Galaxy s21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max are the latest flagships from of the biggest rivals (I use this word loosely since Samsung makes the iPhone displays) in the industry, and a hot topic of comparison. The purpose of this article is not to bash the iPhone, but to actually highlight things that the s21 Ultra can do that the iPhone can’t replicate and perhaps guide you in a buying decision.
Here are five ways the Samsung Galaxy s21 Ultra destroys the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Design & Display
If you asked a non-tech person to look at both phones and don’t tell them which brand is which– there is no doubt that the s21 Ultra will be picked out of the bunch as the more futuristic and handsome design. I would also go for the Galaxy s21 Ultra and the reason is the thin bezels on all sides of the front of the screen. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a huge notch that intrudes into the display Vs the s21’s small centralized small punch hole camera– which is much less intrusive to the overall experience especially when you are watching a movie or playing a game. I cannot wait for the iPhone to somehow get rid of that notch.
When it comes to the rear design I think both of these phones look good, but I do believe the Galaxy s21 Ultra did knock it out of the park this time. I just like the way the camera module just flows and fuses with the sides on the corners. The backside is more of a subjective choice, but the frontside the Samsung phone just wins it straight-up. One thing I want to mention is that both phones have a matte finish on the rear– which is great as it minimizes any kind of fingerprint smudges.
The Galaxy s21 Ultra comes with the option of a 120Hz display refresh rate while iPhone is still stuck at 60Hz. Traditionally, iPhones have felt much smoother when we also had 60Hz on the Samsung phones. Now with 120Hz, the Galaxy phone feels much smoother than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. This doesn’t mean it’s a faster device, but it just feels smoother.
Overall, when it comes to the frontal design and the display specifications, the Galaxy s21 Ultra wins the game.
S-Pen Support
I am not a Galaxy Note fan, but when I first heard that S-pen support was coming to Samsung’s S-Galaxy series, I was pretty intrigued. The S-pen functionality is a powerful little tool that brings all kinds of functionality to the Galaxy s21 Ultra that the iPhone simply cannot match.
The S-pen gives you realistic handwriting, taking notes, and sketching experience where you can easily draw if you have the skills right on your Galaxy s21 Ultra. But I think you may have to wait for the S-pen Pro that Samsung announced early this year so as the get close to the Galaxy Note experience with the s21.
When you go to your phone’s Settings -> Advanced Features-> S pen you will find all kinds of ways to customize, modify and personalize the pen experience to your needs. There is no Stylus support on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, we have a similar Apple Pencil functionality on the iPad. So we know Apple thinks about these things but we don’t have Apple Pencil support on the iPhone. This is another category where the Galaxy s21 Ultra now destroys the 12 Pro Max.
DeX
This simply brings value to your purchase. This is the Samsung Desktop experience (DeX) functionality. What DeX allows you to project your phone wirelessly or with a wire onto a High-Definition TV or a computer basically transforming the phone into a PC-like environment for maximum productivity.
Reverse Wireless Charging
Pioneered by Huawei in the Mate 20 Pro back in 2018, reverse wireless charging has become a norm in the Android world. This is a feature that simply doesn’t exist on the iPhone. You can charge your wireless earbuds, iPods, Android, and iPhones at the back of the Samsung phone which acts as a wireless power bank. With a 5,000 mAh battery capacity onboard the Galaxy s21 Ultra– it’s practically begging to be a power bank using the wireless power share feature.
Customization
To be fair this is one of the biggest reasons why I prefer Android to iPhones, I find iPhones boring with no room to switch up things. With iOS 14 however, Apple introduced widgets that you can add to your screen to pimp up its customization efforts but they only take you so far.
Samsung has full support for Always On Display (this is a feature on Apple Watches now), Dynamic Wallpaper options and Themes. You can download more options on the Samsung store or even customize your very own. The iPhone is however limited on this options even with their powerful A series Bionic processor.
