Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 16 or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 3,561 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Which should you buy?

Pick the Apple iPhone 16 for

Faster wireless charging: 25 W vs 15 W
Lighter: 170 g vs 233 g (63 g less)
Thinner: 7.8 mm vs 8.6 mm
More compact: 14.7 mm shorter
Newer: launched September 2024

Pick the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for

Bigger battery: 5,000 vs 3,561 mAh (40% more)
Bigger screen: 6.8" vs 6.1"
Smoother display: 120 Hz vs 60 Hz
Brighter display: 2,600 vs 2,000 nits peak
Higher-resolution main camera: 200 MP vs 48 MP
Optical zoom (5×), which the other lacks
More RAM: up to 12 GB vs 8 GB
More storage: up to 1 TB vs 512 GB

Size comparison

The Apple iPhone 16 is 14.7 mm shorter, 7.4 mm narrower, 0.8 mm thinner and 63 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.7" smaller.

Apple iPhone 16147.6 × 71.6 × 7.8 mm
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm

Specs side by side

Launch	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Announced	September 9, 20241	January 17, 20241
Released	September 20, 20241	January 31, 20241
Launch price	$799	—

Body	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	147.6 × 71.6 × 7.8 mm	162.3 × 79 × 8.6 mm
Thickness	7.8 mm (better)	8.6 mm
Weight	170 g (better)	233 g
Frame	Aluminum	—
Back	Color-infused glass	—
Water resistance	IP68	IP68
Colours	Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine	Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow, Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, Titanium Orange1

Display	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Size	6.1"	6.8"
Type	Super Retina XDR OLED	Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Resolution	1179 × 2556	1440 × 3120 (better)
Refresh rate	60 Hz	120 Hz (better)
Peak brightness	2,000 nits	2,600 nits (better)
Protection	Ceramic Shield	Corning Gorilla Glass Armor1

Performance and software	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Chipset	A18	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
CPU	6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores	Octa-core (1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520)
Process	—	4 nm
Ships with	iOS	Android 14 (One UI 6.1)
OS updates	—	7 years (to Jan 2031)1
Security updates	—	7 years (to Jan 2031)1

Memory	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
RAM	8 GB1	12 GB (better)
Storage	128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB	256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB (better)
Card slot	No	—

Cameras	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Rear	48 MP Main, OIS 12 MP Ultrawide	200 MP Main, OIS 50 MP Periscope telephoto (5× optical), OIS 10 MP Telephoto (3× optical), OIS 12 MP Ultrawide
Main camera	48 MP	200 MP (better)
Optical zoom	None	5× (better)
Front	12 MP	12 MP
Video	4K Dolby Vision at 60 fps	8K@24/30fps1

Battery	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Capacity	3,561 mAh1	5,000 mAh (better)
Wired charging	—	45 W1
Wireless charging	25 W (better)	15 W1
Reverse wireless	—	Yes1

Connectivity	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
5G	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2x2 MIMO	Wi-Fi 71
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
NFC	Yes	Yes1
USB	USB-C, USB 2 (up to 480Mb/s)	USB-C 3.2 (5Gbps)
Headphone jack	No1	No1
eSIM	Yes	Yes
Satellite messaging	Yes	—

Features	Apple iPhone 16	Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Fingerprint	None (Face ID)1	Ultrasonic under-display1
Stereo speakers	Yes	Yes
Stylus	—	Yes1

Highlighted: the better value where one is clearly better. Sources for each phone are listed on the Apple iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra pages.

Quick answers

Is the Apple iPhone 16 bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Apple iPhone 16 is 14.7 mm shorter, 7.4 mm narrower, 0.8 mm thinner and 63 g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its screen is 0.7" smaller.
Which has the bigger battery, the Apple iPhone 16 or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra?: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the bigger battery: 5,000 mAh against 3,561 mAh. Real battery life also depends on the chip and screen.