
Sensor sizen/a1/2.5
Pixel size0.7 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Apple iPhone 16
149
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
144
Video quality
Apple iPhone 16
154
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
143
Overall camera score
Apple iPhone 16
147
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
146
Bokeh8070
Preview8481
Zoomn/a149
Sources: DxOMark [Apple iPhone 16], [Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra]

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4032x3024 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/1.9 f/2.2
Focal length 23 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.6 1/3.2
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor Yes No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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 5.4
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes DP 1.2
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*n/a1
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM Moden/aDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsUMTS/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)UMTS B1(2100),B2(1900),B4(AWS),B5(850),B8(900)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B53/B66/B71)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B66/B71)
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers n/a Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Apple iPhone 16
90.4 dB
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
93 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced September, 2024 yr January, 2025 yr
Release Date September, 2024 yr February, 2025 yr
Launch Price ($) n/a 1299
MSRP ($) 799 n/a
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor		 - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No No

Note

Apple iPhone 16:

The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra:

Supports up to 2 eSIMs. The international model has 2 physical SIM slots, while the U.S. version has 1.","Uses Grade 5 titanium and Corning Gorilla Armor 2 glass on both sides.

* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

No clear favorite identified yet; updates may follow as new data arrives.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
2 (25%)
6 (75%)
Total Votes: 8

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