Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Jan 14, 2021	Sep 09, 2024
Prices (MSRP)
$1200 | €1399	$1199 | €1449

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)	6.42 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches (~0.48 inches with camera bump) 163.0 x 77.6 x 8.25 mm (~12.25 mm with camera bump)
Weight
8.04 oz / 229.0 g	8.01 oz / 227.0 g
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass Frame: Titanium
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, 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, Other
Colors
Phantom black, Silver	Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium

Display

Size
6.8-inch, 89.33% screen-to-body	6.9-inch, 92.35% screen-to-body
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1500 nits	OLED, Variable 1-120Hz, HDR, 2000 nits
Resolution
3200x1440px, 20:9 ratio, 516 PPI	2868x1320px, 19.5:9 ratio, 458 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus	Ceramic Shield
Features
	Super Retina XDR, HDR support, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

PhoneArena Display Test

Bright Max (20% APL)
Untested	2088 (Excellent)
Bright Min
1.5 (Good)	0.93 (Excellent)

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 888 SM8350 (5 nm)	Apple A18 Pro (3 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680	Hexa-core 2x4.05GHz 4x2.42G​Hz
GPU
Adreno 660	Apple 6-core GPU
Memory
12GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.1) 12GB/256GB 16GB/512GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB (NVMe) 8GB/512GB 8GB/1024GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
Android (14, 13, 12, 11)	iOS (18.x)

PhoneArena Performance Test

GeekBench 6 Single
1117	3331
GeekBench 6 Multi
3312	8106
3D Mark High
1963	4567
3D Mark Low
1179	3009

Learn more on our PhoneArena Performance Test Results page.

Battery

Type
5000 mAh, Li - Polymer	4685 mAh, Li - Ion
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging Qi and Powermat wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging	Fast charging Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging, MagSafe wireless charging
Charge speed
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W	Wired: 27.0W Wireless: 25.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

6h 15min

Browsing

14h 43min

Video

8h 52min

Gaming

8h 40min

Battery Life Estimate

8h 30min

Browsing

22h 39min

Video

10h 24min

Gaming

12h 4min

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	48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX903 Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.28" Pixel size: 1.22 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	48 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX972 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/3.06" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
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, Periscope, Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX913 Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F2.8 Focal Length: 120 mm Sensor size: 1/3.06" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
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	Dual 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 (120 fps), 1080p (240 fps) OIS, HDR, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, 10-bit HDR, Dolby Vision HDR, ProRes, Cinematic mode
Front
40 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

PhoneArena Camera Tests

N/A

Overall

N/A

Photo

N/A

Video

154

Overall

158

Photo

150

Video

Learn more on our PhoneArena Camera Test Results page

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.1	5.3
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,Wi-Fi 6E,Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Type-C, USB 3.2	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, 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, NavIC, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning, Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving)
Other
NFC, ANT+	NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB)

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Multiple speakers
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, n14, n20, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79, n258, n260, n261, SA, NSA, 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 Pro Cat 18 (1200/150 Mbit/s)
SIM type
Nano SIM	eSIM
HD Voice
	Yes
VoLTE
	Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Dec 22, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG998U	Date approved: Sep 09, 2024 FCC ID value: BCG-E8684A
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	Head: 0.96 W/kg Body: 0.98 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 0.99 W/kg

Alternative variants

with 256GB storage

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

With 512GB internal storage

Memory	512GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1399

with 512GB storage

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

With 1TB internal storage

Memory	1024GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1599

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

International

5G Bands	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79, SA, NSA, Sub-6
4G (FDD) Bands	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands	34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Specs	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Review
User Reviews
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra User Reviews	Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max User Reviews