Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
68
out of 100
VS
73
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S20 (with Exynos 9 Octa 990) that was released on February 11, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 8 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 S20
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Modern USB Type-C port
- 23% higher pixel density (563 vs 458 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Comes with 313 mAh larger battery capacity: 4000 vs 3687 mAh
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Better grip in hands – the body is 9 mm narrower
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 2.5x optical zoom
- Shows 45% longer battery life (35:25 vs 24:28 hours)
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- 27% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (828K versus 652K)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
- 75% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1990 and 1140 points
- The phone is 8-months newer
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 | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1284 x 2778 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 563 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 87.4% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 242 Hz | 238 Hz |
| Response time | 8.5 ms | 8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 160.8 mm (6.33 inches) |
| Width | 69.1 mm (2.72 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 163 g (5.75 oz) | 226 g (7.97 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Gray, Blue, Red | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2700 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 704 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 550 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 185116 | 234779 |
| GPU | 195014 | 256839 |
| Memory | 144113 | 153144 |
| UX | 126679 | 181729 |
| Total score | 652761 | 828500 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 49.7 °C | 45 °C |
| Stability | 51% | 75% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 47 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4221 | 7880 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 8843 | - |
| Video editing | 6024 | - |
| Photo editing | 30239 | - |
| Data manipulation | 8544 | - |
| Writing score | 11877 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | One UI 4.1 | - |
| OS size | 20.1 GB | 16 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 3687 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (100% in 75 min) | Yes (55% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:32 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:40 hr | 12:04 hr |
| Watching video | 10:04 hr | 14:25 hr |
| Gaming | 04:15 hr | 07:09 hr |
| Standby | 83 hr | 122 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Optical, 2.5x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Samsung S5K2LD (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.7 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 65 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX613 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Depth lens | - | Yes |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 2592 x 3872 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 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 |
- 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 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, 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 * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat * | 22 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | 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 2020 | October 2020 |
| Release date | March 2020 | November 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.28 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.52 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, battery life, and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max . But if the display and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S20 .
