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Flagship Smackdown: Vivo X100 Pro vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max

A Comparative Review of the 2024 Best Flagship Smartphones – Performance, Cameras, Design, and Much More

By Bishnu Prasad SharmaPublished about a year ago 7 min read

Vivo X100 Pro, Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: A Comparison

In 2024, the latest flagship smartphones have evolved to new levels of innovation, performance, and camera technology. Among the top contenders, each offers a premium experience that caters to various user preferences: Vivo X100 Pro, Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max. In this article, we will compare these devices through categories such as performance, camera systems, display, battery life, and more.

1. Build & Design Quality

Vivo X100 Pro:

The Vivo X100 Pro has a premium design with a glass back and an aluminum body, giving this device a smooth, glossy finish. It has great looks and feels awesome in hand. The rear camera module is large but nicely set into the design itself. It has an IP68 rating for resistance against dust and water.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

The build quality of Xiaomi 14 Ultra is also first class, with a glass rear panel and a metal frame. The camera module is pretty huge, reflecting its great camera system, but arranged in a much more minimalist and less obtrusive manner. The device offers IP68 water and dust resistance, making it sturdy enough for daily use.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra:

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a minimalist yet luxurious feel with a matte glass finish and an all-aluminum frame, but its back isn't glossy and thus doesn't leave fingerprints easily. Its camera module seems way more distinct and, in a future sense, more necessary due to the company's signature camera setup. The Pura 70 Ultra is also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

This year's flagship phone by Apple, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, maintains the tradition of premium craftsmanship with a stainless steel frame and a ceramic shield front glass. The rear glass panel is frosted to avoid smudges. Naturally, it has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. The camera system is discreetly placed as the flat-edged design provides an iconic look.

2. Display

Vivo X100 Pro:

The Vivo X100 Pro has a 6.78-inch AMOLED display, with a pixel resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels, resulting in super-sharp, vibrant colors; the panel supports a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ certification for smooth scrolling and intense media consumption. Color accuracy is outstanding, too, making this a great choice for content creators and media enthusiasts alike.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

The display on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a 6.73-inch LTPO OLED with a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels. Adaptive refresh rates can go as low as 1Hz to 120Hz for silky smooth performance and great efficiency in terms of power. It features support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, allowing for a vivid and immersive viewing experience, particularly for HDR content.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra:

The Pura 70 Ultra has a 6.8-inch OLED display with a 3200 x 1440 resolution, and this is topped by an adaptive refresh rate that sits between 1Hz and 120Hz. It also comes equipped with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for the best true-to-life colors with deep blacks, making it one of the strongest contenders in terms of screen quality.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:

The iPhone 16 Pro Max features a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, for a resolution of 2796 x 1290 pixels. Although its pixel density is a tad lower than some of its competitors, the display excels in color accuracy, brightness, and HDR performance. It also supports ProMotion with an up to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits-one of the brightest displays available.

3. Performance

Vivo X100 Pro:

The Vivo X100 Pro runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with up to 16GB of RAM. This configuration offers seamless performance for both general use and high-end programs like gaming and multi-tasking. The custom UI from Vivo is so fluid, and it does a smooth job with tasks.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset as well, alongside up to 16GB of RAM. Xiaomi’s MIUI is well-optimized, but it has more customization options than Vivo’s Funtouch OS. With its top-tier processor and ample RAM, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra excels in both productivity and gaming performance.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra:

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is powered by the Kirin 9000S, self-made silicon from Huawei. It is a phenomenal processor; however, due to continued restrictions in access to Google services, the phone lacks Google Play Store and services, which will hamper some consumers in the world market, though its AI capabilities and multiscaling performance are great.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

The iPhone 16 Pro Max runs on Apple's A18 Pro Bionic chip, paired with up to 16GB of RAM. Apple's chipset is one of the most powerful processors available, making for tremendous gaming performance and performance in heavy apps.

iOS is super optimized, boasting smooth performance and long-term software support.

4. Camera System

Vivo X100 Pro:

The Vivo X100 Pro boasts an outstanding quad-camera configuration, with a headlining 50MP main sensor, an ultra-wide 50MP camera, a 12MP telephoto lens, and a 3D depth sensor. The primary sensor is backed by Vivo's in-house V2 image chip, which goes to enhance low-light photography performance and cameras in general. That makes the camera setup spectacular for photography enthusiasts with great zoom and portrait capabilities.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra sports a 50MP primary sensor, an 80MP periscope telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultra-wide sensor; then there's the 60MP front camera. Camera technology in Xiaomi is also partnered with Leica, so all's well on the optics front. The periscope lens does really good zoom work, and the main sensor works well in most light situations.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

The Pura 70 Ultra is equipped with a 50MP main camera, a 64MP periscope telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultra-wide camera. The camera system of Huawei is known for its color accuracy, according to Leica, and has even low-light support. The periscope supports zooming up to a level, while the ultra-wide sensor can give very sharp wide-angle shots. Huawei AI-driven photography gives a characteristic look to its photos as well.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:

For photography enthusiasts, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes equipped with a triple-camera setup, including a 48MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Colour accuracy, HDR processing and video recording abilities are considered to be best in class by any camera system. With optimized software by Apple, the camera produces some of the most realistic images and stable video recordings, along with advanced cinematic modes.

5. Battery Life and Charging

Vivo X100 Pro:

Vivo X100 Pro features a 4,800mAh battery, along with 120W fast charging. It has a decent battery life for a full day of normal usage, with fast charging capabilities that can charge the phone up to 50 percent in 10 minutes.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra sports a huge 5,000mAh battery, with the device supporting 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. While this ensures really good long-lasting battery life, fast charging technology by Xiaomi means the phone can be quickly charged, even wirelessly.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is thought to have a 4,700mAh battery and therefore can support 100W fast charging, along with enabling 50W wireless charging, the overall battery life might be shorter though, than on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, because of a slightly smaller battery capacity.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:

The iPhone 16 Pro Max arrives with a 4,400mAh battery. Though the battery here is slightly less compared to the competition, Apple's more efficient A18 Bionic chip leaves the competitors in the dust when coming to real-world usage. The device does support both 20W fast charging and 15W MagSafe wireless charging. Battery life on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is excellent and can last a whole day with moderate to heavy usage.

6. Software and Ecosystem

Vivo X100 Pro

Vivo X100 Pro runs on Funtouch OS based on Android 14. There is a clean UI with a few features of customizations. What's seen with Vivo is fast updates on their phones, however, the pattern may not be always consistent for global software, in comparison to Xiaomi or Samsung.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

Xiaomi 14 Ultra came pre-installed with MIUI 15 running on Android 14. MIUI allows users to fully customize the look and feel of their experience with dual apps, app cloning, and themes galore. Software from Xiaomi is constantly improving, as well as its user's privacy and security features.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra runs on HarmonyOS, an in-house operating system from Huawei. For the most part, it doesn't feel sluggish, but Google service restrictions are a big drawback for most Chinese users, using the Huawei AppGallery and alternative services Huawei provides.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:

The iPhone 16 Pro Max runs on iOS 18, which is known to integrate well with the Apple ecosystem. Regular software updates, ensuring good privacy features and a high quality range of apps, make iOS one of the most friendly operating systems. The iPhone also goes forward for about several years of software support.

Conclusion

Each of these flagship smartphones gives premium features, and one needs to pick a favorite on personal grounds and particularly based on their needs.

Vivo X100 Pro: Great for those who need an excellent camera system and fast charging.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Best option for those prioritizing top-class performance, a versatile camera setup, and fast charging speed.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Ideal for users who need high-end display, a powerful Leica-backed camera system, and are willing to trade off with using HarmonyOS.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Ideal for users seeking an integrated, seamless ecosystem experience, awesome camera shots, and long-term software updates.

Ultimately, it all varies on the basis of the excellence that each has shown in different ways. On what aspect do you value the most in a smartphone will be the best fit.

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