Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone X

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Apple iPhone X

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Apple iPhone X, which is powered by Apple A11 Bionic and came out 65 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • 3.6x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1517K versus 422K)
  • Comes with 2284 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 2716 mAh
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Shows 82% longer battery life (41:06 vs 22:33 hours)
  • Has a 1 inch larger screen size
  • Delivers 111% higher peak brightness (1282 against 607 nits)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • The phone is 5-years and 5-months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone X
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 7.2 mm narrower
  • Weighs 59 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone X 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

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 inches 5.8 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1125 x 2436 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 19.5:9
PPI 500 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 850 nits 625 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 82.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 99.3%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 2 ms 2.2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1282 nits
607 nits

Design and build

Height 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) 143.6 mm (5.65 inches)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) 70.9 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.7 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 233 g (8.22 oz) 174 g (6.14 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple Silver, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone X in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Apple A11 Bionic
Max clock 3360 MHz 2390 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 1.42 GHz: Mistral
- 2 cores at 2.39 GHz: Monsoon
L3 cache 8 MB -
Lithography process 4 nanometers 10 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Apple A11 GPU
GPU shading units 2560 192
GPU clock 719 MHz 1066 MHz
FLOPS ~3481.6 GFLOPS ~409.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1517214
422603
CPU 377304 114085
GPU 596398 91682
Memory 271911 97456
UX 261336 117666
Total score 1517214 422603
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 34.8 °C 45.7 °C
Stability 64% 63%
Graphics test 72 FPS 21 FPS
Graphics score 12154 3524
PCMark 3.0
Web score 15596 -
Video editing 7791 -
Photo editing 33958 -
Data manipulation 12948 -
Writing score 19802 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 64, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 iOS 11.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5)
ROM One UI 5.1 -
OS size 39.9 GB 5.3 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 2716 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes, Qi (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (68% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 2:00 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 14:50 hr 07:08 hr
Watching video 19:27 hr 09:17 hr
Gaming 06:21 hr 04:04 hr
Standby 123 hr 84 hr
General battery life
41:06 hr
22:33 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 200 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 2x
Flash LED Quad 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 60FPS Up to 240FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° -
Lenses 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.3", Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- Sensor: 1/3", Apple iSight Duo Camera (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9
- Focal length: 230 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX754 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (BSI 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", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone X from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 12 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 3472 x 2063
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns -
Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
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 No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 20 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.8 dB
85.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 September 2017
Release date February 2023 November 2017
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.87 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg 0.97 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity 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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

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