Galaxy S25 Ultra Beats iPhone 16 Pro Max by 36% in 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Light Benchmark

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has once again proven its superiority over the iPhone 16 Pro Max, this time with a 36% performance lead in 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Light benchmark.

This test, which focuses on GPU performance in non-raytraced workloads, shows the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset outpacing Apple’s A18 Pro.

In the Steel Nomad Light test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra scored 2,617 points, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max managed only 1,922 points.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra achieved an average framerate of 19.39FPS, compared to the iPhone’s 14.2FPS. This marks the second benchmark where the Galaxy S25 Ultra has pulled ahead, following its earlier win in Geekbench 6’s multi-core score.

The performance boost is likely due to the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s higher clock speeds, which give it an edge in pure rasterization tasks.

Despite Apple’s A18 Pro being a leader in single-core performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s GPU holds a distinct advantage in non-raytraced workloads.

For those considering upgrading, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra is currently available for pre-order with a $200 gift card promotion from Amazon, making it a tempting option for early adopters.