Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra: Which should you buy?

(Pocket-lint) - For astir arsenic agelong arsenic we've had iPhones and Android phones we've had Apple vs Samsung. And successful 2021, some released a large powerhouse of a instrumentality with a spec database that'll marque immoderate tech instrumentality drool. Apple launched the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Samsung launched the S21 Ultra. 

As you tin imagine, each has its strengths and weaknesses, but which is stronger successful the areas you worth the most? In this examination we'll tally implicit the differences successful specifications arsenic good arsenic stock immoderate of the insights we've gained from having utilized some devices extensively implicit the past fewer weeks and months. You tin either work done our experience, oregon ticker the video below. 

Design

• 13 Pro Max: 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.7 mm - 240 grams
• S21 Ultra: 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm - 227 grams
• 13 Pro Max: stainless alloy and glass
• S21 Ultra: aluminium and glass
• Both: IP68 h2o and particulate resistance

In caller years, Samsung and Apple person taken rather antithetic approaches to plan and aesthetics with their flagship smartphones. As antithetic arsenic it tin beryllium erstwhile you're designing a solid rectangle astatine least. 

The lone existent similarity is that they're some made from solid and metal. But adjacent here, Apple has gone with surgical people stainless alloy portion Samsung has Aluminium. 

What's absorbing is that though the Samsung telephone is taller and noticeably thicker than the iPhone, it besides is lighter, somewhat narrower and features curves connected the back. That means it has a better, much comfy one-hand consciousness than the sleek and level iPhone. The curves astatine the edges are lone subtle, but they bash marque it a nicer instrumentality to hold. There aren't arsenic galore crisp corners. 

Where Apple has a spot of an borderline is successful the precision of immoderate of the plan elements. Like, looking astatine the camera lodging which seamlessly curves up from the solid connected the back. Samsung's astir has that seamless quality too, and it wraps astir the edges, but determination are precise tiny lines that somewhat ruin the illusion. 

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It's a akin communicative connected the front, wherever Apple has azygous bezel thickness each the mode astir the display, and adjacent matches the curve of the outer corners with the bezel. Samsung's doesn't bash that, but past acknowledgment to having a curved screen, its bezel up the sides does look overmuch thinner, giving it a much edge-to-edge consciousness to it. What's more, there's lone 1 tiny camera punching done the sheet astatine the apical which doesn't obstruct anyplace adjacent arsenic overmuch arsenic the Apple notch, adjacent though they made it smaller this year.

Still, that notch serves a purpose. FaceID is inactive a precise speedy and intuitive mode to unlock a phone. You conscionable person to prime it up and look astatine it, and it's unlocked. In a modern time satellite wherever we whitethorn request to deterioration look masks though, it's not ever the astir convenient, astatine slightest not erstwhile trying to authenticate payments. Samsung uses an in-display fingerprint sensor for this, which works good beauteous overmuch each the time, and tin beryllium utilized adjacent if you've covered your full look successful a balaclava. 

As for particulate and h2o resistance, some person the aforesaid IP68 rating, truthful they'll past beauteous overmuch everything. Although, Samsung's is lone tested to 1.5m depths, Apple claims it tin past down to 6 metres for 30 minutes. 

Display 

• 13 Pro Max: 6.7-inch OLED - 1284 x 2778 resolution
• S21 Ultra: 6.8-inch AMOLED - 1440 x 3200 resolution
• 13 Pro Max: Dolby Vision, HDR10, 1200 nits highest brightness
• S21 ultra: HDR10+, 1500 nits highest brightness
• Both: 120Hz adaptive refresh rate

When it comes to displays, it's harmless to accidental the 2 phones are amazingly evenly matched, contempt what the spec sheets whitethorn pb you to believe. There are differences, but not capable to marque 1 worthy picking implicit the other. 

For instance, Samsung's is larger and ever truthful somewhat sharper successful presumption of pixel density, but erstwhile you're watching the iPhone adjacent to the Samsung acceptable to its earthy mode, it tin beryllium a small tricky to spot important differences. To our eyes, what we'd accidental is that - astir of the clip with some cranked to afloat brightness - the iPhone has the mostly brighter panel. Even if Samsung's tin technically scope a higher highest brightness. 

Watching videos and movies connected assorted services - whether its Netflix, Disney Plus oregon YouTube - it besides appears to person a spot much contrast, which really means that - astatine times - it tin look a spot artificially crisp compared to Samsung's. The Samsung would often marque the video look a small softer and much natural. Of course, if you acceptable the Samsung to its vivid mode, the communicative is wholly different. It boosts each the colours mode excessively much, but if you similar it, the enactment is there. 

Both adjacent diagnostic the aforesaid 120Hz surface refresh rates and - for the astir portion - you lone truly spot that ace creaseless animation erstwhile you're scrolling astir successful the wide idiosyncratic interface, and scrolling up and down things similar the settings menu, oregon dropping down notifications. It's not thing that makes a monolithic quality to movie watching. 

The 2 adjacent person their ain ambient colour matching tech to trim bluish airy connected the surface and lucifer the somesthesia to the airy astir you. Usually, that means making the surface a spot warmer. 

Performance and battery

• 13 Pro Max: A15 Bionic six-core processor
• S21 Ultra: Exynos octa-core oregon Snapdragon 888 processor (region depending)
• 13 Pro Max: 128/256/512GB and 1TB retention options
• S21 Ultra: 128/256/512GB retention options
• 13 Pro Max: Approx 4300mAh artillery - 27W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless charging
• S21 Ultra: 5000mAh artillery - 25W wired, 15W wireless charging

If there's 1 country wherever it doesn't marque overmuch consciousness to really comparison specs, it's successful show and artillery life. Because some person precise antithetic operating systems, and iOS is - by and ample - acold much businesslike than Android successful wide usage. So it doesn't request each the further RAM oregon the mega artillery capacities we spot on Android phones. 

As velocity and fluidity go, the 2 phones are rather similar. Both are accelerated and responsive, loading games and apps quickly. That's contempt the Samsung's chipset having 2 further processor cores. In Europe, it's the apical tier Exynos processor vs. Apple's A15 Bionic chip, which outscores each different smartphone successful Geekbench tests. 

Side by side, the iPhone did look to load astir games and apps faster than the Samsung, but lone by a tiny margin. The differences was little than a second.

Apple doesn't uncover artillery capacities officially, but the iPhone features astir 4300mAh and is importantly smaller than the Samsung's 5000mAh. Still, successful our investigating it tin easy outlast the Samsung. Even for with mean usage which usually involves 3-4 hours of surface clip a day, the iPhone tin usually marque it to the extremity of a 2nd time without excessively overmuch effort.

Samsung's doesn't ever marque it done 2 days. By the extremity of the archetypal time we're usually down to astir 40 percent, and that's successful an country without 5G support, and mostly moving from home. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is easy 1 of the astir long-lasting phones connected the marketplace and volition rarely, if ever, springiness you artillery anxiety. 

Neither has peculiarly speedy charging, but they bash enactment Power Delivery. iPhone's tin bash 27W speeds present (with the close charger), with Samsung offering 25W. Both besides enactment 15W wireless charging. 

Cameras

• 13 Pro Max: Triple camera system
  • 12MP f/1.5 - 26mm wide - sensor displacement OIS
  • 12MP f/2.8 - 77mm telephoto - OIS - 3x optical zoom
  • 12MP f/1.8 - 13mm ultrawide
• S21 Ultra: Quad camera system
  • 108MP f/1.8 - 24mm wide - OIS and laser AF
  • 10MP f/4.9 - 240mm perisope - 10x optical zoom
  • 10MP f/2.4 - 72mm telephoto - OIS - 3x optical zoom
  • 12MP f/2.2 - 13mm ultrawide
• 13 Pro Max: 4K/60 and Dolby Vision recording
• S21 Ultra: 8K/24 and HDR10+ recording

It would astir apt beryllium a spot of an over-simplification if we said the camera systems are fundamentally the same. In theory. Except Samsung has an other camera. 

Both person a primary, ultrawide and 3x telephoto zoom cameras, but the S21 Ultra besides features the periscope 10x optical zoom. That's benignant of its concealed limb that lets you zoom adjacent person into your country without losing a tonne of detail. Still, propulsion either up to those limits, and you won't get arsenic crisp a representation arsenic you volition from the superior camera, it conscionable seems a spot much unsmooth successful general.  

With the superior cameras, some diagnostic akin tech. So you get stabilisation with both, but with antithetic techniques. Samsung's stabilises the lens, wherever Apple has sensor displacement tech. It's absorbing comparing the cameras, due to the fact that successful immoderate instances they nutrient precise akin results. 

We did find successful immoderate instances that the iPhone sometimes pushed the opposition a spot higher, peculiarly noticeable successful indoor shots erstwhile compared to the Samsung. That resulted successful a darker, little earthy look. Other times, particularly outside, it looked much earthy and true-to-colour than the Samsung. With greenery and bluish skies, we often recovered Samsung pushed the saturation a small spot more, making them look a small hyper-real. 

However determination was the unusual clip erstwhile the ultra-wide results didn't colour lucifer with the superior connected the iPhone, which is antithetic for Apple. The aforesaid tin beryllium said for Samsung's ultrawide, which would sometimes lavation retired the shots. And successful macro mode determination was the unusual juncture wherever the iPhone would stroke retired the highlights, compared to Samsung. And there's that camera switching contented that Apple is rolling retired a hole for. So if you get adjacent to a subject, it starts switching betwixt cameras and makes it truly hard to framework your shot. 

In little airy shots, they some bash fine, though they instrumentality a antithetic attack to temperature. We weren't rather prepared for the differences successful nighttime mode. Indoors, successful a country with a astute bulb acceptable to nighttime mode wherever it goes dim and warm, Samsung's attack was to achromatic equilibrium it and get colours looking correct, arsenic if it was achromatic light. iPhone took the implicit other approach, over-egging the warmth and making it look agleam red.

Otherwise, outside, successful nighttime mode we recovered that with each 3 cameras, Samsung's attack was softer and much earthy than iPhone, which seemed to boost the opposition a spot excessively overmuch possibly successful an effort to marque the representation look sharper? It's harmless to say, it wasn't an wholly accordant acquisition with either phone. Either way, astatine nighttime time, some volition get you bright, blur-free and crisp images. 

Both tin sprout successful slow-mo, but from a video position iPhone has a instrumentality called Cinematic mode, which introduces a comparatively earthy inheritance blur and past dilatory pulls absorption erstwhile you determination to constituent the camera astatine thing else. 

It works good with static objects that are visually good defined, but not truthful good erstwhile you're dealing with tons of moving people. And it shoots astatine a little resolution. Still, the extremity effect is inactive nicer than shooting successful regular video mode and manually tapping to absorption connected an entity successful the background.

Apple's telephone tin sprout successful Dolby imaginativeness HDR up to 60fps, Samsung's tin bash HDR10+, and tin besides sprout up to 8K solution astatine 24fps. I ever consciousness similar Apple's camera is easier to usage though, with less further menus. Samsung definite does emotion to adhd successful tons of antithetic shooting options, which - again - mightiness suit you down to the ground. Both connection decent stabilisation successful video though, astatine slightest from the main camera. 

At the extremity of it, careless of which you spell for, you volition get a large camera system. But with the iPhone's inconsistency astatine the moment, we'd accidental - arsenic things basal close present - if you privation the champion camera, peculiarly for photos, the S21 Ultra is the 1 to spell for. 

Ecosystems

There is bundle and ecosystem to see too, but some a beardown here. Samsung has the likes of the caller Galaxy Watch 4, which is simply a large each astute ticker and fittingness tracker with contactless payments. Similar to Apple Watch successful a batch of ways. It besides has SmartTag entity trackers, similar Apple has AirTags, and has a fewer antithetic models of Galaxy Buds wherever Apple has AirPods. What's more, if you person a Samsung TV, you tin usage SmartThings to power it alternatively of a remote. Same with Apple's iPhone and Apple TV boxes. 

But if you usage a Mac, determination is payment to utilizing an iPhone. Like being capable to transcript and paste betwixt devices, oregon authenticating web based Apple Pay payments. 

Price 

• 13 Pro Max: from £1049
• S21 Ultra: from £1149

Both Samsung and Apple's devices are beauteous expensive, with afloat retail prices starting astatine implicit £1000 successful the UK, and going each the mode up to much than £1500 (in Apple's case).

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Despite iPhone having a little recommended retail terms than Samsung, the S21 Ultra is the older telephone of the 2 and you'll apt beryllium capable to find it cheaper than Apple's these days. 

Conclusion 

In the end, we deliberation which ever of these you spell for is going to beryllium a large device. Apple's offers - we deliberation - the wide show and artillery life, wherever Samsung trumps it successful the camera department, astatine slightest based connected our experience. 

There truly isn't a batch successful it though, due to the fact that astir each the differences are precise minor. 

Writing by Cam Bunton. Originally published connected 4 October 2021.