Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus vs Apple iPhone 12
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus (with Exynos 9 Octa 9825) that was released on August 7, 2019, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 14 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 Note 10 Plus
- Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
- Comes with 1485 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 2815 mAh
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Delivers 24% higher peak brightness (798 against 646 nits)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Thinner bezels – 6.39% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
- 72% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1061K versus 618K)
- Shows 18% longer battery life (32:27 vs 27:35 hours)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- The phone is 1-year and 2-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1953 and 967 points
- Weighs 32 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.7 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 | 6.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3040 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 495 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 625 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 92.39% | 86% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 95.4% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 250 Hz | 226 Hz |
| Response time | 3.6 ms | 16 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.3 mm (6.39 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 196 g (6.91 oz) | 164 g (5.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Red | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9825 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2730 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.95 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A75 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: M4 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G76 MP12 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 432 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 770 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~651.5 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 182103 | 221376 |
| GPU | 170400 | 336882 |
| Memory | 120562 | 136582 |
| UX | 143370 | 363783 |
| Total score | 618715 | 1061696 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 38.8 °C | 41.2 °C |
| Stability | 97% | 77% |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3377 | 7603 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 7253 | - |
| Video editing | 5833 | - |
| Photo editing | 19457 | - |
| Data manipulation | 6782 | - |
| Writing score | 10979 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | One UI 4.0 | - |
| OS size | 31.6 GB | 7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4300 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (65% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:05 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:37 hr | 11:23 hr |
| Watching video | 14:19 hr | 12:11 hr |
| Gaming | 04:43 hr | 05:05 hr |
| Standby | 97 hr | 119 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 16 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.5 - 2.4 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L4 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - 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 |
| Telephoto lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.1 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6", Samsung S5K3M3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 12 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.1", Samsung S5K3P9 (ISOCELL CMOS) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) |
| Depth lens | Yes | - |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | BSI CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" | - |
| 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 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.1 | - |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | 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 | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | Yes | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2019 | October 2020 |
| Release date | August 2019 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.19 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.4 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 0 W | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 12 is definitely a better buy.