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Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Apple iPhone XS

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Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Apple iPhone XS

68 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S20
VS
57 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS
Samsung Galaxy S20
Apple iPhone XS

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 XS, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 17 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 1342 mAh larger battery capacity: 4000 vs 2658 mAh
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Shows 7% longer battery life (24:28 vs 22:46 hours)
  • 23% higher pixel density (563 vs 458 PPI)
  • Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (821 against 641 nits)
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
  • 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1310 and 1140 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S20 and Apple iPhone XS crucial features
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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S20
vs
iPhone XS

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.2 inches 5.8 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1125 x 2436 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 625 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 6 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 82.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% 98.8%
PWM 242 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 8.5 ms 4.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S20 +28%
821 nits
iPhone XS
641 nits

Design and build

Height 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) 143.6 mm (5.65 inches)
Width 69.1 mm (2.72 inches) 70.9 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 7.7 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 163 g (5.75 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Gray, Blue, Red Silver, Gold, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S20 and Apple iPhone XS in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 Apple A12 Bionic
Max clock 2700 MHz 2490 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 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
L3 cache 2 MB -
Lithography process 7 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G77 MP11 Apple A12 GPU
GPU shading units 704 256
GPU clock 550 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS ~1126 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Galaxy S20 +9%
652761
iPhone XS
600311
CPU 185116 151927
GPU 195014 141208
Memory 144113 104587
UX 126679 200467
Total score 652761 600311
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 49.7 °C 44.8 °C
Stability 51% 63%
Graphics test 25 FPS 34 FPS
Graphics score 4221 5700
PCMark 3.0
Web score 8843 -
Video editing 6024 -
Photo editing 30239 -
Data manipulation 8544 -
Writing score 11877 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64, 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 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
ROM One UI 4.1 -
OS size 20.1 GB 11.8 GB

Battery

Capacity 4000 mAh 2658 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (100% in 75 min) Yes (50% in 60 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 2:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:40 hr 07:30 hr
Watching video 10:04 hr 09:19 hr
Gaming 04:15 hr 04:43 hr
Standby 83 hr 80 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S20 +7%
24:28 hr
iPhone XS
22:46 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Optical, 2x
Flash LED Quad 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° -
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) 2 (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/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight X (CMOS)
- 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/2.4
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (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)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 2592 x 3872 3088 x 2316
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
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 SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.1 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
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 16
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S20
85.9 dB
iPhone XS +2%
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2020 September 2018
Release date March 2020 September 2018
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 		- 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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S20 is definitely a better buy.

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