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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap, and these are probably the two best phones you can buy
00:04right now.
00:05But which one should you actually go for?
00:07Well, if we go by my Instagram poll from the other day, after two and a half thousand votes,
00:12it was exactly neck and neck.
00:15Which shows there's a lot of love for both, but it's also going to be hard to choose between
00:18them.
00:19So I've had them both in my pocket for the past month or so.
00:22I was using the Note 20 Ultra as my everyday phone, I'm trying to avoid the daily driver
00:27cliche there.
00:28But when the iPhone 12 Pro Max came out, I was pretty excited to try out the fancy camera
00:33setup with the larger sensor and that unique DSLR style kind of stabilization.
00:38Plus I just like the idea of a big iPhone with an extra long battery life.
00:42So I'm thinking this is it.
00:43I'm usually an Android user first, and then maybe carry an iPhone with me.
00:47But along with the awesome new M1 MacBooks, I thought it's time, I'm going to transition.
00:53And so here I am today with both phones in front of me having extensively tested and
00:56used them both, and I've gone back to the Note.
01:01I'll get to the specs and the side-by-side comparisons and all that proper review stuff
01:05in just a second.
01:06But to be honest with you, looking at the specs or just, you know, zooming in on some
01:09side-by-side photos to see how one handles a dynamic range in clouds or which one shoots
01:14more stable video, I think it's kind of missing the point.
01:18The experience of using the phones is just so different and unique and it's kind of like
01:22deciding which is best between a Windows laptop and a MacBook.
01:26Yes, there are hardware differences, although actually right now the M1 Mac is just blowing
01:30everything else out of the water.
01:31But for most people, including myself, it comes down to the experience, what you feel
01:35most comfortable with and which one offers more of those exclusive features that you
01:39actually use.
01:40For example, if I put the specs side-by-side, yes, the A14 chip in the iPhone is faster,
01:46but the 120Hz screen on the Note actually makes it feel faster to use.
01:50The 60Hz screen and relatively long, albeit lovely and smooth animations just felt like
01:55it was holding me back sometimes.
01:57The Note also has a much bigger battery, yet the iPhone lasts longer.
02:01I'll come to that in a second.
02:02And they both have triple camera setups, but with wildly different sensors and resolutions.
02:08And particular to the huge Pro Macs, I just don't think iPhones or iOS is that well-optimized
02:13for big screens.
02:15As I'm using it, there's lots of finger gymnastics going on where I have to reach the top of
02:18the screen to swipe down for the notification panel or the control center.
02:22On the Note, I can just swipe down from anywhere on the home screen to open it.
02:25And despite the size, there's still no option for split screen to have two apps side-by-side.
02:30Which is why personally, even though I am a power user and usually want the biggest
02:33phone you can get, I would actually pick the iPhone 12 over the 12 Pro Max.
02:39It just makes more sense.
02:41I know you are missing out on that slightly bigger sensor and that extra stabilization
02:44and the battery is not quite as good, but it's $100 cheaper and crucially, it's just
02:48a lot more comfortable to use.
02:51Of course, the Note is just as big, albeit a little bit taller and thinner than the iPhone.
02:55But I'd say the way at least Android is optimized, it just feels more comfortably big.
03:00Now at this point, you're probably thinking, oh stop whining you Android fanboy, just because
03:04you don't know how to use an iPhone doesn't make it bad.
03:07And you're right.
03:08But that's why I think the question of which is best is such a personal experiential question.
03:13I mean, the Note 20 Ultra also has its fair share of problems.
03:16For a start, this is actually £80 or $100 more expensive than the iPhone.
03:20It's also really frustrating how in the UK and several other countries, we get the kind
03:25of average Exynos 990 chip instead of the Snapdragon 865, which my North American friends
03:30get, which is a good deal faster and actually helps the phone last a couple of hours longer.
03:35To sell the exact same phone, but with two different chips and two different kinds of
03:39performance and battery life figures is a bit unforgivable.
03:42I also find the optical fingerprint reader a little bit hit or miss.
03:46Face unlocking is okay, but I would love it if they could maybe squeeze in the IR sensor
03:49that we get on the iPhone onto the Note.
03:51I realize face unlocking isn't as important these days when we're always wearing masks
03:55out and about.
03:56But yeah, the combination of the optical reader, you can see that it was like one out of two
04:00times it worked.
04:01It's not my favorite on this.
04:03I think there's also quite a few gimmicky features like all the air gestures with the
04:06S Pen, which looks cool in commercials, but I think is rarely used in real life.
04:11And finally, it takes ages, often six months up to a year before Samsung phones get the
04:16next version of Android.
04:17A real advantage of iPhone not only is the lack of fragmentation between devices, but
04:22they get much quicker and more regular updates.
04:24But enough of my complaining.
04:26These are, of course, two incredible phones.
04:28I'm just sort of nitpicking between them, as you would expect for paying over a grand.
04:32And they also come with two of the very best camera setups you can get with maybe just
04:36the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and the Pixel 5, giving them a run for their money.
04:41But as is the theme with this video, I think what photo looks best is also very personal.
04:46So without knowing which camera took which photo, although I will keep them on the same
04:50side for continuity, I want you guys to decide as I show you some camera samples, which you
04:55think looks best.
04:56As whenever I do camera comparisons, some people want bright, punchy, Instagram ready
05:00shots and others want realistic, true to life photos that maybe they can edit afterwards.
05:06There is, of course, an objective technical aspect to photography, but there's also a
05:09huge subjective part, which is more pleasing to your eye.
05:14So do you reckon you know which phone is A and which is B?
05:16And also, do you have a favorite?
05:18Well, I can tell you that phone A on the left is the Note 20 Ultra and therefore, of course,
05:23phone B on the right is the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
05:25And I'm sure you'd agree, but you really can't go wrong with either.
05:28The Note is the clear winner when it comes to zoom, but I think selfies, portrait shots
05:33and even video on the iPhone is a little bit better.
05:38Now the lighting is definitely a little tricky in here, which hopefully will be a good test
05:42of the cameras.
05:43This is being shot at 4K 30 on both.
05:47And this, if you're regular on my channel, you'll know is Fred, who is not my cat, he's
05:52my neighbor's cat, but he comes and hangs out.
05:55And he's also a great subject for shooting some video.
05:58Now just looking at the screen side by side, I can tell that the Note 20 is a lot warmer.
06:03I think the white balance on the iPhone is a little more realistic.
06:07If we bring it up to my spotlight here, you can hopefully see how it controls the dynamic range.
06:12Apologies for the very messy house and also the very small Christmas tree.
06:16I do live in quite a small house.
06:18But yeah, just as I sort of spin around, show you around, it's a bit of a behind the scenes,
06:24but you can also get an idea of how the cameras compare.
06:28Both phones do let you change the lens while filming.
06:31So this is now switched to the ultra wide, you can see just how small my living room
06:35really is.
06:36Then if we go back to 1x and then zoom in on the tree, 5x on the Note, 2.5x on the iPhone.
06:56You know what, through all of that out of the window, I figured out how to decide which
06:59is best.
07:01The iPhone can stand on its own, there you go.
07:05But what about battery life?
07:07Because one of the reasons you might want to buy these super expensive, huge phones
07:11is that you expect to get the best battery life possible.
07:14Well, starting at 100% and with both phones set up identically, Wi-Fi on, 150 nits, background
07:20apps closed, I ran a pretty intensive, varied battery drain test.
07:24And after a nonstop 7 hours and 40 minutes, the Note 20 Ultra finally calls it a day.
07:30Leaving the iPhone the clear winner with 15% of its battery remaining, which is good for
07:34probably another hour of use.
07:36And actually that test kind of confirms my findings in real life use, where I tend to
07:40have about 35-36% of my battery left at the end of a normal day on the Note, and about
07:4442-43% on the iPhone.
07:47So both will easily last you a day and a half, but the iPhone wins when it comes to battery
07:51life.
07:52But they do both support wireless and reverse wireless charging, which has been improved
07:56further on the new iPhone with the MagSafe accessories.
08:00Now the last thing to consider are the exclusive features, the extra bits that might tempt
08:04you one way or another.
08:06So with the Note, of course, one of the big selling points of this is the S Pen.
08:11There's simply no other phone out there that gives you this kind of experience for doodling,
08:15drawing, or even using it as a remote shutter button.
08:18Now for me, I do use the S Pen, but not all the time, and I didn't really miss it that
08:22much when I was using the iPhone, but I know for a lot of you guys, it's a huge selling
08:25point and probably the biggest reason why you might want to go for the Note.
08:28We also get things like wireless DeX, which gives you a full desktop experience with the
08:32phone, and together with the microSD expandability, the up to 12 gigs of RAM, and the S Pen, it's
08:38a proper little productivity hub.
08:40You can also shoot 8K video, although that's not something most of us would really use.
08:44And of course, one of the benefits of running Android is that you do have a lot more customization
08:49options.
08:50So you can actually go into the advanced features, enable reduce animation time, you can even
08:55go into the developer options and reduce how long the animation duration is, and so
08:59then paired with the 120Hz screen, it just feels so much faster than the iPhone.
09:04So there's lots of nice extras with the Note, but what about the iPhone?
09:07Well, of course, we've got things like iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime, iCloud, Apple Pay.
09:13These are huge deals for some people, and if you are part of that ecosystem, you'll definitely
09:17miss them by going with the Note.
09:19And I'd also argue the App Store still has more higher quality apps than the Google Play
09:23Store.
09:24These apps, like Instagram, just work better on iPhone, with more features and higher quality
09:29video.
09:30On iPhone, you can also access Apple Arcade, which has some pretty fun games in it, although
09:34while the gaming experience generally I found to be a little more consistent on the iPhone,
09:38it obviously can't take advantage of higher framerate options in games that offer it.
09:43So to sum up, reasons to buy the Note.
09:45Well, I think it feels faster.
09:47We get the S Pen and lots of productivity features like DeX.
09:50The camera and the zoom are very, very good.
09:53We also get nice-to-haves like USB-C, thinner bezels, and personally, this is just me, I
09:57prefer Android, especially on a big phone like this.
10:00However, the iPhone does last longer.
10:03I think it has a slightly better all-around camera, particularly the front selfie camera.
10:07The 3D face locking is very useful when it comes to unlocking it.
10:10And also, we haven't really talked about this, but we have the LiDAR sensor on the back,
10:13which helps with faster focusing in low light, and also makes the experience using augmented
10:17reality much better.
10:18It's a lot more precise, you can do measuring and sort of 3D scanning with this.
10:23Not everyone's going to use it, but it is a nice extra.
10:25You of course get all those iOS exclusives like FaceTime and iMessage and AirDrop.
10:29It's also $100 cheaper, and not forgetting that this will actually hold its value for
10:33longer than the Note.
10:34So if you come to trade this in or sell it in a couple of years, you'll get more back
10:37for this than you would the Note.
10:39So I never thought I'd say this, but I think between the two, the iPhone is actually slightly
10:43better value for money.
10:45Objectively, I would probably say the iPhone is the better bet for most people.
10:50But for me, I would go with the Note.
10:53But I think more than any other phone comparison, when you've got Android and an iOS device
10:56like this, two flagships that cost over a grand, there's no right or wrong answer.
11:00They're both incredible phones, and as I said in the title of the review, it really is a
11:04very personal decision.
11:06So what do you think?
11:07Which one would you go for and why?
11:09Let me know in the comments below.
11:11Thank you so much for watching, guys.
11:12I do hope you enjoyed the video, and I'll catch you next time right here on the Tech
11:15Chat.