Samsung’s premium Galaxy S24 Ultra has arrived, but does it pull ahead of Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max?
Samsung has released its flagship 2024 smartphone lineup in a surprisingly early Galaxy Unpacked event. While the usual assortment of rumors left us with few doubts about what was coming in the Galaxy S24 lineup overall, the premium Galaxy S24 Ultra is still the most exciting update as it packs in some fascinating changes from last year’s model.
While the Galaxy S24 Ultra is perhaps a bit more iterative this year, there’s a lot to like about this model — including a new titanium design, an even brighter display, and a substantial push by Samsung into some fun and powerful new AI features.
However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is also up against some tough competition from Apple’s heavyweight contender, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which arrived last fall with a similar switch to titanium, some noteworthy camera improvements, and the most powerful chip by far that Apple has ever put into an iPhone.
Due to the typical timing of Apple’s and Samsung’s launch events, there’s a leapfrogging that often goes on between the two flagships. This makes the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra the newest kid on the block, but is its four-month advantage enough to take on the iPhone 15 Pro Max? Let’s take a look at how these two premium flagships compare.Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max: specsGalaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max: design
Samsung has seemingly settled on its design language over the past year, bringing many of the iconic aesthetics of the Galaxy Ultra down to its standard and Plus models, so we weren’t expecting any significant visual changes. Nevertheless, Samsung has followed Apple’s lead by adopting a new titanium frame for the Galaxy S24 Ultra — and some would argue it’s done so rather blatantly by adopting a similar “Titanium” branding for its seven color options.
Like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the titanium construction technically helps the Galaxy S24 Ultra shed some weight from its predecessor. Still, it’s not nearly as significant as the weight Apple trimmed from its flagship lineup. Previous iPhone Pro models used much heavier stainless steel, so the switch to titanium made the iPhone 15 Pro Max 19 grams lighter.
By comparison, last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra uses aluminum, which is already a very lightweight material. This leaves the Galaxy S24 Ultra at only 1 gram (0.03 ounces) lighter. That’s basically a rounding error, so the real win for Samsung in switching to titanium isn’t lighter weight but a stronger build quality, plus a better feel in the hand. We found the titanium on the Galaxy S24 Ultra felt a bit more grippy and warmer to the touch, and the less curvaceous sides help you keep a better hold on it.
This also means the Galaxy S24 Ultra is heavier than its iPhone counterpart. The iPhone 14 Pro Max came in at 240 grams, slightly heavier than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max widens that gap in the other direction. However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a larger phone, so that difference isn’t readily apparent when you pick each one up.
Both smartphones are pretty evenly matched in durability. While they feature the same IP68 rating, the iPhone 15 Pro Max gets an edge for its higher water resistance — up to 6 meters for 30 minutes compared to Samsung’s usual 1.5 meters. However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra beats out the iPhone with its new Corning Gorilla Glass Armor on both sides. Apple uses its own proprietary Ceramic Shield glass, but only puts that on the front display.
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max is available in Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, Black Titanium, and White Titanium, the Galaxy S24 Ultra offers greater choice for those who want something more colorful, with Titanium Violet and Titanium Yellow options joined by the Samsung-exclusive Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange.
At the end of the day, design is subjective, and there are a lot of trade-offs in both directions here, so we’re calling this one a tie.
Winner: TieGalaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max: display
Samsung has always offered some of the best displays on any smartphone, which isn’t surprising since the company has its own display division. In fact, Apple buys most of its screens from Samsung Display, including those used on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
It’s fair to say that Samsung reserves its best display technology for its own flagships, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is proof. It’s mostly the same 6.8-inch AMOLED 2X display found on last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra, with an adaptive refresh rate that runs from 1Hz to 120Hz and only a very slight resolution increase to 3120 x 1440, up from 3080 x 1440 on the S23 Ultra.
The big trend among flagship smartphones over the past few years has been pushing brightness levels to new heights, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra follows suit, jumping to a maximum brightness of 2,600 nits — up from 1,750 on the S23 Ultra. That handily beats the 2,000 nits offered by the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which makes for even better outdoor visibility. While that’s a nice spec on paper, it probably doesn’t matter that much in the real world, as we’ve never had any problems using our 2,000-nit iPhone screens outside. The good news is that Samsung’s Adaptive Brightness behaves itself when outdoors, keeping the display bright rather than toning it down just to save a bit of battery life.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra does get a flatter display and slimmer bezels, which puts it more on par with Apple’s design, although the corners remain squared-off rather than rounded like they are on the iPhone and standard S24 models, giving the S24 Ultra a far more imposing look. However, there’s a method to Samsung’s madness here, as writing with the S Pen feels much more natural on the flattened panel.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max similarly didn’t move the needle much in display technology compared to its 2022 predecessor. It boasts the same always-on Super Retina XDR Display with a variable refresh rate that runs from 10Hz to 120Hz during normal operation and drops down to 1Hz for always-on mode. The resolution on the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max is lower at 2796 x 1290, and while the slightly smaller screen size compensates for that a bit, it still has a lower density of 460 pixels per inch (ppi) versus 501 ppi on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
That’s a subtle difference that most folks probably won’t notice, but one area in which Samsung has closed the gap this year is its always-on display.
