Android versus iPhone is an unwinnable debate that’s been going on for nearly as long as smartphones have existed. But probably for as long as I’ve been involved in trying out many of the best phones, Apple and its iPhones have consistently won in one particular area: video.
Sure, the best Samsung phones and the best Google Pixel phones have offered more video options and higher capture resolutions for longer than respective iPhones, but I’ve always found Apple’s phone captures and produces the best videos. Not every recording is perfect, but the ease of use and the consistent quality of the videos at the end means I’ll always go for an iPhone over an Android phone for video capture.
However, as I’ve now been using iPhones as my main mobile device for some three years, with me currently sporting the iPhone 16 Pro Max, perhaps I have a bit of latent bias. So, enter a quick and neat comparison between the iPhone 16 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Showdown in paradise
With a degree of fortuity and a dose of envy from me, Phones Editor Axel Metz and Senior Phones Editor Philip Berne went to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii and had the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra to hand.
Cue a visit to the beach and a rather slick video that takes in the view on both phones; check out the TikTok video below.
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♬ Way down We Go – KALEO
Now, with the caveat that this is a quick video and you won’t get a full-fidelity recording on TikTok, I think I’ll have to give the win to the iPhone 16 Pro here.
First off, the footage is smoother with the Apple phone, though this could be down to the file output and how the TikTok video was stitched together. Yet, it does track with my experience comparing video recoding between iPhones and Android smartphones.
Secondly, I feel the iPhone handles colors with more finesse. The sea, grass, trees, and sky look more natural in tone, whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra has that classic Samsung oversaturation.
I also reckon the Galaxy S24 Ultra overly evens out the contrast in the video, with highlights reigned in and shadows brightened up to perhaps an unnatural degree. This is something I’ve found to blight both recent iPhones and Galaxy phones, but at least on the video side, Apple still allows sunlight to have some punch and darker areas to have some depth.
Now, such video tastes are subjective, and with the gap between flagship phone camera quality having narrowed significantly, what you prefer might differ from mine. But we now have a comment section on TechRadar, so head down to it and let me know which you prefer out of the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra and if there are any unsung phones that have great video capture chops.
It’s also worth noting that we now have the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and in Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff’s Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review, he was impressed with the phone’s cameras and the device overall.
But in a quick comparison video between the Galaxy S25 Ultra I have on hand and my iPhone 16 Pro Max, I still feel the iPhone has the edge in colors, contrast, and handling dynamic white balance. My phone-centric colleagues and I will need to test this and the Galaxy S25 Ultra further as we consider their place on our best camera phones list.
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