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- Battle in titanium: will Samsung's flagship be able to compete with the iPhone 16 in Russian Federation
Battle in titanium: will Samsung's flagship be able to compete with the iPhone 16 in Russian Federation
"Izvestia was among the first in Russia to test Samsung's Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra models and found that the new products have a lot in common with their direct competitors - the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max smartphones. Starting from titanium cases and ending with an emphasis on AI-functions, but unlike the "apple" gadgets Russian users are available almost all the functions of the devices of the South Korean manufacturer. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Galaxy S25 vs. iPhone 16
The cost of Galaxy S25 Ultra devices starts at 159,990 rubles for the variant with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory and reaches 209,990 rubles for the variant with 12 GB of RAM and 1 TB of internal memory. The price for the iPhone 16 Pro Max for the variant with 256 GB of internal memory starts from 149 990 rubles and reaches 214 990 rubles for the variant with 1 TB. In other words, the devices are in the same cost range.
The South Korean manufacturer's gadgets win in many key specifications: 12 GB of RAM versus 8 GB in the iPhone, two telephoto lenses in the Galaxy S25 Ultra (50 MP with 5x zoom and 10 MP with 3x zoom) versus one in the 16 Pro Max (12 MP, 5x zoom). There's a stylus, a larger battery (5,000 mAh vs. 4,685 mAh), and 45W charging. In a direct comparison, it turns out that the Galaxy S25 Ultra has better performance, a more powerful camera, more AI tools for working with images.
As Izvestia previously wrote, in iPhone 16 Pro Max, 16 important smartphone features, including important built-in Apple services, are not available to Russians. At the same time, Samsung's only AI-based voice assistant Gemini does not work in Russia. Otherwise, domestic users get a workable product, as they call it, "out of the box" and with support for the important Samsung Health application for health monitoring.
According to the leading analyst of Mobile Research Group Eldar Murtazin, in reality there is no competition between the two brands. The expert notes that the devices are different, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is on average more expensive, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra is cheaper. At the same time, the price also depends on where to buy and how. According to his data, last year's model Galaxy S24 Ultra is sold in Russia in greater volume than a direct competitor in the form of iPhone 15/16 Pro Max models. Their market share is noticeably different, he believes.
- The Galaxy line has been the key seller in Russia for many years, it dominates the market. Of the closest competitors only Huawei, and Apple is in reality lagging far behind. Flagships like the Galaxy S25 Ultra set the tone and, in fact, formalize the price cut-off for all Chinese manufacturers. Most likely, sales of all three models of Galaxy S24 will grow in our country now: basic, Plus and Ultra, - believes the expert.
Apple has long become a "people's" brand, unlike its South Korean competitor, believes Denis Kuskov, General Director of TelecomDaily. He is convinced that the main advantage of the "apple" company in Russia remains the army of fans, and even despite the sanctions, they wait and buy new models from year to year, ignoring the objective shortcomings and lag in "hardware".
- To be fair, I note that new Galaxy models are also awaited, and technically they are competitors of the iPhone. In terms of purchases, the confrontation is serious, but, as I think, in Russia, Samsung has no favoritism, so I'm not sure that in the battle between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra the winner will be the latter, - said the expert.
Whether Galaxy S25 will be popular in Russia
S25 Ultra is the best Android smartphone in terms of video shooting quality, especially at different focal lengths (Samsung is superior to Chinese competitors in this parameter), but loses the quality of photo shooting, said Evgeny Kharitonov, editor-in-chief of Ferra.ru.
- Surprised by the fact that Samsung not only did not install in the new silicon-carbon batteries (with them capacity could be increased from 5000 to 6200 mAh with the same dimensions of the smartphone), unlike Chinese competitors, but even for the sake of variety did not set in the S25 Ultra 5200-5300 mAh. And now Samsung in addition - it is also the worst "full-size" flagship smartphone in 2025 in terms of battery life. Even with software tricks, Samsung won't be able to catch up with its PRC rivals, for whom 5700 mAh in this year's flagships is the starting point. This is perhaps the main disappointment that may drive away many fans indifferent to the presence of a stylus, - believes the expert.
Samsung looks much more favorable for the Russian-speaking audience, including due to the availability of all services and applications, says Eldar Murtazin.
- Fans of the stylus and quality Android products will buy the novelty, although Samsung and "dons" the cameras of its best smartphone since the S23 Ultra, they began to lag behind competitors in photo quality only at the end of 2024. In addition, the brand by old tradition radically updates the cameras only after three generations of smartphones. As you know, the S20 Ultra, S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra also almost did not differ in terms of camera set and evolved due to post-processing in new processors, - said Evgeny Kharitonov.
The expert believes that the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus will suit the audience of smartphone lovers, the closest to the standard iPhone 16 in size. According to him, users are willing to put up with outdated technical specifications for the sake of it.
The novelty was provided to Izvestia for testing by the network of Samsung Galaxystore branded stores, part of the Inventive Retail Group. Also pre-order among the first retailers such as M.Video-Eldorado, Citilink, MTS and Yandex Market. Galaxystore will start selling the gadgets on February 4.
