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Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max drop test winner may shock you

Published Mar 8th, 2023 2:50PM EST
Galaxy S23 Ultra in green.
Image: Samsung

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Whenever an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy face off against one another, the Apple smartphone typically comes out on top. There is a reason eight of 2022’s ten best-selling smartphones were of the iPhone variety. But despite Apple’s repeated dominance, Samsung does occasionally score a win over the Cupertino company. For example, in a recent drop test featuring the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S23 Ultra, the Galaxy took home the crown.

iPhone 14 Pro Max loses drop test

Earlier this week, YouTuber PhoneBuff shared a video of his latest drop test. At the beginning of the video, he compares the specifications of Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, noting that the Samsung phone has a notable advantage over the iPhone: Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back.

Is the “latest innovation in glass technology,” as Corning calls it, enough to make the Galaxy S23 Ultra more durable than the iPhone 14 Pro Max? Believe it or not, the answer is yes, as you’ll see in the drop test video from PhoneBuff below:

As usual, PhoneBuff dropped each phone four times: One back drop, one corner drop, and two face drops for good measure. Right off the bat, the S23 Ultra takes the lead with just a few small, noticeable cracks compared to the shattered back of the iPhone. Despite having curved edges, it suffered far less damage after the back drop than the iPhone.

Over the course of the next two drops, the iPhone actually caught back up, sustaining less damage than the Galaxy after being dropped on its corner and its screen. But then the Galaxy raced back ahead after both phones were dropped directly on a steel surface. Everything on the Galaxy S23 Ultra was still fully functional, but the same wasn’t true for the iPhone.

All in all, both phones performed well, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra managed to edge out the iPhone 14 Pro Max with a score of 38/40 to 36/40.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.