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Need-to-knows
- Both look and feel very premium
- Samsung slightly edges out the display category
- iPhone has better video
- I prefer OneUI’s cleaner look
Every year, I publish a comparison between the top-end iPhone and Samsung’s flagship S-series smartphone. And every year I ask myself: is this really worth it?
A fair few people always ask the same question in the comments section of the YouTube video. And I understand why.
I have no hard-and-fast data to back up this, but I’m pretty sure that precisely no one will be agonising over the choice between the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the S25 Ultra this year.
Because everyone has already chosen their side.
Despite this, such comparisons still draw in a big audience both on YouTube and within the pages of this website. Which is why I keep publishing them. It’s fun, right?
At a glance
| Feature | iPhone 17 Pro Max | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.9″ OLED, 2868×1320, 120Hz, 3,000 nits peak | 6.9″ AMOLED 2X, 3120×1440, 120Hz, 2,600 nits peak, S Pen |
| Chipset | Apple A19 Pro, hardware ray tracing | Snapdragon 8 Elite, octa-core 4.47GHz |
| RAM / Storage | 12GB, up to 2TB | 12GB, up to 1TB |
| Cameras (rear) | Quad 48MP (Main, Ultra-wide, 4× Tele, 8× Tele), up to 40× zoom | 200MP + 50MP + 50MP + 10MP, up to 100× zoom |
| Front Camera | 18MP | 12MP |
| Video | Up to 4K/120fps Dolby Vision, ProRes RAW, Spatial video | Up to 8K/60fps, 4K/120fps slow-mo |
| Battery & Charging | Up to 37h playback, 40W wired, 25W MagSafe/Qi2 | 5,000mAh, 45W wired, 15W wireless |
| Software | iOS 26 + Apple Intelligence | Android 15 + One UI 7 + Galaxy AI |
| Security | Face ID, LiDAR | In-display fingerprint, face unlock |
| Durability | IP68 (6m/30min) | IP68 (1.5m/30min) |
| Price | $1,199/£1,199 | $1,299/£1,299 |
Design
These are two very different-looking phones. Which is nice, because it makes choosing your favourite a lot easier.
I love what Apple has done with the iPhone 17 Pro Max this year. It looks considerably different from the device it replaces, and marks a sea change in Apple’s iPhone design language that we haven’t seen for quite some time. It’s still unmistakably an iPhone, but it just looks different. It looks new.
Then, you chuck in the Cosmic Orange option, and we suddenly have a Pro-level iPhone that isn’t desperately boring.
The S25 Ultra features a far simpler design and not a whiff of a whacky, lairy colour option (although the online-only Jadegreen and Pinkgold options are rather lovely). Samsung has stuck with a chiselled, purposeful, and eminently upmarket design which gives the S25 Ultra an air of superiority. It’s also made from titanium – a material Apple has ditched for old-fashioned aluminium with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Related: iPhone 17 Pro Max review
If I had to pick a winner in terms of design – and I do, because you’ll quite rightly roast me, otherwise – I’d have to go for the S25 Ultra. It may not be painted in Cosmic Orange, but I am concerned about how my iPhone 17 Pro Max is going to look in a few months if the ‘scratchgate’ furore holds any weight.
Display
There’s no competition here, I’m afraid: the S25 Ultra has the best display out of these two devices.
Related: Samsung S25 Ultra review
This is for several reasons.
I prefer the squared-off edges of the S25 Ultra’s display. It also has a pinhole camera at the top instead of the great, big, lolloping and relatively pointless Dynamic Island on the iPhone.
It feels brighter, too – even though it technically isn’t. But the big one for me is the anti-reflective coating on the S25 Ultra, which is the best on any phone I’ve tested. Apple has improved the anti-reflective coating on the iPhone 17 Pro Max this year, but it’s still nowhere near Samsung’s effort. It makes a genuine difference to everyday usability and might be partly why the S25 Ultra display feels so much more vibrant than the iPhone’s.
Camera
The S25 Ultra has a 200MP main camera, whereas the iPhone 17 Pro Max features triple 48MP cameras on its rear.
Best budget camera system? Xiaomi 15T Pro review
They’re both capable of shooting RAW images, though, which means you can technically produce identical-looking photos on both phones, thus negating any meaningful comparison between the two.
That’s being churlish, though. Most people take smartphone photos with standard, out-of-the-box settings, and that’s where the differing choices made by each brand reside. I’ll let you be the judge of these comparison photos from the S25 Ultra and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there’s one clear winner for me.
Both produce lovely photos – particularly at the standard 1x focal length and 4x/5x (Apple/Samsung). Beyond that, the S25 Ultra wins in terms of AI-infused digital reach (although I’m still not a fan of anything beyond optical, personally).
I just prefer the overall look of Samsung’s standard picture profile, and the S25 Ultra seems to have more useful default zoom ranges. I find it a more enjoyable camera to use – it’s as simple as that.
Read my iPhone Air review!
When it comes to video, the iPhone wins. As always. Until another brand dethrones Apple in that regard, the iPhone will remain my default smartphone of choice for capturing footage.
But given the choice, I’d still opt for the S25 Ultra – because I take far more photos with my phone than I do videos.
Ecosystem
This is possibly the most personal preference in this list, and both Samsung and Apple indeed offer superb ecosystems.
For me, it comes down to my reliance on the Mac. I will never switch back to Windows, ever; I value what hair I have remaining. But if I did, I know that the S25 Ultra plays beautifully with Microsoft’s operating system. It also has a superb range of watches to connect to, including the brilliant Galaxy Watch 8, which I tested this summer.
Special mention must also go to Samsung’s range of tablets, which are just as enjoyable to use as the iPad – and just as well made.
However, the integration between the iPhone and the Mac remains unmatched. And yes, I know you can technically move stuff between an Android device and macOS (I do it fairly regularly via LocalSend). It just isn’t as reliable or as immediate as AirDrop.
I’m also firmly back in the world of the Apple Watch, and the way that wearable talks to my Mac, iPhone, and pretty much everything else connected to my iCloud account offers real-world benefits I experience every single day.
Your mileage – and opinion – may vary.
iOS vs One UI
Oh, look – another highly personal preference.
Hold me at theoretical gunpoint and ask which of these two operating systems I think is ‘better’, and I’d point at One UI. I’m not averse to iOS 26 and have grown to rather like Liquid Glass, but switching back to One UI reveals that you really don’t need that eye candy for an enjoyable smartphone experience.
One UI 8 is refined, practically absent of bloatware (remember what it was like in the old days?!) and has the best AI platform on the planet.
The best Android? Google Pixel 10 review
However, I’d point back to the ecosystem conversation for the reasons I brazenly go against my own preference and continue to opt for iOS as the vehicle behind my main SIM card.
It just works.
Conclusion
This battle still fascinates me every year, and for as long as the clicks, views, and passionate commentary continue to flood in, I’ll keep doing it.
Is there an overall winner between these two? Not really. They are both utterly superb smartphones, and they both deserve their flagship status. I wish they were slightly more affordable once you begin increasing the storage, but we are where we are in that regard.
As always, it’s over to you now – let me know in the comments which phone gets your vote, and why!
1 Comment
I must say i have the s25 ultra at the moment but still im gonna get the smaller mighty iphone 17 pro this year and that’s cause of the footage of the video that the iphone is superb for, i love these two smartphones mark 😍 both are damn good 👍 i follow you on youtube always !!