One of the biggest surprises in the smartphone performance discussion for this year will be the Galaxy S25 Ultra comprehensively beating Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max in the latest speed test. What is impressive about the latest run is that Samsung’s top-end smartphone accomplished this while maintaining a pretty solid lead against its nemesis.
There was one instance where the Galaxy S25 Ultra was ahead of the iPhone 17 Pro Max by three apps, which was the deciding factor in the speed test
After performing successive drop tests to test the two flagships’ durability, which PhoneBuff concluded as a tie, the YouTube channel is back with a speed test that pits the iPhone 17 Pro Max against its closest rival in the smartphone space, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, at least until the Galaxy S26 Ultra arrives early next year.
Now, the majority of readers might believe that because Samsung’s best phone in its lineup is outdated as it is outfitted with the Snapdragon 8 Elite instead of the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it will immediately be slower than the iPhone 17 Pro Max and its A19 Pro, but here is the reality. The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s software has had plenty of time to be polished and optimized to fire up apps much faster, and we witness that in the latest speed test.
In fact, what is puzzling to us is that the iPhone 17 Pro Max is trailing behind the Galaxy S25 Ultra by three apps, and also takes much longer in the video export test, where historically, Apple’s devices have mounted their comebacks. Our guess is that iOS 26 needs a ton of work, starting with iOS 26.1 beta 1, which was made available to developers on September 22.
As for the first lap, the iPhone 17 Pro Max finishes 14 seconds after the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the situation does not improve in the second lap either, as Samsung’s flagship maintains its lead and finishes the speed test with a few seconds to spare.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
Lap 1 - 2 minutes 16 seconds (02:16.18)
Lap 2 - 47 seconds (00:47.51)
Galaxy S25 Ultra
Lap 1 - 2 minutes 2 seconds (02:02.59)
Lap 2 - 49 seconds (00:49.53)
No doubt that both the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra are incredibly powerful devices and will do the bidding for the average user just fine. What is important to take note of from this speed test is that software optimization is just as important as incorporating smartphones with the best-in-class specifications.
News Source: PhoneBuff
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
