In the latest customary iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra speed, the latest flagships from Apple and Samsung have been put through their paces to see which one performs faster when using popular apps and switching between them. These challenges put to test the real-world impact of the processing power and memory management in these devices.
iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra speed test
One of our favorite speed tests is done by PhoneBuff, and the latest one runs the smartphones through popular social media, productivity, gaming, and streaming apps. No surprises in guessing who won again this year.
Before we go into details, it is important to note that Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone 13 Pro Max has 6GB RAM, while Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ships with 12GB RAM to perform on a similar level. We have already covered the A15 chip extensively before, and you can find more information at these links:
- Apple’s A15 chip GPU has the biggest performance jump since A9 chip
- iPhone 13 Pro benchmarks show A15 is up to 18% faster than A14 in CPU performance
- A15 chip in iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro: all you need to know
On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra used in this test is powered by a Snapdragon 888 chip, although it also ships with Samsung’s own Exynos 2100 chip. Last, but not the least, iPhone 13 Pro Max costs $100 less than Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although it also features half the storage (128GB vs 256GB).
Here are the apps that were tested:
- Starbucks
- Word
- Excel
- Camera
- Snapseed
- FilmoraGo
- Google Trends
- Subway Surf
- Flip Diving
- Fit the Fat 2
- Fwd Assult
- Spotify
- ESPN
- Disney+
- Amazon
Here is how the tests went. Galaxy S21 Ultra had a good lead in the first round, and was ahead of the iPhone 13 Pro Max until FilmoraGo where the iPhone sped ahead in the video export task. From this point, there was no looking back, and iPhone 13 Pro Max finished the first round almost 7 seconds ahead of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, in the second round, where most of the apps are reloaded from the memory, Samsung’s 12GB advantage helped it close the lead and finish within a two seconds gap of the iPhone.
Lap 1:
iPhone 13 Pro Max: 1:51.42
Galaxy S21 Ultra: 1:58.63
Lap 2:
iPhone 13 Pro Max: 0:47.53
Galaxy S21 Ultra: 0:49.77
Note that this test is not scientific by any means, so multiple test rounds might give different numbers, even though PhoneBuff has automated the complete procedure. This result clearly shows that there is not a massive gap between Apple and Samsung’s flagships, even though iPhone still leads thanks to its optimization.
Check out the full video below:
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