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

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Apple iPhone XS Max

87 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
VS
54 out 100
Apple iPhone XS Max
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Apple iPhone XS 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 XS Max, Manufactured in September, 2018 with chipsetApple A12 Bionic. 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
  • Larger display: 6.8in
  • Higher pixel density: 501ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 3174mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone XS Max
  • Lighter design: 208g vs 232g

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB		 - 4/64 GB
- 4/256 GB
- 4/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone XS 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
Apple iPhone XS Max

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 in 6.5 in
Resolution 1440x3088 pixels 1242x2688 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.4:9
Pixel density 501 ppi 456 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 2600 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 240 Hz 120 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 88.5 % 85.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
1445 nits
Apple iPhone XS Max
657 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %98.8 %
PWM (Flicker)480 Hz240 Hz
Response time1 ms11.2 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra], [Apple iPhone XS Max]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.3 mm (6.39 in) 157.5 mm (6.2 in)
Width 79 mm (3.11 in) 77.4 mm (3.05 in)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 in) 7.7 mm (0.3 in)
Weight 232 g (8.18 oz) 208 g (7.34 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Gray
- Blue
- Green
- Orange
- Purple
- Yellow		 - Silver
- Gold
- Gray
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
88.5 %
Apple iPhone XS Max
85.4 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Apple iPhone XS Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy) Apple A12 Bionic
Max Frequency 3390 MHz 2490 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)		 - 4/1.6 (Tempest)
- 2/2.49 (Vortex)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 7 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 750 Apple A12 GPU
GPU Cores 1536 256
GPU Frequency 1000 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS 576 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
2271
Apple iPhone XS Max
1310
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
7119
Apple iPhone XS Max
3458
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)22711310
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)71193458
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
1954703
Apple iPhone XS Max
700191
CPU432608198067
GPU801870185355
Memory418926152138
UX301299164631
NanoReview Score1954703700191
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
16056
Apple iPhone XS Max
5703
Max Surface Temp.46.8 °C45.2 °C
Stability59 %66 %
Graphics Test96 fps34 fps
Graphics Score160565703
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra], [Apple iPhone XS Max]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
18029
Apple iPhone XS Max
n/a
Writing score22590n/a
Web score18325n/a
Video editing8000n/a
Data manipulation15921n/a
NanoReview Score18029n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 12 GB 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz n/a
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB		- 64 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 iOS 12 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.3.2)
OS Size 28 GB 16 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.1 n/a

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 3174 mAh
Max Charging Power 45 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes Qi (10 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (69% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:05 h 03:29 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
26:30
Apple iPhone XS Max
17:28
Web Browsing10:18 h06:43 h
Video Playback18:00 h10:28 h
Games05:51 h04:11 h
Standby Mode122 h87 h

Main camera

Matrix 200 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 16320x12240 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 2x
Flash LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 120 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 240 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° n/a
Lenses count Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix200 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.7f/1.8
Focal length23 mm28 mm
SensorSamsung ISOCELL HP2Apple iSight X
Sensor size1/1.31/2.5
Pixel size0.6 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusLaser autofocusPhase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/3.4f/2.4
Focal length111 mm52 mm
SensorSony IMX854n/a
Sensor size1/2.521/3.4
Pixel size0.7 μm1 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.2n/a
Focal length13 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX564n/a
Sensor size1/2.55n/a
Pixel size1.4 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitaln/a
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
144
Apple iPhone XS Max
110
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
137
Apple iPhone XS Max
96
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
144
Apple iPhone XS Max
105
Bokeh70n/a
Preview82n/a
Zoom145n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra], [Apple iPhone XS Max]

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 7 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 3088x2316 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2 n/a
Pixel size 1.12 μm n/a
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
n/a
Apple iPhone XS Max
97
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
n/a
Apple iPhone XS Max
119

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
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
Bluetooth features LE SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes DP 1.2 n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*11
SIM TypeNanoNano
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
3G BandsWCDMA B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)HSDPA 850, HSDPA 900, HSDPA 1900, HSDPA 2100
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B66)LTE (B700/B800/B850/B900/B1700/B1800/B1900/B2100/B2600)
LTE category2016
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
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 XS Max
77.2 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2024 yr September, 2018 yr
Release Date January, 2024 yr September, 2018 yr
Launch Price ($) 1299 1100
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 n/a

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

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

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