Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Jan 14, 2021	Oct 13, 2020
Prices (MSRP)
$1200 | €1399	$1100

Design

Dimensions
6.50 x 2.98 x 0.35 inches (~0.37 inches with camera bump) 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm (~9.4 mm with camera bump)	6.33 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches (~0.40 inches with camera bump) 160.84 x 78.09 x 7.39 mm (~10.14 mm with camera bump)
Weight
8.04 oz (229.0 g)	8.03 oz (228.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass Frame: Stainless steel
Materials & Colors
	Pacific blue, Gold, Silver, Graphite
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Splash, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint	3D Face unlock
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Left: Volume control, Other; Right: Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Phantom black, Silver

Display

Size
6.8-inch, 89.33% screen-to-body	6.7-inch, 87.45% screen-to-body
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1500 nits	OLED, 60Hz, HDR, 1200 nits
Resolution
3200x1440px, 20:9 ratio, 516 PPI	2778x1284px, 19.5:9 ratio, 458 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus	Ceramic Shield
Features
	HDR support, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 888 SM8350 (5 nm)	Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680	Hexa-core
GPU
Adreno 660	Yes
Memory
12GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.1) 12GB/256GB 16GB/512GB	6GB (LPDDR4)/128GB (NVMe) 6GB/256GB 6GB/512GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
Android (14, 13, 12, 11)	iOS (16.x, 15.x, 14.x)

Battery

Type
5000 mAh, Li - Polymer	3687 mAh, Li - Ion
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging Qi and Powermat wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging	USB Power Delivery Qi wireless charging, MagSafe wireless charging
Charge speed
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W	Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

6h 15min

Browsing

14h 43min

Video

8h 52min

Gaming

8h 40min

Battery Life Estimate

5h 59min

Browsing

14h 6min

Video

8h 37min

Gaming

8h 1min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Quad camera	Triple camera
Main camera
108 MP (OIS, Laser and PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.33" Pixel size: 0.8 μm	12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Pixel size: 1.7 μm
Second camera
12 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm	12 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 13 mm
Third camera
10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 70 mm Sensor size: 1/3.2" Pixel size: 1.22 μm	12 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 2.5x Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 65 mm
Fourth camera
10 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 70 mm Sensor size: 1/3.2" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Video light, EIS	4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (30 fps) OIS, HDR, Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light
Front
40 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), EIS, HDR, Slow-motion videos) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.1	5.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Type-C, USB 3.2	Lightning
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, LiDAR scanner, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T3	M3/T4
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, ANT+	NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling)

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Loudspeaker
Features
32-Bit DAC, Dolby Atmos, aptX, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus	Dolby Atmos

Cellular

5G Bands
n2, n5, n12, n25, n41, n66, n71, n77, n260, n261, SA, NSA, Sub-6, mmWave	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79, n260, n261, Sub-6, mmWave
4G (FDD) Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48	34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48
3G Bands
1, 2, 4, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A Pro Cat 20 (2000/150 Mbit/s)	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
Dual SIM
	Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM, eSIM
HD Voice
	Yes
VoLTE
	Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Dec 22, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG998U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.77 W/kg Body: 1.02 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.16 W/kg Phablet: 3.15 W/kg

Alternative variants

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB
Colors	Phantom black
Prices (MSRP)	$1250

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1200

with 512GB storage

Memory	16GB/512GB
Colors	Phantom black
Prices (MSRP)	$1380

with 512GB storage

Memory	512GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1400

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 1x2.91GHz Cortex-X1 3x2.81G​Hz Cortex-A78 4x2.2G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G78 MP14
Weight	8.01 oz (227.0 g)
5G Bands	SA, NSA, Sub-6
FCC approval	Date approved: Dec 22, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG998B
Measured SAR	Head: 0.16 W/kg Body: 0.72 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.34 W/kg Phablet: 3.86 W/kg

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Specs	Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review	Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Review
User Reviews
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra User Reviews	Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max User Reviews