Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: reviewed

Motorola made the clamshell design popular when it came out in the mid-1990s, but Samsung has set the standard for what a clamshell foldable smartphone should look like and be able to do in the smartphone age. In just three short years, the Galaxy Z Flip line has established itself as one of the best foldables. In that time, we’ve seen both the form factor and Samsung’s approach to it change quickly. This year’s Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 brings some long-overdue improvements to a field where Samsung used to be the only player.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max to power users. Well, based on my tests, it has the best photos of any phone, a new display that stays on all the time, and a smart feature called “Dynamic Island” that replaces the notch with a smaller area that shows alerts and live activities on the fly. I also had a lot of fun taking videos with the camera’s new Action mode. There are other phones with a similar feature, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s high-quality video and super-stable images make it feel like magic.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Comparison Table

Two of the most expected smartphones of 2023 are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Z Flip 5 is a foldable phone with a small 3.4-inch screen, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a big 6.7-inch screen and a high-end camera system.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Design and Build

If you’re familiar with the last two generations of Samsung’s signature clamshell, the Z Flip 5 looks a lot like them. It has a polished, color-matched (in most colorways) Armor Aluminum frame, tight corners, and a flat back, except for the two circular camera lenses that stick out of the top-left corner. On the last two models, the cameras were set up vertically, with the ultra-wide camera under the main camera. On the Flip 5, however, the cameras are now set up horizontally to make room for the much larger cover display.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max to write this review. The first is that the notch has been changed with a pill-shaped cutout (more on the Dynamic Island below), and the second is that the camera bump is even bigger. On the back of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, all three camera lenses and the flash are bigger, so this area takes up a lot of space. This phone is also a little bit heavier and bigger than the one that came before it: The iPhone 14 Pro Max is 6.33 by 3.05 by 0.31 inches and weighs 8.47 ounces. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is 6.33 by 3.07 by 0.3 inches and weighs 8.46 ounces.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Display

Unlike Motorola, a major competitor, Samsung hasn’t increased the size of the cover display on its recent clamshells between versions. The two models before the Flip 5 both topped out at 1.9 inches. This year, though, it’s finally chosen to make the change and put pixels on most of the upper half of the back of the phone. This makes the screen size almost 80% bigger. This means that the “Flex Window,” as Samsung calls it, now has a lot more features. It now has a variety of clocks, a calendar, and timers, as well as support for third-party apps like Spotify and Google Stocks, which is likely to keep growing beyond the 13 apps that were available at launch.

Sure, the features are the same: a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with LTPO technology, a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10, and Dolby Vision. But the main difference here is probably something you’ve heard a lot about. The Dynamic Island has a pill-shaped hole in place of the notch. We’ll talk about how useful this element’s interaction is. When it comes to the display, it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that it’s a stunner with great brightness and accurate colors. When you watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, the green of the AFC Richmond pitch and the contrast-rich depth of darker scenes show off the wide range of colors.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Cameras

There are three cameras built into the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The external display has two cameras: a 12MP ultra-wide sensor with a 123-degree field of view and a 12MP wide-angle shooter with optical image stabilization and a smaller field of view. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 also has these same cameras. The back cameras can record up to 4K video at 60 frames per second. The camera on the inside screen has a 10MP sensor and can record up to 4K video at 30fps. The Fold 5 also has the same cameras as the Fold 4, but the main camera has a 50MP lens and a 10MP telephoto camera has been added.

Apple’s cameras have been great, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max makes things even better. Since the iPhone 6s, Apple has only used 12MP camera sensors, but the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have a brand-new 48MP main camera with an f/1.78 lens and sensor-shift optical image stabilization. The 48MP main camera can also be used as a 2x optical zoom lens by taking advantage of the sensor’s higher resolution. In addition to the main camera, there is a 12MP macro camera that can zoom 3x and a 12MP ultrawide camera that can see 120 degrees.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Software

The cover screen was the only thing that was changed about Samsung’s OneUI on the Z Flip 5. Of course, Flex Mode and FlexCam are still there. When the phone is folded in half, apps like YouTube work better because of Flex Mode and FlexCam. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 works because it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. I liked how smooth it was to move around the interface, which may have been because the main screen updated at 120Hz. When I used the phone, everything I did felt quick, so I’m sure it will have no trouble running games with a lot of graphics.

iOS 16 is preinstalled on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The most recent version of the operating system features largely improvements to the quality of life, but it also introduces a very unique lock screen customization that enables you to modify the appearance of your lock screen as well as the functioning of your lock screen by using lock screen widgets. The vast majority of these modifications were implemented with the functionality of the Always-On display in mind. It should come as no surprise that iOS 16 incorporates Dynamic Island’s usefulness in its entirety.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Performance

The Z Fold 5 has 12GB of RAM, which is likely to back up Samsung’s focus on that phone as a device for work and multitasking. The Flip 5, on the other hand, has 8GB of RAM, no matter how much storage it has. In order to improve performance all around, the phone has the latest LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset that was first seen in the S23 series. Together, these features promise faster performance and better power efficiency, which is especially important for a phone with a small battery like the Z Flip 5.

Not only does the Flip 5 have better memory and storage than its main competitors, but its top-tier Snapdragon chipset also gives it more room to grow. This makes it the only clamshell folding phone that can compete with it right now. In multi-core Geekbench 6 scores, it was 11% better than the Z Flip 4 (which was powered by a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1), 11% better than the Oppo Find N2 Flip’s Dimensity 9000 Plus scores (in performance mode), and 11% better than the newest competitor.

When it comes to performance, the iPhone is almost never criticized negatively. That is true once again with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which comes as no surprise to anyone. The A16 Bionic chip is included in Apple’s newest iPhone models, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. When compared to the architecture of the A15, which was 5nm, the A16’s design is smaller at 4nm, which enables it to be both quicker and more power efficient than the previous generation.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: Battery Life

The Flip 5 seems to have the same battery as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, except for the main screen and camera sensors. It’s a 3,700mAh cell that can charge quickly with up to 25W over a wire. Even though that seems bad at first, you have to give Samsung credit for making its latest clamshell foldable 2mm thinner without lowering the battery size, which is usually one of the first things to go when the size of a device changes from one generation to the next.

With a 4,352mAh battery, the iPhone 13 Pro Max from last year impressed us with how long it could last. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a slightly smaller 4,323mAh battery, which is a bit of a surprise. But the gains in speed from the new A16 Bionic processor more than make up for this. In our video streaming test, the iPhone 14 Pro Max lasted a solid 19 hours, which is an improvement of 1 hour from last year.

Which is better?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both phones have a lot to offer, but there are some key differences between them. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 can be folded, but its screen is smaller than the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s. It also costs less and lasts longer on a single charge. The iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a faster engine, more RAM, and a better camera.

In the end, the best phone for you will depend on what you need and what you like. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is a great choice if you want a folding phone that looks good, doesn’t cost much, and has a long battery life. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the better choice if you want a phone with the best camera system and speed.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: The good and The bad

The cover screen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is significantly larger than the one on its predecessor, measuring in at 3.4 inches.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: The good and The bad

The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is the greatest iPhone in terms of overall performance, and it is available only through Apple.

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