Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone XR

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Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone XR

85 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23
VS
56 out of 100
Apple iPhone XR

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 XR, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 53 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
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Has 2.7x more RAM: 8GB versus 3GB
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1362K versus 643K)
  • Delivers 88% higher peak brightness (1209 against 643 nits)
  • Comes with 958 mAh larger battery capacity: 3900 vs 2942 mAh
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Thinner bezels – 9.1% more screen real estate
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • The phone is 4-years and 5-months newer
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XR
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Apple iPhone XR 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 IPS LCD
Size 6.1 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 828 x 1792 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
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+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 88.1% 79%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
-
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 100%
PWM 240 Hz Not detected
Response time 1 ms 32.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1920:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
1209 nits
643 nits

Design and build

Height 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) 150.9 mm (5.94 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 75.7 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 8.3 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 194 g (6.84 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow White, Black, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 and Apple iPhone XR in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Apple A12 Bionic
Max clock 3360 MHz 2490 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 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
L3 cache 8 MB -
Lithography process 4 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Apple A12 GPU
GPU shading units 2560 256
GPU clock 719 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS ~3481.6 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1362358
CPU 366724 180501
GPU 551228 203202
Memory 192220 123963
UX 247673 132209
Total score 1362358 643548
3DMark Wild Life Performance
12033
Max surface temperature 34.3 °C 42.6 °C
Stability 60% 69%
Graphics test 72 FPS 31 FPS
Graphics score 12033 5207
PCMark 3.0
Web score 13647 -
Video editing 7797 -
Photo editing 34238 -
Data manipulation 12529 -
Writing score 19579 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 64, 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
ROM One UI 5.1 -
OS size 29.7 GB 11.1 GB

Battery

Capacity 3900 mAh 2942 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (10 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:43 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 12:15 hr 11:16 hr
Watching video 15:00 hr 12:45 hr
Gaming 05:56 hr 05:07 hr
Standby 111 hr 123 hr
General battery life
34:29 hr
33:01 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main 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: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight X (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
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 12 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 3088 x 2316
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns -
Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 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 a/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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS 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 No No
LTE Cat * 20 12
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
91.5 dB
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 September 2018
Release date February 2023 October 2018
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.3 W/kg 0.99 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 -
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.

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