The iPhone 13 Pro Max currently ranks No. 1 among the best phones and the best camera phones. But Samsung is hoping to change that, and a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max showdown is going to decide which phone is the best device of 2022.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the marquee addition in Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 lineup. Unlike the other models, the S22 Ultra has more in common with the Galaxy Note, right down to the built-in S Pen and productivity-focused features. Throw in some impressive camera enhancements, and Samsung’s largest S22 model certainly seems primed to rise to the top of the smartphone ranks.
But it’s going to need all those features and enhancements to take on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The best iPhone you can buy right now features a large screen, screamingly fast processor and outstanding combination of camera hardware and software. It’s our top-ranked phone for a reason.
Of course, a final verdict in this Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max clash will have to wait until we’ve finished benchmarking and testing Samsung’s new phone. But based on the S22 Ultra specs and some hands-on time with the device, we can look at how it compares to the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max specs
| Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra | iPhone 13 Pro Max | |
| Starting price | $1,199 | $1,099 |
| Screen size | 6.7 inches (3080 x 1440) | 6.1 inches (2778 x 1284) |
| Refresh rate | 1Hz-120Hz adaptive | 10Hz-120Hz adaptive |
| CPU | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (US); Exynos 2200 (K) | A15 Bionic |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB | 6GB (based on teardowns) |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Rear cameras | 108MP (f/2.2) main, 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide, 2 10MP telephoto (f/2.4) with 10x and 3x optical zoom | 12MP main (f/1.6), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.4), 12MP telephoto (f/2.8) with 3x optical zoom |
| Front camera | 40MP (f/2.2) | 12MP (f/2.2) |
| Battery size | 5,000 mAh | 4,352 mAh (based on teardowns) |
| Charging speeds | 45W wired, 15W wireless | 20W wired; 15W wireless |
| Size | 6.4 x 3.1 x 0.4 inches | 6.3 x 3.1 x 0.3 inches |
| Weight | 8.1 ounces | 8.5 ounces |
| Colors | Black, white, green, burgundy | Graphite, gold, silver, blue |
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max price and availability
Despite the changes Samsung is introducing to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and increases to the cost of components, the new phone costs the same as the Galaxy S21 Ultra did when it debuted a year ago. You can get the base model of the Galaxy S22 Ultra for $1,199. That gets you a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. To bump up the RAM to 12GB with 256GB of storage, you’ll need to pay an extra $100 normally, though preordering the phone lets you upgrade to that model for the same cost as the 8GB/128GB version.
Samsung also sells 512GB and 1TB versions of the Galaxy S22 Ultra for $1,399 and $1,599, respectively.
The price of the Galaxy S22 Ultra may not have risen from its predecessor, but that also means that the iPhone 13 Pro Max remains a cheaper option at $1,099. That starting price covers a 128GB model. (Apple doesn’t disclose how much memory it includes in its phones, but teardowns reveal that the iPhone 13 Pro Max carries 6GB of RAM.) The 256GB version of the iPhone 13 Pro Max costs $1,199, or what you’d normally pay for the 128GB Galaxy S22 Ultra. Like the Ultra, you can get 512GB and 1TB versions of Apple’s phone for $1,399 and $1,599, respectively.
The iPhone 13 lineup has been on sale since the fall, so you’re likely to find savings on the iPhone 13 Pro Max among the best iPhone 13 deals. Preorders are underway for the Galaxy S22 Ultra before that phone goes on sale February 25, but we’re still seeing some early offers among the best Galaxy S22 deals.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max design
As had been rumored, Samsung turned to the Galaxy Note for inspiration when it came to designing the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Unlike the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus, which essentially look like the Galaxy S21 models of last year, the new Ultra features a minimalist design without a protruding camera bump. There’s also a slot for the S Pen — a feature missing from last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is more reminiscent of the phones that came before it, with a noticeable camera bump that’s even larger than before it. The notch on the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s display is smaller than before, though still much more prominent than the punch-hole cutout where the Galaxy S22 Ultra houses its front camera.
The durability of both phones should be an interesting point of comparison. The iPhone 13 Pro Max proved to be especially resilient to drops, surviving multiple back-down drops without sustaining damage in third-party testing. Samsung is combating that by equipping the Galaxy S22 Ultra with an armor aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus protection on its glass front and back.
Samsung seems to have taken more chances with colors, including a burgundy option to go with more traditional black, white and green colorways. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is available in graphite, silver, gold and blue.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max display
The Galaxy S22 Ultra offers the larger display at 6.8 inches, though it’s not as if the 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max is hurting for screen space. The real display differences come down to specs beyond size.
Apple followed Samsung’s lead by adding adaptive refresh rates to its iPhone 13 Pro models last fall. The iPhone 13 Pro Max can fluctuate between 10Hz and 120Hz, ramping up to the fast speed when you’re engaged in dynamic activity that would benefit from smoother scrolling and graphics. Samsung is tweaking its adaptive refresh rate feature, allowing the Galaxy S22 Ultra to slow things down all the way to 1Hz when your screen is static, likely in an effort to save battery life.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s screen can reach 1,038 nits of brightness with the Adaptive Brightness feature turned on. That makes the display very easy to see in direct sunlight, but it’s no match for the 1,750-nit rating the Galaxy S22 Ultra carries. We’ll need to test Samsung’s phone to see if it lives up to that claim, but it seems like the Galaxy S22 Ultra is taking on the iPhone 13 Prom Max’s luminous display with an even brighter panel. A Vision Booster feature not only adjusts brightness on the fly but also colors so that they remain visible regardless of how bright the panel gets.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max cameras
The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s camera hardware — a trio of 12MP lenses that include main, ultrawide and telephoto shooters — coupled with Apple’s computational photography has proven to be a tough-to-top combination. Apple ramped things up even further with this phone by increasing the size of the main sensor to let in more light than ever — 49% more than the iPhone 12 Pro models — while also increasing the aperture on the ultrawide angle lens to let in more light. The iPhone 13 Pro Max also supports a 3x optical zoom.
With two telephoto lenses — one capable of a 3x zoom and the other supporting 10x — the Galaxy S22 Ultra should continue to enjoy an adventure over the iPhone 13 Pro Max when it comes to capturing far-away images. But Samsung made other hardware improvements, too. The Galaxy S22 Ultra boasts a larger sensor, too, and it now features a Super Clear Glass lens to cut down on flare when taking shots at night. On the software side of things, the Galaxy S22 Ultra uses adaptive pixel technology to combine nine pixels into one — another move to improve low-light photography.
Samsung has a name for all this — Nightography. But even if that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it sounds as if the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max photo shootout is going to hinge heavily on how well the two phones do with capturing images at night.
In terms of video, Apple made a lot of hay with the Cinematic mode feature added to every iPhone 13 model. In Cinematic mode, you can automatically shift the focus on the fly in videos between different subjects. Samsung offers something similar sounding with its Auto Framing feature that can recognize up to 10 people and keep them in focus when capturing video.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max performance
We’re going to run benchmarks on the Galaxy S22 Ultra to see how its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset holds up, but we’re not expecting it to challenge the A15 Bionic that powers the iPhone 13 Pro Max. For one, the A15 has proven to be the fastest mobile silicon we’ve tested, besting many of the best Android phones including the Galaxy S21 Ultra. For another, early benchmarks on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered reference device suggest only a modest performance boost over the Snapdragon 888.
That’s not to say that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be a laggard or that the phone will struggle to keep up with demanding apps. In terms of raw numbers, though, the A15 Bionic just hasn’t been challenged up until now, and we’d be surprised if that changed.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max battery and charging
A boost in battery size from the iPhone 12 Pro Max helped the iPhone 13 Pro Max land on our best phone battery life list. In our battery test, in which we have phones surf the web via a cellular connection until they run out of power, the iPhone 13 Pro Max lasted 12 hours and 15 minutes. That’s more than 2 hours over the average smartphone. It’s also ahead of the 10-hour plus time we recorded with the Galaxy S21 Ultra with that phone’s adaptive display turned on.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra will use the same-sized battery as its predecessor — a 5,000 mAh power pack. With a wider refresh rate and a more power-efficient chipset in Samsung’s new phone, it’s possible the Galaxy S22 Ultra could improve upon the S21 Ultra’s time in our battery test.
One aspect where the Galaxy S22 Ultra figures to trounce the iPhone 13 Pro Max is when it’s time to charge the phone. The Galaxy S22 Ultra can support 45W charging, which should get a drained phone to a 50% charge after 20 minutes. Getting to a 50% charge on the iPhone 13 Pro Max takes half-an-hour, thanks to that phone’s 20W charging speed. Regardless of which phone you get, you’ll need to track down a charger, as neither Apple nor Samsung includes one with their respective flagships.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max software and special features
The Galaxy S22 Ultra debuts with Android 12, just as the iPhone 13 Pro Max shipped with iOS 15 installed. iPhone users have gotten used to years and years of software support — iOS 15 works on phones that came out six years ago, for example. While Android users haven’t been as lucky, Samsung is taking steps to correct that. The Galaxy S22 Ultra will get four years of Android software updates, so if you’re the kind of person who holds on to their phone for a long time — and when you’re paying $1,199 for a device, you’d better be — you can buy one of Samsung’s new flagships with confidence.
Of course, it’s the S Pen that truly sets the Galaxy S22 Ultra apart from other phones, Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro Max included. This version of the S Pen features a 2.8ms latency — down from 9ms — so it should feel as responsive as using a real pen. Software improvements to the S Pen include more accurate handwriting-to-text conversions and the ability to quickly save notes into emails and Microsoft Office docs. Really, though, having the S Pen as an included feature and not an optional accessory is step forward enough.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max outlook
There’s a lot to test before we can determine a winner in the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max showdown. From camera performance to battery life, a lot of the results of our full S22 Ultra review are going to reveal whether there’s a new smartphone champ or if the iPhone 13 Pro Max retains its crown.
But it’s certainly clear that of all the Galaxy S22 models, the Galaxy S22 Ultra got the most attention. And a lot of those changes should make for some pretty intriguing comparisons in the coming weeks.
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