Going head-to-head, the 2 luxurious telephones share plenty of attributes, and we’re not simply speaking about their wallet-draining costs.
They each sport modern titanium frames, huge 6.9-inch OLED shows, and highly effective cameras that may even rival some DSLRs. To not point out superior AI methods to assist increase your images and ghostwrite work emails.
Worth: which cellphone gives one of the best worth for cash?
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely prices barely greater than the iPhone 16 Professional Max to start out, however additional storage is pricier on Apple’s flagship
Samsung
Let’s begin with the worth. At £1,249, the S25 Extremely prices barely greater than the £1,200 iPhone 16 Professional Max for the usual 256GB mannequin. However, pile on extra storage, and issues begin to change.
The 512GB iPhone prices £1,399, in comparison with Samsung’s £1,349, and the 1TB iPhone hits a whopping £1,599 versus £1,549 for the Samsung. In each instances, Apple’s flagship will set you again £50 extra.
In abstract, if you happen to’re eyeing additional storage, Samsung gives higher worth, however Apple’s beginning value stays extra aggressive.
Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Apple’s A18 Professional
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The iPhone 16 Professional (left) and Professional Max (proper) pictured subsequent to one another
Apple
So far as efficiency goes, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely and iPhone 16 Professional Max have some notable variations underneath the hood.
Benchmark assessments reveal that Apple’s A18 Professional chip takes the lead in single-core CPU efficiency, making it brisker for duties that require one processing core – like opening apps or shopping the online.
Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 8 Elite within the S25 Extremely outshines its rival in multi-core efficiency, the place duties like video enhancing or gaming require a number of cores working in tandem.
On the graphics entrance, Samsung’s Snapdragon chip has a transparent benefit. Its GPU delivers smoother body charges in graphic-intensive assessments, making it higher fitted to demanding video games and apps.
Energy effectivity is one other space of competitors, with each chips providing enhancements, although the Snapdragon 8 Elite exhibits stronger efficiency per watt in some eventualities. Whereas Apple nonetheless excels at single-core efficiency, Samsung’s upgrades imply the hole has narrowed, particularly for customers who prioritise multitasking or gaming.
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The Samsung Galaxy S25 extremely in titanium blue
Samsung
On the subject of on a regular basis use, although, informal customers are unlikely to note these variations. In the end, each telephones ship top-tier pace and responsiveness. Each chips additionally assist superior options like ray-tracing, a know-how that makes recreation graphics look extra real looking by simulating how mild behaves in the true world – a bonus for cell players.
Digicam: which cellphone takes higher images and movies?
Specs-wise, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely boasts a powerhouse digicam setup with a 200MP important sensor, 50MP ultra-wide lens, and twin telephoto snappers: a 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom together with a 50-megapixel 5x optical zoom digicam.
Compared, the iPhone 16 Professional Max contains a 48MP important digicam, a 48MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. That’s three cameras versus Samsung’s 4, for these retaining depend.
The iPhone additionally boasts 4K 120FPS video recording and helps superior codecs like ProRes, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and Spatial Video.
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Samsung’s cellphone has 4 cameras on the again versus three on the iPhone 16 Professional Max
Samsung
These options look nice on paper, however how do they maintain up in each day use? A slew of tech YouTubers have put the 2 telephones to the take a look at to present us a greater concept of their specialities.
YouTube channel Max Tech discovered that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely performs higher in daylight, with extra dynamic vary and correct colors than the iPhone 16 Professional Max. Nevertheless, the iPhone nonetheless holds its personal with constant, vibrant pictures.
Then again, YouTuber SuperSaf highlighted the iPhone’s benefit in low mild, with cleaner pictures and fewer noise, whereas the S25 Extremely shines in evening mode, offering extra element and sharper pictures in darkish settings.
He additionally famous that the S25 Extremely’s 3x optical zoom delivers superior portrait pictures, and its zoom performs higher in good mild. The iPhone can’t match it on this space, however wins for its secure video recording and superior cinematic mode, providing sharper, extra detailed footage.
The Galaxy S25 Extremely excels with options like AI picture enhancing, 8K video, and a devoted telephoto lens. In distinction, the iPhone 16 Professional Max impresses with its cinematic video, low-light efficiency, and secure recording, making it the higher alternative for filmmakers.
Battery life: which cellphone lasts longer on a single cost?
Telephone makers speak an enormous speak about their beastly batteries that final an age on a single cost. However, it’s solely if you begin utilizing them commonly that you simply discover simply how properly they cope underneath real-life circumstances, if you’re switching between power-hogging video apps and the most recent video games.
Fortunately, YouTubers have additionally carried out battery drainage assessments on the S25 Extremely and iPhone 16 Professional Max to see simply how lengthy survive out of the field. Some of the fashionable movies comes from Xeetechcare, who examined the 2 large weapons alongside Vivo’s flagship mannequin.
![](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/29/14/17/Apple-iPhone-16-Pro-finish-lineup-240909.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
The iPhone 16 Professional Max sports activities a titanium body just like the S25 Extremely and is available in 4 colors.
Apple
Which got here out on prime? The iPhone 16 Professional Max ranked first on this battery drain take a look at, regardless of having the smallest battery capability of the three telephones at 4,685 mAH. Apple’s cellphone clocked in at round 11 hours and half-hour, seemingly as a result of effectivity of its A18 Professional chip.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely got here in second place, with its 5,000 mAh battery lasting for 10 hours and 58 minutes.
Nonetheless, others have famous extra spectacular durations: It ran for 17 hours and quarter-hour in a separate battery take a look at, in comparison with 16 hours and 45 minutes for the S24 Extremely. This represents a modest three per cent improve in battery life.
Software program: which cellphone’s AI is smarter?
When you’re a diehard Android or iOS fan, you may skip this half. For anybody on the fence, past their built-in working programs, each the S25 Extremely and iPhone 16 Professional Max pack highly effective AI options that run on giant language fashions akin to ChatGPT.
There’s some overlap right here, too, as each programs can scrub undesirable objects or folks from images (and even generate new pictures from textual content descriptions or doodles), rewrite textual content in numerous kinds, and summarise messages.
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The Samsung Galaxy S25 now exhibits AI-powered notifications and each day briefings
Samsung
However, the S25 sequence takes issues up a notch. Contained in the Extremely is a devoted core that’s designed to energy your very personal AI assistant by studying out of your each day exercise. As soon as it figures out the way you tick, it may primarily full duties that require a number of steps utilizing both its AI helpers (Google’s Gemini or Bixby) or the Now Temporary performance.
The latter primarily serves up each day schedules and to-dos with additional information sprinkled on prime, like climate updates and upcoming journey plans. These AI-powered summaries are delivered morning, midday, and evening that can assist you get issues performed.
Google’s Gemini can now additionally speak to different apps, from Google Maps to Spotify. As an illustration, it may discover your favorite sports activities group’s fixtures for the season and add them to the calendar, so that you by no means miss a match. Or, it may assist find a gluten-free restaurant and electronic mail instructions to your dinner date.
Much more spectacular is its capacity to automate your routines. As an illustration, if it detects that you simply commonly stream music whereas driving, it may mechanically connect with your automobile’s Bluetooth, saving you the effort of doing it manually.
Or, it may sync with different Samsung good gadgets: it would discover that your sleep high quality adjustments with room temperature and recommend mechanically adjusting the thermostat at bedtime.
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