Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone 8
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 8, 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
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- 3.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1362K versus 413K)
- Has 4x more RAM: 8GB versus 2GB
- Comes with 2079 mAh larger battery capacity: 3900 vs 1821 mAh
- Thinner bezels – 22.7% more screen real estate
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 1.4 inches larger screen size
- Shows 51% longer battery life (34:29 vs 22:48 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 88% higher peak brightness (1209 against 644 nits)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 8
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- Weighs 20 grams less
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 | IPS LCD |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 4.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 750 x 1334 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 16:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 326 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.1% | 65.4% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | Not detected |
| Response time | 1 ms | 22 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 1373:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 138.4 mm (5.45 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 67.3 mm (2.65 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 148 g (5.22 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Apple A11 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 2100 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
| CPU | 366724 | 130384 |
| GPU | 551228 | 91667 |
| Memory | 192220 | 83818 |
| UX | 247673 | 104393 |
| Total score | 1362358 | 413559 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.3 °C | 45.4 °C |
| Stability | 60% | 62% |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | 18 FPS |
| Graphics score | 12033 | 3135 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 13647 | - |
| Video editing | 7797 | - |
| Photo editing | 34238 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12529 | - |
| Writing score | 19579 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4 |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 64, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | iOS 11 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | - |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 6 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 1821 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes, Qi (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 12:15 hr | 08:04 hr |
| Watching video | 15:00 hr | 08:37 hr |
| Gaming | 05:56 hr | 03:56 hr |
| Standby | 111 hr | 82 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| 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 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 1 (12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.57", Samsung S5KGN3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/3", Apple iSight Camera (BSI CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 70 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.94", Samsung S5K3K1 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 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 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 8 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 7 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 3088 x 2320 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 32 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | 1 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 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, Galileo |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2023 | September 2017 |
| Release date | February 2023 | September 2017 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | 1.35 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | 1.36 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 - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | - |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*
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 is definitely a better buy.