iPhone XS Max vs. Galaxy Note 10+ Comparison: Which Phone Is Faster?

If the Galaxy Note 9's successors are too expensive, the Galaxy S10 is still a good choice. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

A quick comparison of the Galaxy Note 10+ and iPhone XS Max reveals the faster device among the two.

YouTuber EverythingApplePro conducted a speed test to compare the Note 10+ and iPhone XS Max’s app launch times as well as how fast can they each load an app from the device’s RAM.

It’s important to note that the two devices feature specs different from each other. The Apple flagship has an A12 Bionic chip inside, backed by 4GB of RAM. The Samsung flagship, on the other hand, has a Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9825 chipset powering it, backed by a whopping 12GB of RAM.

The iPhone XS Max might be at least one year older than the Galaxy Note 10+, but it’s equally important to keep in mind that Apple’s A-series chips, which includes the A12 Bionic, are designed to perform way better than equivalent chipsets found on Android devices. iPhone Hacks noted that Apple’s chips are “at least a generation or two ahead in terms of performance.”

Launch speeds

EverythingApplePro found that the iPhone XS Max is able to launch apps faster than the Galaxy Note 10+. The Galaxy Note 10+ took 2 minutes and 49 seconds to finish a task that involved opening some apps and exporting videos. The iPhone XS Max did the same thing in 2 minutes and 12 seconds -- 37 seconds faster than its recently-released rival.

The 37 second-gap might not be that much to some, but it definitely shows that the iPhone XS Max launches apps faster than the Galaxy Note 10+.

Launching from memory

Launching apps fast is one thing; the ability to run several apps and smoothly load them from RAM is another. The iPhone XS Max might launch apps faster but the Galaxy Note 10+, with its huge RAM allocation, allows users to multitask with ease.

EverythingApplePro ran a second test to determine which of the two is more capable or loading apps from RAM and found while the iPhone XS Max struggled to run several apps at the same time, the Note 10+ didn’t even have to put in some effort.

The Galaxy Note 10+ didn’t need to unload even a single app from its memory and took only 27 seconds to finish the task. The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, took longer and finished the task only after a minute and 33 seconds.

So, who’s the clear winner? Both devices are great in what they’re designed for. While the iPhone is a great phone, power users will enjoy the multitasking capabilities of the Galaxy Note 10+.