Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
In this clash of premium flagships, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra takes on Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max.
With the brand new Galaxy S21 Ultra, Samsung is launching their brand new, very expensive premium smartphone. In terms of price, it is exceptionally close to the iPhone 12 Pro Max from Apple. But how do the specs relate to each other? It will hardly surprise you, but the iPhone 12 again does not stand a chance.
Galaxy S21 Ultra vs iPhone 12 Pro Max
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max hardly care about each other in terms of price. Under the hood, on the other hand, they are two very different smartphones.
Although the two have the same size display at 0.1-inch, Samsung offers a higher resolution, more pixels per inch and (although not officially confirmed) twice the refresh rate and touch sampling.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra has at least twice the RAM, an absurd 108MP camera, a triple megapixel selfie camera, a significantly larger battery, faster charging and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Finally, as icing on the cake, an S-Pen works on the S21 Ultra, while Apple does not offer Pencil support for their iPhones.
Not everything has been said …
We often see it in these kinds of comparisons; Apple always delivers a substandard smartphone for the same price on paper. On paper, because in practice the Cupertino company usually knows how to squeeze a lot out of relatively little.
That cart is mainly pulled by the brand new Apple Bionic A14 processor. It is considerably faster and more powerful than the latest Snapdragon 888, according to a comparison. And in Europe we get the usually even worse performing Exynos equivalent in Samsung devices.
In short, despite all the better specs, the drive of the S21 Ultra is no match for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The question remains, however, how this is expressed in practice. Anyway, below you can check all the important specs of the two devices side by side:
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O | 6.7-inch Super Retina OLED |
| Resolution | 3200 x 1440 pixels (20: 9 ratio) | 2778 x 1284 pixels (19.5: 9 ratio) |
| Pixels per inch | 515 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz | 60Hz * |
| Touch sampling | 240Hz * | 120Hz |
| Processor | Exynos 2100 (Europe) or Snapdragon 888 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Random access memory | 12GB / 16GB RAM | 6GB RAM |
| Storage space (not expandable) | 128 / 256GB (12GB RAM) or 512GB (16GB RAM) | 128/256/512 GB |
| Operating system | Android 11 | iOS 14 |
| Camera resolution (rear) | Quad 12MP, 108MP, 10MP, 10MP (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto) | Quad 12MP, 12MP, 12MP (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto, depth) |
| Camera resolution (selfie) | 40MP | Single 12MP |
| SIM | Dual SIM | Dual SIM |
| Battery | 5000mAh | 3687 mAh * |
| Fast charging max (Wattage) | 25W | 20W |
| Wireless rechargeable | Yes, 15W | Yes, 15W |
| 3.5mm headphone jack | No | No |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes (ultrasonic, under-displaly) | No |
| Face recognition | Yes | Yes, FaceID |
| Height | 165.1 mm | 160.8 mm |
| Width | 75.6 mm | 78.1 mm |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm | 7.4 mm |
| Weight | 227 grams | 228 grams |
| Waterproof | Yes, IP68 | Yes, IP68 |
| List price (from) | € 1,249 | € 1,259.00 |
