Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

87 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
VS
93 out 100
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Manufactured in January, 2024, with display 6.8 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy), 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 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
  • Higher pixel density: 501ppi
  • Lighter design: 232g vs 249g
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher battery capacity: 5567mAh vs 5000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.3

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 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
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:
Galaxy S24 Ultra
vs
iPhone 18 Pro Max

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1440x3088 pixels 1320x2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 501 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 2600 nits 3000 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 240 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 88.5 % 91.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
1445 nits
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
sRGB gamut99.5 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)480 Hzn/a
Response time1 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.3 mm (6.39 in) 163.4 mm (6.43 in)
Width 79 mm (3.11 in) 78 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 in) 8.75 mm (0.34 in)
Weight 232 g (8.18 oz) 249 g (8.78 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Gray
- Blue
- Green
- Orange
- Purple
- Yellow		 - Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Burgundy
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
88.5 %
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
91.6 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy) Apple A20 Pro
Max Frequency 3390 MHz 4930 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 2/2.27 (Cortex-A520)
- 2/2.96 (Cortex-A720)
- 3/3.15 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.3 (Cortex-X4)		 4/2.64 ()
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 2 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 750 n/a
GPU Cores 1536 n/a
GPU Frequency 1000 MHz n/a
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
2271
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
4725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
7119
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
12575
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)22714725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)711912575
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra], [Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
1954703
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
2935466
CPU432608882877
GPU8018701051925
Memory418926262172
UX301299738492
NanoReview Score19547032935466
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
16056
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Max Surface Temp.46.8 °Cn/a
Stability59 %n/a
Graphics Test96 fpsn/a
Graphics Score16056n/a
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
18029
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Writing score22590n/a
Web score18325n/a
Video editing8000n/a
Data manipulation15921n/a
NanoReview Score18029n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 12 GB 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz 4800 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 iOS 27
OS Size 28 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 6.1 n/a

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 5567 mAh
Max Charging Power 45 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes
Fast Charging Yes (69% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 15 min)
Full Charge Time 1:05 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
26:30
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Web Browsing10:18 hn/a
Video Playback18:00 hn/a
Games05:51 hn/a
Standby Mode122 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 200 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 16320x12240 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 4x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 120 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 240 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Telephoto: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Depth
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix200 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.7f/1.5 - 4.0
Focal length23 mm24 mm
SensorSamsung ISOCELL HP2n/a
Sensor size1/1.3n/a
Pixel size0.6 μmn/a
AutofocusLaser autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/3.4f/2.8
Focal length111 mm100 mm
SensorSony IMX854n/a
Sensor size1/2.521/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size0.7 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX564n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size1.4 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
144
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
137
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
144
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview82n/a
Zoom145n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra]

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 18 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 4896x3672 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 20 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2 n/a
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) 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 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 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes DP 1.2 Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*1n/a
SIM TypeNanoeSIM
SIM Moden/aDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsWCDMA B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B66/B71)
LTE category20n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
93 dB
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2024 yr September, 2026 yr
Release Date January, 2024 yr September, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 1299 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included No No

Note

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra:

There is a model with two physical SIM cards and no eSIM, and another with one physical SIM card and eSIM support.

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

Results

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