Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus versus iPhone XS Max - a great comparison of top smartphones

New Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus or iPhone XS Max ? This question is probably asked by many people, considering the replacement of a smartphone and the answer to it, contrary to appearances, is not so simple.

If you want to learn more about top Apple and Samsung smartphones, I invite you to our full reviews:

• A long list of advantages and two disadvantages that I will not buy. Galaxy S10 Plus - review
• A great smartphone, but definitely not for everyone - iPhone XS Max - review

Here we will focus on what both smartphones connect and divide. Which aspects are their strengths and which are weaknesses. And we will try to answer the question - which one is worth buying?

"Taste is not discussed"

The Polish proverb does not make the slightest sense - of course, it's about tastes. I like the English equivalent much more: beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder . So no less, no more - everyone has the right to like something else.

With this lengthy introduction, I wanted to make it clear that not always the objectively more attractive must actually be more beautiful for a given recipient.

In this particular case, it's impossible to hide that the iPhone XS Max on the Galaxy S10 Plus looks like a product of a bygone era, especially at the front. The Galaxy screen is surrounded by thin frames, and the glass pane scatters only a small hole for the cameras. In the iPhone, the frames are much thicker, and topped with a huge indent in the screen at the top.

Galaxy S10 Plus also makes an electrifying impression with its curves on the glass, refracting the light with a casing and a slim frame. But I must admit that ... subjectively new Galaxy does not like me at all. And not just in the back, where the iPhone seems much more elegant, but even in the front. The timeless, symmetrical design of the iPhone XS Max speaks more to me. Even if it means watching the frames thicker by a millimeter each day and living in a slit in the screen.

Apparently, however, "the tastes are not discussed", so in this category I declare a tie.

You can not be more "premium" than the two

From the quality side of the performance there is no smartphone that can compete with the iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. The LG V40 is very close, but if we want to have the most "premium" equipment, we have to choose between the two.

Here again Galaxy S10 Plus, in theory, is the obvious winner. The finesse with which specific elements are connected is overwhelming. It's enough to look at the pristine place of connecting the glass curvatures with the aluminum frame.

And yet this iPhone XS Max makes a better impression after taking it in the palm of your hand. This is due to the simple fact that the iPhone seems to be just "more." The frame is much thicker, so the iPhone surely lies in the palm of your hand, there are no curvatures through which it might seem filigree, and also the iPhone XS Max is about 33 g heavier than the new Galaxy, which in this case is an advantage, not a disadvantage.

So Galaxy S10 Plus is more sophisticated, but the iPhone XS Max gives the impression of being more solid. Even if both are equally resistant to dust and water. And even if both of them easily break after falling onto concrete.

Interestingly, although the iPhone XS Max has a slightly larger screen (6.5 "versus 6.4"), it is slightly lower and thinner than the Galaxy S10 Plus.

Samsung measures 157.6 x 74.1 x 7.8 mm. iPhone while 157.5 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm. Like a fraction of a millimeter and one tenth of a difference, but I'm still impressed that, in spite of such an "archaic" design, the iPhone can confidently compete with the Galaxy S10 Plus.

In this category I also declare a tie.

You will not find another one with such a beautiful screen

This sentence can be attributed to both the Galaxy S10 Plus and the iPhone XS Max.

Although the iPhone looks indifferent to the old man, his screen does not get old. The AMOLED 6.5 "panel and the 2688 x 1242 px resolution are simply beautiful, and the picture is like a sticker. The True Tone mode is also amazing, which dynamically adjusts the color temperature of the display to the color temperature of the room and you must also mention 3D Touch , which adds another layer of interaction with the interface through a stronger press of the screen.

Galaxy S10 Plus is a class in itself. Display Mate deservedly awarded him the title of the best smartphone display , because Samsung's level of sophistication has come to perfection here as much as only modern technology allows. The 6.4-inch 3040 x 1440 display makes an electrifying impression. And unlike Samsungs from the past, it is no longer artificially "colorful", but reproduces natural colors with the highest precision on the market.

In this category, the undisputed winner is the Galaxy S10 Plus.

It's time to say goodbye to the myth that the iPhone is faster than Android smartphones

For years it was a sacred truth - iPhones, despite much weaker specifications and twice smaller amounts of RAM, have always been working faster and smoother than top Android smartphones.

Already in 2018, however, it turned out that manufacturers of devices with Green Robot are able to make faster smartphones (see: OnePlus 6), but last year's Galaxy S9 Plus did not belong to them.

What else is Galaxy S10 Plus. From the speed of action, the new Samsung just rozjeżdża iPhone. Everything is faster here - applications load instantly, which is due to 8 GB of RAM and "Bixby Routines", which is an artificial intelligence that remembers which applications we use at a given time of the day and keeps them cached.

I have no doubt, however, that in the synthetic benchmarks the processor of the XS Max iPhone, A12 Bionic, would spread on Exynos 9820 blades. Apple fans will surely rely on the results of this type of tests, but in everyday use they mean nothing - Galaxy S10 is simply faster, and 4 GB of RAM in the XS Max iPhone is not enough to meet the challenges of modern programs and games.

The iPhone tries to make up for the lack of speed with apparent liquidity. This is what Apple needs to give away - animations and charging screens in iPhones give the impression of being smooth and pampered, while in Galaxy they can "crunch" and cut for a moment.

However, there is no escape from the fact that in this challenge the Galaxy S10 Plus is an unquestionable winner.

Photographing Galaxy S10 Plus and iPhone XS Max go head to head

A touch of facts: the iPhone XS Max has a double camera at the back with a resolution of 12 Mpix and brightness f / 1.8 for wide-angle lens and f / 2.4 for a telephoto lens. In the front, we will take pictures with a 7 megapixel camera with a brightness of f / 2.2.

Galaxy S10 Plus offers a much better specification. We have three sensors here:

• Main with a resolution of 12 Mpix and variable iris f / 1.5 or f / 2.4
• Ultra-wide-angle with a resolution of 16 Mpix and aperture f / 2.2
• Tele with a resolution of 12 Mpix and aperture f / 2.4

On the front, we find two sensors: 10 megapixels with brightness f / 1.9 and 8 megapixels with a brightness of f / 2.2, which, however, is not used for taking pictures, but for downloading depth data.

On paper Galaxy S10 Plus wins by knockout. In practice ... the differences between the two are marginal, and the final choice comes down to personal preferences.

Depending on the scene, you can prefer one or the other. From the technical side, the photos from both present a similar level. Of course, Galaxy S10 Plus wins universality - where the iPhone will offer only two points of view, there Galaxy has to offer three.

Galaxy S10 Plus also has an advantage in the form of speed - the camera is easier to turn on by fast, double pressing the power button, and also the sharpness and processing of photos is faster in Samsung than in the iPhone.

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

Personally, in any case, I prefer photos from the iPhone, mainly due to a better selection of white balance and better color reproduction. It can not be concealed, however, that when it comes to the tonal range, Galaxy is the obvious winner.

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

There are even situations in which the iPhone is completely lost and x-ray the scene, wanting to keep details in the shadows. Galaxy, in turn, always chooses parameters for controlling the X-rays.

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

The iPhone also outclasses Galaxy in terms of the quality of portrait mode. Simulation of "bokehu" in the iPhone is more advanced, and thus more similar to the real background blur. For this iPhone uses telephoto in portrait mode, not a wide angle lens, which translates into additional, natural background compression.

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

At night, both smartphones take equally average photos. None of them grows to the heels of Huawei Mate 20 Pro or Pixel 3 XL, but they are also not bad. The direct comparison shows that Galaxy draws a bit more details from the shadows after dark, and the iPhone marginally controls the x-rays better, but it's nuances.

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

In terms of the front webcam, the winner is fortunately obvious. Galaxy S10 Plus offers a much wider viewing angle (in both modes), more details and better in high contrast scenes. Though, if I'm honest, I like the color reproduction of Apple's smartphone much more ...

iPhone XS Max:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

Objectively, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus wins in this fight.

Subjectively ... I think I prefer the results from the iPhone XS Max, especially from the telephoto lens, which in Galaxy is evidently "on the attachment". The iPhone does not have an ultra-wide angle for it, so ... who likes it.

Everyday life with the iPhone XS Max is very different from the everyday life of the Galaxy S10 Plus.

Samsung can do more. You have to say it straight. If there is any feature in the world of mobile technology, the Galaxy S10 probably has it.

I deliberately did not move the software in a dedicated section, because the choice here is strictly to the preferences and needs. Android allows for infinite configurability, and also One UI superimposed on Android 9.0 in the new Galaxy presents itself really nice and there is no great need for change.

iPhone, while me, a longtime Android user, irritates with many shortcomings, which in the Green Robot are something obvious. It irritates with a static system of icons attached from the top. The iPhone also lacks the basics like the always-on display - a function that is present in the Galaxy.

However, it is impossible to remain silent about the fact that it is better applications for the iPhone. Even the same applications of the same services are more refined and nicer on Apple's hardware (with Instagram at the helm, which is so much better on the iPhone that you want to cry). iOS is also a surety when it comes to software updates and after-sales support. Galaxy S10 Plus ... well, as long as it will definitely be updated or two, their dates can not be predicted even by diviners.

Both smartphones perform very well every day, but both have their disabilities, which irritate.

In Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus the imperfection is the fingerprint reader under the screen, which is free, imprecise and it is very difficult to find it on a blanked screen. Alternatively, we can use face unlocking, which is not as secure as a fingerprint.

iPhone XS Max has only one biometric security, but it works perfectly. The second generation of Face ID unlocks the phone anytime, anywhere, regardless of the lighting conditions, regardless of whether I have a hood on my head or changed my hairstyle. And it is virtually impossible to deceive. For several weeks, using Face ID has never failed. The fingerprint scanner in the Galaxy S10 Plus failed almost every time.

I also used the XS Max iPhone much more nicely thanks to the lack of curvature of the screen. In the Galaxy S10 Plus curvature, all gestures at the edge of the screen require special attention and often repeated repetition.

The iPhone XS Max was unnervingly irritated with "kneeling" by lying on the table. The cut on the main camera protrudes no more than in the Galaxy, but it is placed on the edge, and thus when we touch the screen, while the smartphone lies on a flat surface, the whole moves. The Galaxy remains unmoved, because its indentation on the cameras is placed centrally.

Amazingly, the iPhone XS Max wiped the Galaxy S10 Plus in terms of working time.

Do not get it wrong, the Galaxy S10 Plus with its 4100 mAh can stand all day of intense work, and we can fully charge it in just over an hour (and the included charger).

The iPhone XS Max is fully charged for almost four hours, although it has a much smaller 3174 mAh battery (for pseudo-fast charging a dedicated charger is needed, costing a lot of money). Working time is also very similar to the Galaxy S10 Plus. For this time of waking - it's a completely different story.

If you leave the iPhone overnight with 70% after seven hours sleep, the energy meter will still indicate 70 percent. Well, maybe 69 percent if you are sleeping.

If you leave Galaxy S10 Plus overnight with 70% after seven hours sleep, the energy meter will indicate the top 65 percent. In my tests, it usually ended so that when I put the fully loaded Galaxy S10 Plus in the opposite end of the bedroom, without connecting, in the morning it had at least 8-12 percent. less energy. And this also translates into wear and tear during the day when the smartphone is unused.

For this reason, although the Galaxy S10 Plus has a larger battery, faster wired and wireless charging and reversed wireless charging, the iPhone XS Max is a smartphone that I would trust in a full day's work.

You can not choose wrong

Regardless of whether you decide on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus or the iPhone XS Max, you buy a great smartphone. Although it will be necessary for the iPhone to prepare more cash.

The cheapest version of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, with 128 GB of memory for data, costs 4399 PLN. Meanwhile, the cheapest iPhone XS Max with 64 GB of memory for data costs 5199 PLN.

The most expensive iPhone XS Max, with 512 GB of data memory, costs 6799 PLN. Not much more expensive, because for PLN 6999 you can have Galaxy S10 Plus with 1 TB (sic!) Of memory and ceramic backs.

For this reason, although both smartphones go head to head in a direct duel, the final victory must be given to Samsung.

Galaxy S10 Plus offers much more for a bit less money. And even if - in a subjective way - the iPhone XS Max was more pleasant to me, it is conceivable that in an objective comparison of features, the top Apple product is significantly different from the top Samsung.

That will at least stay until September, when Apple will present the new iPhone. For now - the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus remains a better way to spend money.

* The XS Max iPhone for comparison tests rented us an X-Kom store . Thank you for that.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus versus iPhone XS Max - a great comparison of top smartphones