It’s time to compare Samsung’s best smartphone with one of the best Apple has to offer. In other words, we’ll be comparing the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max. That means that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is going against Apple’s second-to-last flagship phone, the one that arrived towards the end of 2024. We’ve already compared it to the last one, the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Both of these phones are big and bold, though they’re very different. They do have some things in common, but not a lot, in all honesty. The two companies took considerably different approaches to their flagship offerings. On top of all that, there are the OS differences, of course. We’ll kick things off by listing their specs. Let’s get to it.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
| Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm | 163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm |
| Weight | 214 grams | 163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm |
| Display | 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display | 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED |
| Refresh rate | 1-120Hz (adaptive) | 1-120Hz (adaptive) |
| Resolution | 3120 x 1440 | 2868 x 1320 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Apple A18 Pro |
| RAM | 12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X) | 8GB |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB | 256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe) |
| Main camera | 200MP (wide, f/1.4 aperture, 1/1.3-inch sensor size, OIS, multi-directional PDAF) | 48MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.28-inch sensor size, 1.22um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS) |
| Ultra-wide camera | 50MP (f/1.9 aperture, 120-degree FoV, dual pixel PDAF) | 48MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor size, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF) |
| Telephoto camera | 10MP (f/2.4 aperture, 1/3.94-inch sensor size, 1.12um pixel size, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom) | N/A |
| Periscope telephoto camera | 50MP (f/2.9 aperture, 1/2.52-inch sensor size, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom) | 12MP (f/2.8 aperture, 1/3.06-inch sensor size, 1.12um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 5x optical zoom) |
| Selfie camera | 12MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1/3.2-inch sensor size, 1.12um pixel size) | 12MP (f/1.9 aperture, 1/3.6-inch sensor size, 1.0um pixel size, PDAF, OIS) |
| Battery size | 5,000m,Ah | 4,685mAh |
| Charging | 60W wired, 25W wireless (charger not included) | 38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless (charger not included) |
| Colors | Black, Cobalt Violet, Pink Gold, Silver Shadow, Sky Blue, White | Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium |
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Design
Both of these smartphones are made out of metal and glass. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a frame made out of aluminum, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max utilizes titanium for its frame. There’s glass on the back of both of them. The frame on both phones is flat all around. The corners on the Galaxy S26 Ultra are slightly sharper, but they’re not sharp. The corner curvature is just different.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a flat display, with thin, uniform bezels, and a centered display camera hole up top. All of this applies to the iPhone 16 Pro Max as well, other than the hole on the display. It has one as well, but it’s a lot larger, a pill-shaped one, the so-called Dynamic Island. The bezels on both phones are very, very thin.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a power/lock button on the right-hand side, right below the volume up and down keys. Those are all the physical buttons on the phone. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a power/lock key on the right side, along with a Camera Control key. On the left, the volume up and down buttons sit, which are located below the Action Key.
Back sides on both phones are flat, and their camera setups sit in the top-left corner. They do look quite different, though. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has five protrusions, four of which are cameras, and three of which sit on a vertical camera island. All three of the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s protrusions are for cameras, and all of them sit inside a camera island.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra also has an S Pen stylus, which is docked on the inside and accessible from the bottom-right corner. The two phones are almost identical in terms of height, width, and thickness, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra is 13 grams lighter. Both are IP68 certified, and they’re quite slippery.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display. That panel is flat, and it has an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). HDR10+ is supported, and the peak brightness here is 2,600 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 91%. The resolution is 3120 x 1440 pixels, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The Gorilla Armor 2 glass from Corning protects this phone’s display.
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. This one is also flat,a nd it supports an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). HDR10 and Dolby Vision are both supported, while the peak brightness is 2,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 91%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The resolution on offer here is 2868 x 1320 pixels, while the Ceramic Shield glass (2024 gen) protects the display.
Both of these displays are actually quite great. They’re vivid and bright, and have great viewing angles. The touch response is good, and the resolutions are also more than high enough. The Galaxy S26 Ultra does have the advantage of having better glare protection thanks to the Gorilla Armor 2. It also has the Privacy Display feature built in, which can ditch shoulder surfers for you.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Performance
Samsung’s flagship is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor. That’s an overclocked version of Qualcomm’s most powerful chip. That chip is paired with 12GB of 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Do note that the storage is not expandable here, there is no microSD card slot.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, is fueled by the Apple A18 Pro processor. That is no longer Apple’s most powerful chip, but it’s not far from it. That processor is paired with 8GB of RAM inside of this phone, and NVMe flash storage. Do note that the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s storage is not expandable either.
Both of these phones offer great performance. Both are fluid and get the job done in an instant. That goes for basically anything you can think of, ranging from opening and closing apps to multitasking etc. The animations are different, of course, though you can affect that as well, and speed up both phones further. When it comes to gaming, both do an outstanding job, and can power through basically any game you can find on their respective app stores.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Battery
There is a 5,000mAh battery included inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, comes with a 4,685mAh battery. Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery is a bit smaller, but that’s usually the case for iPhones. Both of these phones offer great battery life, though, despite the fact their battery capacities are not as high as some of the ones from competitors. These are not the best battery life phones on the market, not at all, but their batteries will last through the day for the vast majority of people.
In direct comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max can last much longer. We were surprised by the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s longevity, though it did a great job. We’re just hoping that its battery life won’t deteriorate in a couple of months, as that happened with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It was great at first, and then after some updates, it became noticeably weaker, at least on our unit. We’re hoping that Samsung will be on top of it.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra supports 60W wired, 25W wireless (Qi2.2), and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the flip side, supports 38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. The Galaxy S26 Ultra charges a lot faster; it can reach 100% in 43 minutes. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will take almost 2 hours to fully charge. Neither phone comes with a charger in the box, though.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Cameras
Samsung’s flagship comes with four cameras on the back. A 200-megapixel main camera (1/1.3-inch sensor size) is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide snapper (1/2.5-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV). There is also a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (1/3.94-inch sensor size, 3x optical zoom) and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/2.52-inch sensor size, 5x optical zoom).
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, on the other hand, has three cameras on the back. A 48-megapixel main snapper (1/1.28-inch sensor size) is backed by a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera (1/2.55-inch sensor size), and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/3.06-inch sensor size, 5x optical zoom).
Neither of the two phones has the best camera hardware out there, not even close, and the same goes for photos. Yes, they both can deliver really compelling photos, but not the best. Both do the best job with their main cameras, while we preferred results from the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s periscope telephoto camera for longer range photos. Both ultrawide cameras did a fine job. If you’re shooting in low light, however, we’d suggest sticking to the main cameras on both phones. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the upper hand in the video department.
Audio
You’ll find stereo speakers on both of these smartphones. The ones on the iPhone 16 Pro Max are louder in comparison, but not by a lot. You will notice it, however. The sound quality is good on both, but we preferred the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
When it comes to the audio jack, it’s not located on either of these two smartphones. You can utilize their Type-C ports if you’d like to connect your wired headphones. Alternatively, the Galaxy S26 Ultra supports Bluetooth 6.0, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max supports Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless audio.
The post Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max appeared first on Android Headlines.
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