Galaxy S23 Ultra beats iPhone 14 Pro Max in drop test

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung‘s best smartphone offering right now. It’s no wonder everyone wants to see how it stacks up against Apple’s best, the iPhone 14 Pro Max. We have already compared the two phones in detail. But while we talked about their specs, features, cameras, battery life, and performance, a YouTube channel recently pitted the latest iPhone against the latest Galaxy in a drop test to see which is stronger.

We have already seen that the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s curved design makes it more susceptible to damage when dropped onto rough surfaces. So the iPhone 14 Pro Max already has one up on it thanks to a flat design. The latter’s stainless steel frame is also often regarded to be stronger than Samsung’s Armor Aluminum frame.

The new Galaxy, meanwhile, has an advantage over the iPhone when it comes to the front and back glass. It uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which the firm claims to be the strongest glass panel yet. All this said, let’s dive into the drop test and find out which phone comes out less scathed.

Round one of the test saw both phones dropped flat on their backs. And guess what, the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 held up pretty strong. While the iPhone’s back was shattered, the Samsung phone only suffered a few cracks around the corners. The rear panel was still in one piece. The iPhone 14 Pro Max even had its camera lens cracked.

The second round went in its favor, though. The phones were dropped such that their corners hit the concrete first. The iPhone’s stainless steel frame absorbed the shock pretty well. Its rounded corner seemingly came to its rescue. The Galaxy handset wasn’t helped by its boxy design with sharp corners.

Galaxy S23 Ultra is stronger than iPhone 14 Pro Max

The YouTuber goes on to drop the phones with their screens facing down. Both handsets suffered similar damages but the cracks were bigger on the Galaxy S23 Ultra than on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

They continued to work fine though, with no damage to the former’s ultrasonic fingerprint scanner and the latter’s Face ID. The final round involved a drop on the screen again, but from a greater height and onto the metal instead of concrete.

A slo-mo replay of the drop shows chunks of glasses flying away from the handsets, more from the iPhone. While the damage on the screen didn’t worsen, the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s back was knackered.

We can see its internal layer. The broken glass also started causing light flares on the cameras. The Galaxy S23 Ultra showed no functional issues after the four rounds of drop tests. Overall, the Samsung phone beat the latest iPhone 38-36. You can watch the full test below.