Samsung Galaxy A53 5G vs Apple iPhone 12 mini
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A53 5G (with Exynos 1280) that was released on March 17, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 12 mini, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 18 months before. 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 A53 5G
- Comes with 2773 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 2227 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 1.1 inches larger screen size
- Shows 38% longer battery life (33:59 vs 24:39 hours)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Delivers 32% higher peak brightness (837 against 632 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Fingerprint scanner
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- The phone is 1-year and 6-months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 mini
- 2.5x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1065K versus 431K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- 18% higher pixel density (476 vs 405 PPI)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 10.6 mm narrower
- Ready for eSIM technology
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
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 5.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 405 ppi | 476 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 830 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 85.4% | 85.1% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 97.6% | - |
| PWM | 250 Hz | - |
| Response time | 9 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 159.6 mm (6.28 inches) | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) |
| Width | 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 189 g (6.67 oz) | 135 g (4.76 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Yellow | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 1280 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G68 MP4 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | - | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1000 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~487 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 112133 | 264152 |
| GPU | 130492 | 311400 |
| Memory | 77548 | 135362 |
| UX | 107735 | 349316 |
| Total score | 431745 | 1065229 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 45.2 °C | - |
| Stability | 99% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2287 | 7654 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 9497 | - |
| Video editing | 7594 | - |
| Photo editing | 21637 | - |
| Data manipulation | 9220 | - |
| Writing score | 14992 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | - |
| OS size | 36 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 2227 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (45% in 30 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:24 hr | 1:29 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:38 hr | 09:23 hr |
| Watching video | 15:55 hr | 09:46 hr |
| Gaming | 05:01 hr | 04:34 hr |
| Standby | 120 hr | 78 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 64 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 9000 x 7000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 4 (64 MP + 12 MP + 5 MP + 5 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung S5KGW1P (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0" (CMOS) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX503 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Macro lens |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
- |
| Depth lens |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.8", Sony IMX616 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A53 5G from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 mini from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- 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 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Depends on the region | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat * | 18 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | - | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2022 | October 2020 |
| Release date | April 2022 | November 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, software, and design are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 12 mini . But if the display and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G .