Video: Samsung's New S23 Ultra vs. Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max

Samsung in February launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, its newest flagship smartphone. The S23 Ultra is a lot like the S22 Ultra, but it has a 200-megapixel wide-angle camera lens that supports 8K video capture. Given that the S23 Ultra is a direct competitor to Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max, we thought we'd take a look at both smartphones to see how they compare.


The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a 6.8-inch smartphone with an OLED display, so it's fairly similar to the 6.7-inch ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro Max. Samsung is using a pinhole cutout for the front-facing camera, though, so there is more available display area on the S23 Ultra since it doesn't have a notch. Both support 120Hz maximum refresh rates, but the smoothing looks more dramatic on the S23 Ultra

iphone 14 pro max galaxy s23 ultra leveled
Samsung is using a more squared off design with slim bezels, so these two smartphones don't look much alike. It has less curve on the display than the prior-generation model, and even though it's large, the flat display and the straight frame make it comfortable to hold. There's also an S-Pen stylus that can be used with it, which Apple does not offer. The S-Pen is handy for note taking, but it's more of a niche feature than something that is widely appealing to all users.

iphone 14 pro max galaxy s23 ultra rear leveled
At the back, there's a triple-lens camera setup and Samsung has introduced a 200-megapixel wide-angle lens while the ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro Max has a 48-megapixel lens. With high-end smartphones, it's often difficult to choose a clear winner in terms of image quality, and it comes down to a preference for the color temperature and built-in editing that smartphone manufacturers do.

s23 ultra camera comp lake
When it comes to video quality, Apple's iPhones usually win out, but Samsung has made some improvements this year. The 8K video is impressive, and there are notable boosts in stabilization on the Galaxy S23. It's much harder to tell the difference in video quality between the two smartphones with the S23 Ultra.

s23 ultra camera comp ikea
Main lens photos look fantastic on both phones in good lighting conditions, despite the difference in megapixels. You can choose from 50 or 200 megapixels when using the S23 Ultra, and you'll get more detail, but at the cost of storage space. The ultra wide lenses are also comparable, but Samsung is the clear winner when it comes to zoom capabilities. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has 10x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom, though it stops looking great after about 30x. Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro Max tops out at 3x optical zoom, though that's set to change with the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

s23 ultra camera comp keybank
Portrait mode on both smartphones is impressive. The S23 seems to do better with details in shots with people and it has better background blur, but it can be too soft. The ‌iPhone‌ is better at skin tone.

s23 ultra camera comp portrait
At the end of the day, operating system preference matters much more than feature set for smartphones at this level. If you're an iOS user, you're probably not going to want to swap over to Android, and vice versa, regardless of how many eye-catching features are offered.

What do you think of Samsung's S23 Ultra? Which smartphone photos do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.

Tag: Samsung

Popular Stories

Mayday Calendar

Apple Acquisition Hints at Upgraded Calendar App on iOS 19 or Beyond

Friday May 9, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing, spotted by French blog MacGeneration. The acquisition had not received widespread attention from tech publications until now. Apple is legally required to report certain acquisitions to the European Commission, under the terms of the EU's Digital Markets Act. Mayday Labs founder Jeremy...
Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
fortnite apple featured

Epic Games Submits Fortnite to U.S. App Store

Friday May 9, 2025 9:57 am PDT by
As promised, Epic Games today submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and if approved by Apple, it will mark the first time that the Fortnite app has been available in the United States since 2020. Fortnite will include options to purchase in-app currency from the web rather than through in-app purchase, which is what got the game banned to begin with. This time, though, Apple has been...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
top stories 2025 05 10

Top Stories: iOS 18.5 Release Imminent, iPhone Rumors for 2025 and Beyond, and More

Saturday May 10, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
With Apple's developer conference where it will show off iOS 19 just a month away, the company is wrapping up work on iOS 18.5 ahead of an imminent release to deliver a few new features and updates. This week also saw a number of iPhone-related rumors, encompassing not only this year's iPhone 17 lineup but also Apple's plans for 2026 and 2027, even as Apple's Eddy Cue suggested AI could make ...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:29 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain. According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
29 months ago
An excellent comparison between the two industry-leading smartphones. However, iPhone is King! iPhone Forever! ?

Some days I do wish I could do this with my iPhone.. One day...

[MEDIA=twitter]1622780208234233856[/MEDIA]
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
29 months ago
Ouch that zoom comparison is almost embarrassing. I don't even bother using 3x on my 13 Pro most of the time because it's already noticeably not as good as the main camera.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
29 months ago
Looking forward to better zoom on iPhone. It’s honestly pretty useless as of right now. Too many artifacts and smudges that look like it was taken on a 5 year old iphone (not zoomed)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dk001 Avatar
29 months ago
Skipped the 14 ProMax (no SIM tray) but did get the S23U.
Comparing it to my current 13 ProMax, the S23U eclipses it in pretty much any area I have tried.
Pretty close to matching in battery too.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
siddavis Avatar
29 months ago
Article title is a bit misleading. I watched the whole video waiting to get to other comparisons, but it was just the cameras. Then I noticed the title of the video itself.

I love how the zoom capabilities are kind of an afterthought, but this is a huge differentiator. The comparison goes through all other aspects and is basically like "they are about equal, so pick which ever one you like", then at the end it's "oh yeah, there's the whole zoom thing, which I guess is neat, but yeah". Uh, it's night and day...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
29 months ago
The zoom is very impressive. I can think of a number of places I would want a better zoom.

I tend to like the outdoor shots on the Ultra better but think it looks bad indoors. That portrait shot is really muted.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)