Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone 16
79 out of 100
VS
88 out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 16, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 1 year and 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Comes with 339 mAh larger battery capacity: 3900 vs 3561 mAh
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
- Shows 35% longer battery life (29:45 vs 22:02 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 43% higher peak brightness (1720 against 1203 nits)
- The phone is 1 year and 7 months newer
- 10% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1673K versus 1522K)
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- 79% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3283 and 1831 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 170 g (6 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Apple A18 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 380535 | 441992 |
| GPU | 598896 | 699959 |
| Memory | 273271 | 173158 |
| UX | 270109 | 358704 |
| Total score | 1522811 | 1673813 |
| Samples | [41 tests] | [2 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.3 °C | 47.3 °C |
| Stability | 60% | - |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 12038 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14216 | - |
| Video editing | 7839 | - |
| Photo editing | 33785 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12689 | - |
| Writing score | 19369 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2) |
| ROM | One UI 6.1 | - |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 16 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 3561 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:42 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:12 hr | 13:44 hr |
| Watching video | 13:41 hr | 18:09 hr |
| Gaming | 05:20 hr | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | 109 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" | 1/1.56" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 70 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" | - |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 70 | 80 |
| Preview | 72 | 84 |
| Zoom | 126 | 116 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 1/3.6" |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2023 | September 2024 |
| Release date | February 2023 | September 2024 |
| Launch price | $799 | $799 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | 1.41 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
Notes on iPhone 16:
- The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
