Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra / Apple iPhone 16e

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: 12 GB RAM · 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB · global 5G version

Apple iPhone 16e: iPhone 16e (A3212); 128, 256 or 512 GB; matte black and white. Physical SIM support varies by country; the US model uses eSIM only. The 2026 iPhone 17e is a separate model.

SpecificationSamsung Galaxy S25 UltraApple iPhone 16e
Release year20252025
Announcement23 January 2025 (Seoul time), Galaxy Unpacked

The Samsung Newsroom release is dated 23 January Korea time; the event was 22 January in US time.

Samsung		—
Memory and storage12 GB RAM; 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB

Samsung notes memory options may vary by market and usable storage is lower because of preloaded software. There is no card slot.

Samsung		—
ProcessorSnapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3 nm)

Samsung quotes 40% NPU, 37% CPU and 30% GPU gains over the previous generation. This version is tuned for Galaxy with higher clocks than the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Samsung		—
CoolingVapor chamber 40% larger than before; new thermal interface material (TIM)

The vapor chamber spreads heat from the chip into the body, helping clocks hold longer in extended gaming.

Samsung		—
Display6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X; 1–120 Hz adaptive refresh; Vision Booster

The viewable area is smaller than the diagonal because of rounded corners and the camera hole. Refresh that drops to 1 Hz saves power on static content; Vision Booster adjusts tone mapping in bright light.

Samsung		6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED; 2532 × 1170, 460 ppi

Typical maximum brightness is 800 nits and HDR peak 1,200 nits; 2,000,000:1 contrast, P3 wide colour and True Tone. Apple does not list Dynamic Island or ProMotion for this model.

Apple
Front coverCorning Gorilla Armor 2 anti-reflective glass ceramic

Used on the front only. Corning says it survived drops of up to 2.2 m onto a concrete-like surface in internal lab tests; this is not a durability guarantee for any given phone.

Samsung		—
FrameTitanium

Titanium is used only on the frame, excluding the volume and side keys.

Samsung		—
Rear cameras200 MP wide f/1.7 OIS (85°); 50 MP ultra-wide f/1.9 (120°); 50 MP 5× telephoto f/3.4 OIS (22°); 10 MP 3× telephoto f/2.4 OIS (36°)

Per Samsung, 3× and 5× are optical; 2× and 10× are “optical quality” zoom made by sensor cropping. OIS is optical image stabilisation.

Samsung		—
Front camera12 MP f/2.2 (80°) Samsung12MP TrueDepth, ƒ/1.9, autofocus; Face ID Apple
Video10-bit HDR recording by default; Galaxy Log

Log records a flat profile for colour grading; results depend on the editing workflow. Audio Eraser can reduce layers such as voices, music, wind and crowd separately in videos.

Samsung		4K at 24/25/30/60 fps Dolby Vision; 1080p slo-mo at 120/240 fps; 4K 60 fps on the front camera

The rear camera offers optical and cinematic stabilisation for video, spatial audio recording and wind noise reduction.

Apple
Battery and charging5,000 mAh typical (4,855 mAh rated); 45 W wired, about 65% in 30 minutes; Fast Wireless Charging 2.0; Wireless PowerShare

The 45 W adapter is sold separately. Samsung quotes up to 31 hours of video playback. Wireless PowerShare charges earbuds or a watch from the back of the phone.

Samsung		Up to 26 hours of video playback; 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W or higher adapter; Qi wireless charging; built-in lithium-ion

Up to 21 hours of streamed video and 90 hours of audio playback. Apple does not list MagSafe or Qi2. No power adapter is in the box, only a 1 m USB-C cable.

Apple
SoftwareLaunched with Android 15 and One UI 7; seven OS generations and seven years of security updates

According to Android Central’s one-year report, the phone received One UI 8 (Android 16) ahead of schedule.

Samsung		—
Connectivity5G, LTE; Wi-Fi 7; Bluetooth 5.4

5G/LTE availability depends on market and carrier.

Samsung		—
DurabilityIP68; up to 1.5 m of fresh water for 30 minutes (lab conditions)

Water resistance is not permanent and may diminish over time.

Samsung		IP68 under IEC 60529 (up to 6 metres for 30 minutes)

Apple says resistance may decrease over time and liquid damage is not covered by warranty.

Apple
Size and weight162.8 × 77.6 × 8.2 mm; 218 g Samsung146.7 × 71.5 × 7.80 mm; 167 g Apple
ColoursTitanium Silverblue, Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver, Titanium Gray; Samsung.com exclusives Titanium Jetblack, Jadegreen, Pinkgold

Colour availability varies by country and carrier.

Samsung		—
Chip—A18; 6-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency), 4-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

The A18 in the iPhone 16 has a 5-core GPU; the 16e has one GPU core fewer. The GPU supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Apple
Cellular modem—Apple C1; 5G (sub-6 GHz, 4×4 MIMO), Gigabit LTE (4×4 MIMO)

The C1 is the first Apple-designed modem used in an iPhone. mmWave 5G is not supported; that band is used only in some countries for very high short-range speeds.

Apple
Design and glass—Aluminium enclosure, Ceramic Shield front, glass back Apple
Storage—128, 256 or 512 GB Apple
Rear camera—48MP Fusion main camera (26 mm, ƒ/1.6, optical image stabilisation); 12MP 2x telephoto (52 mm) from the same sensor

Apple lists the 2x telephoto as a mode the main camera “also enables”; there is no separate lens. Digital zoom up to 10x. There is no ultra-wide or macro camera.

Apple
Port—USB-C; USB 2 (up to 480 Mb/s)

Moving large video files over a cable is slower than on Pro models with USB 3.

Apple
Wireless—Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, 2×2 MIMO); Bluetooth 5.3; NFC with reader mode

Emergency SOS, Messages and Find My via satellite are supported; availability depends on the country.

Apple
SIM—Dual eSIM (two active lines at once)

Models sold outside the US also have a physical SIM tray.

Apple
Action button—Can be set to Silent mode, camera, flashlight, Visual Intelligence, a shortcut and other functions Apple