iPhone 17 Pro Max compares processing speed and battery life with Galaxy S25 Ultra.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra are two of the most high-end smartphones on the market today. Which product offers faster processing and longer battery life?

Báo Dân trí•07/10/2025

When comparing flagship smartphones, a common question is which product offers faster processing speeds and longer battery life?

The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra are two of the most high-end smartphones on the market today, considered prime examples of the iOS and Android platforms. Both products boast top-of-the-line specifications in the premium segment.

While the Galaxy S25 Ultra is equipped with Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, specifically designed and optimized for the Galaxy S25 series, the iPhone 17 Pro Max features Apple's own A19 Pro chip, which Apple confidently claims is the most powerful mobile chip on the market today.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is considered to have a slightly better processor because it was released later, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip was launched last year. In addition, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with NVMe storage, which theoretically offers faster random data access speeds compared to the UFS 4.0 storage used in the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Processing Speed and Battery Life Comparison - 1

A detailed comparison of the specifications of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra (click on the image to view a larger size).

The iPhone 17 Pro Max also has an advantage in processing speed and battery life because it has a lower screen resolution than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, meaning it takes less time and consumes less battery power when processing graphics.

So, are those advantages enough to help the iPhone 17 Pro Max surpass the Galaxy S25 Ultra in processing speed and battery life tests? To find out, the YouTube channel PhoneBuff created two videos comparing the processing speed and battery life of the two products when running the same tasks.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Processing Speed Comparison

To ensure fairness in its test, PhoneBuff used two specialized robotic arms to simultaneously open the same applications on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Once an application is launched, the robotic arm will perform a few tasks within that application, then automatically return to the smartphone's home screen to launch the next application, and so on until it has run through 16 different applications in sequence, including e-commerce, camera, social media, games, and office applications…

After activating all 16 pre-set applications, PhoneBuff will calculate the total time it takes for both smartphones to run and process all these applications.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Processing Speed and Battery Life Comparison - 2

The Galaxy S25 Ultra (right) takes less time to launch all 16 apps compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max (left) (Screenshot from video).

Next, the robotic arm will begin reactivating the previously launched applications to test the multitasking processing speed on each product.

The final results showed that the Galaxy S25 Ultra needed 2 minutes and 2.59 seconds to launch all 16 apps the first time, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max needed 2 minutes and 16.18 seconds to do the same.

Notably, in round 2, the iPhone 17 Pro Max only needed 47.51 seconds to reopen all applications, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra took 49.53 seconds to do the same.

However, winning in round 2 was still not enough to help the iPhone 17 Pro Max surpass its competitor in processing speed. In the end, the Galaxy S25 Ultra beat its rival, needing only 2 minutes and 52.12 seconds to complete the test, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max needed 3 minutes and 3.69 seconds.

Comparing battery life between iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra

PhoneBuff continues its battery life tests to compare high-end smartphones. In this test, PhoneBuff added the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Google's flagship smartphone, to compare its battery life with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Of the three products compared, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has the largest battery, with a capacity of 5,200mAh. The iPhone 17 Pro Max used by PhoneBuff for the test is the eSIM version, with a battery capacity of 5,088mAh, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery.

All three products use processors built on a 3nm process, which theoretically should offer similar energy efficiency. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has an advantage due to its lower resolution, resulting in better battery life during operation.

To ensure a balanced comparison of battery life, all smartphone models were charged to 100%, with the screen resolution set to the highest level and a refresh rate of 120Hz.

The PhoneBuff channel then used a robotic arm to automatically activate the same functions and applications on these smartphone models.

First, PhoneBuff had the smartphones make a one-hour-long call, but with the screens off, just like when users make calls on their smartphones. After the call ended, the battery on the Galaxy S25 Ultra had dropped to 96%, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Pixel 10 Pro XL had dropped to 99% and 98%, respectively.

Next, these smartphones were used to send and receive messages continuously for one hour. As a result, the battery life on all the smartphones decreased by an additional 5%.

PhoneBuff then used the three smartphones for everyday user tasks such as checking email, browsing the web, accessing e-commerce apps, and social media, with each task lasting for one hour continuously.

After these processes, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery dropped to 77%, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro XL both had 73% battery life.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Processing Speed and Battery Life Comparison - 3

The Galaxy S25 Ultra (center) is the phone that consumes the least battery power when in standby mode (Screenshot from video).

After undergoing initial battery consumption tests, PhoneBuff will put these three smartphones into a 16-hour standby mode. After the standby time ends, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery consumption has dropped to 67% (a 10% loss), the Pixel 10 Pro XL's to 64% (a 9% loss), and the Galaxy S25 Ultra's to only 5%, down to 68%.

After an extended waiting period, PhoneBuff then had the three smartphones run YouTube, games, Google Maps, Spotify music, and Snapchat. Each application ran for one hour before switching to the next.

After running through the list of applications, the robotic arm will return to the home screen and reactivate the applications in the original order, until the battery on the smartphones is completely depleted and the devices shut down.

In the end, the Pixel 10 Pro XL was the first to shut down, with a total operating time of 26 hours and 45 minutes and a screen-on time (actual usage time) of 10 hours and 45 minutes. The Galaxy S25 Ultra was the next to "fail," with a total operating time of 27 hours and 50 minutes and a screen-on time of 11 hours and 50 minutes.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max won this test with a total battery life of 29 hours and 5 minutes and a screen-on time of 13 hours and 5 minutes, completely outperforming its competitors.

Comparing battery life between iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra (Video: PhoneBuff).

Of course, PhoneBuff 's tests are only for reference, because the processing speed and battery life of smartphones also depend on how users actually use them.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/iphone-17-pro-max-do-toc-do-xu-ly-va-thoi-luong-pin-voi-galaxy-s25-ultra-20251007025943019.htm