Home Phone comparison Realme 16 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max - Which is better?

Realme 16 Pro Plus vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

80 out 100
Realme 16 Pro Plus
VS
93 out 100
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Realme 16 Pro Plus
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : Realme 16 Pro Plus Manufactured in January, 2026, with display 6.8 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max, Manufactured in September, 2026 with chipsetApple A20 Pro. 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 Realme 16 Pro Plus
  • Higher refresh rate: 144Hz
  • Lighter design: 198g vs 249g
  • Higher battery capacity: 7000mAh vs 5567mAh
  • Infrared port
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.4
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB
- 12/2048 GB

Review

Key Specs Realme 16 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
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
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Realme 16 Pro Plus
vs
iPhone 18 Pro Max

Display

Display quality comparison
Type OLED OLED
Size 6.8 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1280x2800 pixels 1320x2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 453 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 144 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1800 nits 3000 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 240 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 91.6 % 91.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.5 mm (6.4 in) 163.4 mm (6.43 in)
Width 76.3 mm (3 in) 78 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.1 mm (0.32 in) 8.75 mm (0.34 in)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 249 g (8.78 oz)
Water resistance IP69 IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Eco Leather Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Gold
- Gray
- Pink		 - Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Burgundy
Fingerprint sensor Yes, In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Realme 16 Pro Plus
91.6 %
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
91.6 %

Performance

Testing Realme 16 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 Apple A20 Pro
Max Frequency 2800 MHz 4930 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 4 + 3) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 3/1.84 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-520))
- 4/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-720))
- 1/2.8 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-720))		 4/2.64 ()
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 2 nm
Neural Processor Yes Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 722 n/a
GPU Cores 512 n/a
GPU Frequency 1150 MHz n/a
FLOPS 1177.6 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Realme 16 Pro Plus
1374
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
4725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Realme 16 Pro Plus
4363
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
12575
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13744725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)436312575
Geekbench Compute (GPU)7820n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Realme 16 Pro Plus], [Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Realme 16 Pro Plus
1436204
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
2935466
CPU517565882877
GPU3233711051925
Memory223419262172
UX371849738492
NanoReview Score14362042935466

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 4800 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity128 GB256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 16 iOS 27
UI Skin Realme UI 7.0 n/a

Battery

Volume 7000 mAh 5567 mAh
Max Charging Power 80 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes
Fast Charging Yes Yes (50% in 15 min)

Main camera

Matrix 200 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution n/a 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3.5x Optical, 4x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion n/a 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 116 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 2.8 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Telephoto: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Depth
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix200 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.5 - 4.0
Focal length23 mm24 mm
Sensor size1/1.56 (0.64)n/a
Pixel size0.5 μmn/a
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix28 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.8f/2.8
Focal lengthn/a100 mm
Sensor1/2.76n/a
Sensor sizen/a1/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size0.64 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP48 MP
Aperturen/af/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensor size1/4 (0.25)1/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size1.12 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 50 MP 18 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4896x3672 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/1.9
Focal length 23 mm 20 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.88 (0.35) n/a
Pixel size 0.61 μm 1 μm
Autofocus n/a Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) 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 5.4 6.0
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 No Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* No Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*2n/a
SIM TypeNanoeSIM
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G Bandsn/aGSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G Bandsn/aUMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*n/aLTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B66/B71)
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced January, 2026 yr September, 2026 yr
Release Date January, 2026 yr September, 2026 yr
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included n/a No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max the clear winner in this comparison.

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