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00:00Okay, this is a big one, iPhone 13 Pro Max versus Galaxy S21 Ultra.
00:06Which is best?
00:13Although normally I'd actually be comparing the latest iPhone with the Samsung Galaxy
00:16Note because they would be the sort of two brand spanking new flagship devices.
00:21But of course we haven't had a new Note this year, which is a bit disappointing.
00:24Although we have had the Fold 3, but that's not really in the same category and also a
00:28lot more expensive.
00:30Speaking of which, let's kick off with pricing and actually the S21 Ultra wins.
00:35And by wins I mean loses because it's £100 or $100 more expensive than the equivalent
00:40spec 13 Pro Max.
00:43Both of these are pretty eye-wateringly expensive and maybe that difference isn't particularly
00:47significant over the course of a two, three year contract.
00:51But the iPhone is a bit cheaper, so points to Gryffindor, I mean Apple.
00:55On a side note though, iPhones do hold their value for longer, so if you come to trade
00:59this in, in sort of two, three years, then you will get more for your money.
01:02But at the same time, if you haven't bought either phone yet and you're thinking, you
01:05know, which one to get, you might be able to find a better deal on the S21 Ultra because
01:10it doesn't hold its value quite as well.
01:12And also it has been out for a good six months now.
01:15But after the price, what's the next most important thing to consider when buying a
01:18new phone?
01:19Well, I think it's pretty obvious, colour.
01:23Okay, maybe not, but still, the iPhone is definitely more eye-catching with its choice
01:27of four colours.
01:28I've got the fancy Sierra Blue one here, whereas the S21 Ultra comes in Phantom Black
01:33or Phantom Silver.
01:35Not the most exciting, but if you're going to put a case on it, does it really matter?
01:39And actually, just quickly, I do have a couple of the 13 Pro Max cases here.
01:43These are the £50 MagSafe ones from Apple.
01:46I would definitely recommend this kind of rubbery silicon version over this clear plastic.
01:52It feels a lot nicer in this kind of case.
01:55Okay, so colours might not be that important, but the design is a big deal.
01:59And straight away I can tell you, for me at least, the S21 Ultra is a lot more comfortable
02:03to hold and use.
02:05It's a little bit lighter, but more importantly, it's taller and narrower than the iPhone.
02:09Plus we have these rounded rather than flat edges.
02:12So the S21 just sits more comfortably in your hand.
02:16But what do you reckon?
02:17Which do you think looks better?
02:18They're both dominated by these big camera modules on the back.
02:22They're both matte glass, so they don't really pick up fingerprints or smudges, which is great.
02:26Although this stainless steel frame around the edge of the iPhone is a bit of a smudge magnet.
02:31They're both durable with Gorilla Glass Victus and IP68 water resistance for the S21
02:36and Apple Ceramic Shield on the iPhone.
02:39Plus we also have IP68, but to a deeper 6 metres for half an hour versus 1.5 on the Samsung.
02:46But more importantly, and you guys are going to have to pick a side here, not Android or iOS,
02:50but hole punch or notch.
02:53Which do you think is the least worst option?
02:56The iPhone 13s do now have a 20% smaller notch compared to last year,
03:01but that's only horizontally and the extra space isn't really used at all.
03:04But in terms of how much screen is covered and also how well the area around it is used,
03:09for me, I think the S21 Ultra's hole punch is the slightly better option.
03:13Both phones also have stereo speakers, which sound fantastic.
03:17The S21 is a little bit bassier and it does get louder,
03:20but the iPhones are a touch richer with clearer vocals.
03:23Not really a reason to pick one over the other though.
03:42I do appreciate having this little guy though, the alert toggle slider thingy-ma-jig
03:47where you can quickly switch it between silence and ring mode,
03:51which comes in handy if you go into bed and just want to put it in silent mode.
03:54Only the OnePlus phones really offer something similar on Android.
03:57But when it comes to unlocking the phones, without a doubt,
04:00the iPhone's true depth face unlocking is the best.
04:03It's extremely reliable, even in low light as we have an IR sensor.
04:07But having said that, the S21's face unlocking still does a decent job.
04:10Plus we do get an in-screen fingerprint reader.
04:13So I guess what's more important, having the best face unlocking
04:16or average face unlocking, but also with an in-screen reader.
04:20Let's talk about these screens because they're both OLED and they're both massive.
04:25They both support HDR10, although only the iPhone gives us Dolby Vision HDR,
04:29which is definitely a nice bonus for Netflix.
04:31But more importantly, they both also offer adaptive 120Hz refresh rates.
04:36Apple has finally joined the 120 club and we get LTPO panels on both,
04:41which means they can dynamically adjust between 10 and 120Hz.
04:45So actually, this can end up saving you battery as you don't always need 120
04:49when you're maybe watching a video shot at 30fps on YouTube.
04:53The thing is, though, if I gave this to my mom and said,
04:56hey, look, it's 120Hz, what do you think?
04:58She would probably say, what's 120Hz? And I can't see any difference.
05:02To the average consumer, I don't know if it's that much of a selling point.
05:06But to a more techie enthusiast person and someone who is actually accustomed
05:10to a high refresh on an Android phone, it does make a big difference.
05:14So they share the same refresh rate, but the S21 Ultra is sharper
05:19as it supports the higher res WQHD plus resolution,
05:22which gives us 550 pixels per inch versus a meager 458 on the iPhone.
05:28In the real world, unless you have them right up to your face,
05:31it's not something you'd be able to notice.
05:33Although it is nice to have the option to watch YouTube at 1440p, for example.
05:37So points to Samsung there.
05:39Although the iPhone does offer True Tone,
05:41which adjusts the white balance of the screen based on the ambient lighting around you.
05:45So you always have a kind of natural paper white,
05:47whereas the S21 just has this eye comfort shield,
05:50but that's not as smart and just gives you warmer colors.
05:52Although the S21 does give you more options to play with.
05:55You can adjust the resolution and change the screen mode and white balance yourself manually.
06:00There is a slight difference in brightness, though.
06:02The S21 gets a little bit darker than the iPhone.
06:05There's only a couple of nits in it, although you can just see the difference.
06:08Although to its credit, the 13 Pro and Pro Max do get noticeably dimmer than the cheaper 13
06:14and also the older 12 series.
06:16However, at the other end of the spectrum, according to my tests at least,
06:19the iPhone hits 1400 nits versus around 1200 on the S21 Ultra.
06:25And actually when playing HDR videos, this can go up to 1600 and 1450 respectively.
06:31So the iPhone can get a touch brighter.
06:33So both screens are fantastic.
06:35Although this does get a bit brighter.
06:38We also have that Dolby Vision HDR support and also True Tone's a bit more intelligent.
06:42Whereas on this we have that higher resolution if you want it,
06:45although you can drop it down to full HD plus to save some battery
06:48and also it's a bit more customizable.
06:51Okay, so far so good.
06:52But here's a question. Which is faster?
06:55Well, this is always a tough one to call.
06:56Not least because iOS and Android are very different.
07:00We're also comparing two or actually three completely different chips.
07:03Also 6 versus 12 gigs of RAM
07:05and also iPhones are generally better optimized between the hardware and the software.
07:11But things get even trickier because there's two versions of this.
07:14Historically, the Exynos chip has always been a bit rubbish.
07:17Although this year they are very similar within a few percent of each other
07:20in terms of both performance and battery.
07:23But let's kick off with a couple of benchmarks
07:25and taking the average score between the two Samsung phones.
07:28The iPhone is just simply in another league.
07:3057% faster single-core, 40% faster multi-core and 72% faster graphics.
07:37On paper, the iPhone is much faster,
07:39but actually in everyday normal use,
07:41I do find the S21 Ultra a little bit more snappy.
07:44The faster animations,
07:46the fact that you can even go into the developer options
07:48and speed them up even further if you want to.
07:50It's just a bit more instant.
07:53But then there's games
07:54and I think generally iOS games are a bit better optimized
07:57because there's far less fragmentation of hardware.
08:00And also I think the Apple Arcade while a subscription
08:02does offer some really fun titles.
08:04But right now there aren't really any games
08:06that support this new 120Hz on the iPhone.
08:09But we should see developers updating their apps
08:11over the next few months.
08:13So this will change.
08:15I was actually going to test Adobe Premiere Rush
08:17to see which phone exported a video project faster.
08:21And while I can get it on the iPhone,
08:23for some reason right now it is not supported on the S21.
08:27So well, that was the end of that.
08:29Also, just how smoothly the iPhone can switch between lenses
08:33kind of makes the S21
08:34and frankly all Android phones feel really quite laggy.
08:37And actually does make a difference
08:39when you're transitioning between lenses
08:40when you're filming.
08:42So in terms of raw performance,
08:43the Apple A15 and the iPhone is faster.
08:46I think because of the quicker animations
08:48and the fact that you can tweak things a little bit,
08:50the S21 Ultra feels just a bit nippier
08:52in actual practice in real life.
08:54But what do you think about in five years time,
08:56which one of these will still be more capable?
08:59My money will be on the A15.
09:01There's so much untapped potential in this right now.
09:03And also we do get generally better support
09:06over a longer period with Apple's products
09:08unless they add a software update to slow them down
09:10like they did a few years ago.
09:12But I think this definitely will be more future-proof.
09:15Now this could easily be a whole video by itself,
09:17but which phone has the best camera?
09:21Well, photography is so subjective,
09:23but from a technical point of view,
09:25the S21 Ultra does offer more flexibility
09:27as we get four lenses, including a 10 times periscope.
09:31So we do get much better long range zoom.
09:34Even up to 30 times is usable,
09:36but I wouldn't go much beyond that.
09:38We also get 8K video and more pro photography options.
09:41And subjectively, you might prefer the more contrasty,
09:45sometimes less vibrant look of the Samsung.
09:47It used to be the other way around
09:49where Samsung was too oversaturated.
09:51Whereas the iPhone now with bigger sensors
09:54and wider apertures across the board
09:56also gets a couple of nifty new features,
09:58including photography styles.
10:00And this is where you can almost mimic the style
10:02of other phones like Samsung's stronger contrast
10:05or say the Google Pixel's slightly cooler tone.
10:08And you can tinker and play around with each style
10:10so you can get some really unique looking shots.
10:13Although for the purpose of this comparison,
10:14I have stuck with the iPhone's default mode
10:16as that's probably still what most people will use.
10:20Then we have cinematic mode,
10:21AKA portrait video, and it's genuinely very good.
10:25The S21 Ultra also offers something similar,
10:27but this is by far the best implementation I've seen.
10:30Even if it is limited to 1080p30
10:33and it's slightly awkward to edit as it's in HDR,
10:35being able to adjust the focus and the bokeh
10:37before, during, and after shooting is just incredible.
10:41And also the automatic focus racking
10:43based on scene and face detection works pretty well.
10:46Although I would suggest dialing down the bokeh
10:48a little bit to make it look a bit less artificial.
10:52Both phones also have a macro mode.
10:54This is new for the 13 Pro this year,
10:56and they both use the ultra wide lens.
10:58So you just simply get closer to your subject.
11:00The iPhone does have a closer focal range,
11:02two versus four centimeters on the S21,
11:05but I would give Samsung points
11:07for being a bit more detailed.
11:08So looking at these camera samples I've taken,
11:11there is definitely a pattern
11:12of the iPhone giving us brighter, more vibrant shots,
11:15and pulling up the shadows a little bit,
11:17although to a less aggressive extent than previous iPhones.
11:20Bear in mind though that I am using the Exynos version
11:23of the S21 for this test,
11:24and there are subtle differences
11:26with the camera on the Snapdragon version
11:28as it's a different ISP.
11:31Both phones shoot great quality video though.
11:33This is at 4K 30,
11:34although the S21 Ultra does have the 8K option,
11:37but I would say as a whole,
11:39the iPhone does come out on top
11:40in terms of quality and stabilization.
11:43And also if you are a keen videographer,
11:45then this will eventually support 4K ProRes,
11:48and also you can shoot in Dolby Vision HDR.
11:50So I think points to Apple for video.
11:53What about battery life?
11:54Which one of these lasts longer?
11:57In my real-world use test,
11:58the iPhone had 40% of its battery left by 11 p.m.
12:02versus 30% on the S21 Ultra.
12:04The iPhone will last you an extra hour and a half.
12:07Both phones also support wireless charging,
12:09but in favor of the S21,
12:11we do get this reverse charging feature
12:13on the S21 Ultra.
12:14The S21 Ultra, however,
12:16does not support reverse charging.
12:18The S21 Ultra, however,
12:19does support reverse charging.
12:21We do get this reverse charging,
12:23so you can top up other devices,
12:25albeit slowly.
12:26But a bigger deal, for me at least,
12:28is the fact that we get USB-C on here
12:30rather than Lightning.
12:32Lightning just feels a bit prehistoric,
12:34and actually only the iPhones
12:36and the cheapest base iPad still have this port.
12:39So I really do hope they switch to USB-C at some point.
12:43The thing is, though,
12:44everything we've talked about so far
12:45could be completely irrelevant,
12:47because if your friends or family use iMessage
12:50or you have all your files in iCloud,
12:52or maybe use an iPad or MacBook
12:54and couldn't go without AirDrop,
12:55or you just want the best smartwatch,
12:57which is the Apple Watch right now,
12:59Apple's ecosystem is probably the number one reason
13:02most people don't consider jumping ship to Android.
13:05To be fair,
13:06Samsung has their own versions of most of these,
13:09including Samsung Cloud,
13:10you've got the Galaxy Watch,
13:11and also a few nifty extras like DeX
13:13if you want to use your phone
13:14more like a laptop on a big screen.
13:16Also, it is a bit unforgivable
13:18on a phone as big as the 13 Pro Max
13:21that we still don't have decent split screen support
13:23for multitasking.
13:24That's a big plus in my book for the Galaxy,
13:27as is all the customization you have on offer
13:29for the display options, themes,
13:31unlocking the dev menu, custom launchers,
13:33the list goes on.
13:35Oh, and also don't forget that both this
13:37and the Fold 3 are the only Galaxy phones
13:39that support the S Pen.
13:41It's not as convenient as having it built in like the Note,
13:44but for more precise drawing and designing,
13:47the S Pen could be a real selling point.
13:50So let's wrap up.
13:50Which one is best?
13:52Well, I've been using the S21 Ultra
13:54for the past six months or so
13:55since it launched as my everyday phone,
13:58but I have properly switched my personal SIM
14:01to this now, and I am having a great time,
14:03although there are a few things
14:04that I do miss about this.
14:06There is some element
14:07that this is halfway through its lifecycle now
14:09and we should have a S22
14:10in like four months or something.
14:12I know you're going to shout at me though,
14:13but honestly, I don't think one is better than the other.
14:16For me, as a package,
14:18I think the iPhone 13 Pro Max offers a bit more
14:21of what I want, including better battery,
14:23a slightly more consistent all-round camera,
14:25and also as apps take advantage of that A15
14:28and the 120Hz screen,
14:29we'll start to see some, you know,
14:30real gaming advantage to this.
14:32So for me, my pick right now will be the 13 Pro Max,
14:36but you really can't go wrong with either.
14:38And if you do fancy picking one up for yourself,
14:40then I'll leave links to both in the description below.
14:42But what do you reckon?
14:43Would you go Apple or Samsung
14:45or none of the above
14:47and maybe get a Sony Xperia 3
14:48or a OnePlus 9 or something?
14:50Let me know in the comments below.
14:51And also if you did enjoy this video,
14:53which hopefully you did
14:54because you watched the whole thing,
14:55then a cheeky like and subscribe
14:56would be very much appreciated.
14:58Thank you so much for watching guys
14:59and I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.