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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra outperforms iPhone 16 Pro Max in a GPU-intensive benchmark with around 36% lead

It seems that the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy pulled through in the benchmark (Image source: Samsung - edited)
It seems that the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy pulled through in the benchmark (Image source: Samsung - edited)
In a new 3DMark Steel Nomad Light test, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has been shown to beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy inside the flagship phone had a 36% lead over the Apple A18 Pro.

At the launch of the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung touted the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy's capability to offer enhanced gaming performance. While the company didn't talk about numbers, now that the flagship phones are official, we're seeing a good number of new benchmark tests pop out.

One of them puts the Galaxy S25 Ultra against the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark. In case you're unaware, this benchmark puts the GPU through non-raytraced workloads, and it's generally regarded as a good reference point to determine how capable a smartphone is in terms of handling rasterization loads.

Getting back to the benchmark comparison, as the image shared by @Techinfosocials on X shares, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy has around 36% lead over the Apple A18 Pro. To be specific, the S25 Ultra secured a score of 2,617, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max got 1,922 points.

As for the average FPS, the Galaxy S25 Ultra had an average frame rate of 19.39 FPS in that specific run, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max had 14.2 FPS. It also seems that the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite is giving the Samsung flagship a little edge over the other phones that feature the regular version of the SoC.

For example, the Xiaomi 15 with the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite gets around 2,530 points, with the average FPS staying at about 18.74. Of course, the improved cooling system inside the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may also have played its part in this specific benchmark comparison.

It's worth noting that the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light doesn't stress the CPU at all. However, this benchmark comparison suggests that the Galaxy S25 Ultra might just be a better pick for mobile gaming (pre-order on Amazon and get a $200 gift card for free).

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2025 01 > Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra outperforms iPhone 16 Pro Max in a GPU-intensive benchmark with around 36% lead
Abid Ahsan Shanto, 2025-01-26 (Update: 2025-01-26)