As we all know, everybody has been gushing over the release of 2022’s Samsung Galaxy S series, the Samsung Galaxy S22 series. This lineup consists of Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22+, and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. It launched on 9th Feb and is available for pre-booking in India for ₹1,999. A lot of techies have got their hands on this series, and they absolutely loved it! (You will too!)
But what’s even more interesting is that after Samsung discontinued their Galaxy Note series, they rebranded the similar design in the top-tier phone of the current S Series, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. This is one of the main reasons why it’s the talk of the tech-town.
Comparison with the iPhone 13 Pro Max
Samsung and Apple have always been mega competitors in the smartphone market globally because of their high-end premium flagship phone annual lineups. The iPhone 13 series has received great responses, but let’s face it: the base models, iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini, have not upgraded way too much from their previous models, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, respectively. However, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are the top-tier phones of the said series with good features you’d expect in a flagship phone, especially the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Hence, we thought, why not do a versus piece on the highest level premium phone from each of both the series? Before we get to the actual comparison review, let’s see some basic specs people look for: –
Now, let’s get to the review part.
If you notice the specs comparison table above, there’s no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s specs are definitely better than that of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, but it gets further than that.
- Talking about the memory of both the phones, ROM options are ditto the same, but the RAM of the iPhone 13 Pro Max might make you want to scratch your heads. It is so because these days, you expect a minimum of 8 GB LPDDR5 RAM in any flagship phone, which the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has. Moreover, LPDDR5 RAMs are more power-efficient and fast. Instead, Apple decided to stick with now-old LPDDR4X RAM. While the latter is also a quick and power-efficient RAM, it is now found on a lot, in fact, most mid-range to budget-range phones. So, in this case, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra definitely takes the trophy. But it is important to note that this move by Apple might have been due to cost-saving because of chip shortage issues. After all, LPDDR5 RAMs are expensive.
- For the processors mentioned above, there are debates on which is better. But, it is more nuanced than we’d like to think. Considering their AnTuTu scores and number of cores, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 seems definitely better, but is it what makes the phone faster? Not necessarily. These factors do play a significant role in how much the phone can speed up, but the most necessary factor for phone speed is the clock speed, and that of the A15 Bionic is the highest in the world, with a rate of 3225 MHz. Hence, iPhone is better here.
- Both the devices have a 120 Hz refresh rate which goes as low as 10 Hz when there’s no activity which helps in saving battery power. However, the Super Retina XDR OLED Display is way better than the Dynamic AMOLED 2X display in terms of resolution. Better resolution is undoubtedly more power-consuming. These days a big chunk of people prefer power efficiency over screen resolution. But, there is also not much shortage of people who love some good graphics. Hence, it all comes down to your preference at the end of the day. But we would recommend you opt for something which is power-efficient.
- There’s no comparison as to which phone has a better design because, in the end, it’s all about consumer preference. However, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ Glass body (on both screen and back) with an aluminium frame and curved edged screens, which give a very premium look and a very rigid protective layering. By the way, there is no camera base bump! Moreover, the colour choices are also simple yet very bold. In simpler terms, it’s rebranding the Galaxy Note series in ways as depicted below:
Apple is continuing its boxy design with a ceramic shield, matte glass and stainless steel frame, which is also a pretty premium design on its own, as depicted below. However, the colour options are very traditional, except Sierra Blue. The distinct camera bump is identical to the one in the previous version, iPhone 12 Pro Max.
- For the camera, the recommendation is hands down, for iPhone. iPhones have a long history of being the best phones for any type of video or photoshoots because they maintain large sensors throughout every series of phones they release from time to time. Now, the 8K camera in the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is definitely a level up from what iPhone 13 Pro Max has, and there are multiple options for which all angles you can click photos which makes the S22 better. But even then, the clarity in iPhones and the ability to shoot during lowlights is much better.
- Regarding battery and charging, there is absolutely no winning for iPhone 13 Pro Max in comparison to Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra because it is clear that the former’s performance is much more enhanced than the latter in terms of almost everything. Given the battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro Max paired with what’s mentioned above, it can sustain from breakfast to bedtime if used sustainably. But you might have to carry a charger if you’re getting involved in some heavy-duty work involving your iPhone 13 Pro Max. Whereas for Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the battery life is much higher, and even if the performance is great, it is power efficient in a way. You can use the phone heavily, and you’ll still have the battery working for more than a day.
Final Verdict
There is no doubt that both these phones are really great! If you’re looking for ultra-premium phones, we’d totally recommend these, but there’s a catch; the final verdict.
All-in-all, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra takes a win here because it has all the much-needed specifications you’d look for in a premium flagship phone in 2022. iPhone 13 Pro Max’s performance and the camera is pretty great, but all at the behest of very mediocre battery life. And it would be nice if RAMs were of a higher range in iPhone 13 Pro Max!
But then again, we also have to consider that some people follow an ecosystem. Let’s say you have a Windows PC and Android devices, and you want to build an ecosystem; an iPhone would not be the best option. And if we reverse the situation, where we have a dedicated Apple ecosystem, an Android phone is not at all suggested.
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