At the excitement-filled launch of the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung made a bold statement about the enhanced gaming prowess of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, uniquely designed for the Galaxy. Though they kept the specifics under wraps, the tech world is now buzzing with a slew of benchmark tests as the flagship phones hit the shelves.
One particularly interesting showdown places the Galaxy S25 Ultra against its fierce competitor, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, in a race through the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark. If you’re new to benchmarking, this particular test measures how well a smartphone’s GPU can handle non-raytraced workloads, serving as a reliable gauge for its ability to manage rasterization tasks.
The comparison, highlighted by a tech enthusiast on social media, reveals that the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy commands a significant 36% advantage over the Apple A18 Pro. Specifically, the Galaxy S25 Ultra achieved an impressive score of 2,617, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max trailed behind with 1,922 points.
Digging into the frame rate performance, the Galaxy S25 Ultra consistently averaged 19.39 frames per second (FPS), whereas the iPhone 16 Pro Max managed only 14.2 FPS. This suggests that the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite gives the S25 Ultra a noteworthy edge, even over other top-tier phones housing the standard version of the processor.
Take, for instance, the Xiaomi 15, which with its regular Snapdragon 8 Elite, scores around 2,530 points and maintains an average FPS of about 18.74. It’s also worth considering that the superior cooling system within the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra might play a pivotal role in elevating its performance in this benchmark.
While it’s essential to note that the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark focuses solely on GPU tasks without taxing the CPU, this comparison hints at the Galaxy S25 Ultra as a potentially superior choice for avid mobile gamers. The advancements in technology continue to intrigue and excite, offering users more robust and dynamic experiences.
