Samsung Galaxy A56 5G vs Apple iPhone 16e
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A56 5G (with Exynos 1580) that was released on March 2, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 16e, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 995 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4005 mAh
- Shows 7% longer battery life (28:42 vs 26:44 hours)
- Delivers 45% higher peak brightness (1214 against 838 nits)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 29% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1612K versus 1251K)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- 19% higher pixel density (457 vs 385 PPI)
- 2.4x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3281 and 1354 points
- Weighs 31 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 6 mm narrower
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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 385 ppi | 457 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1900 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.6% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.1% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 10 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A56 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
iPhone 16e
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~20% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.2 mm (6.39 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 77.5 mm (3.05 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 198 g (6.98 oz) | 167 g (5.89 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gray, Green, Pink | White, Black |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | Good (3.19/5) | Average (2.79/5) |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 1580 | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 2900 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.95 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 2.9 GHz: Cortex-A720 |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Xclipse 540 | 4 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1331.2 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 6865 | 24041 |
| Single-core score | 1354 | 3281 |
| Multi-core score | 3789 | 8035 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 490457 | 485100 |
| GPU | 296896 | 445832 |
| Memory | 173263 | 185536 |
| UX | 290896 | 496320 |
| Total score | 1251512 | 1612788 |
| Samples | [130 tests] | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 97% | 82% |
| Graphics test | 5 FPS | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | 641 | 1226 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 21 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 21 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 15 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 5507 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14131 | - |
| Video editing | 7744 | - |
| Photo editing | 22842 | - |
| Data manipulation | 11699 | - |
| Writing score | 18128 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-24 (.) | CPU Throttle | 82% |
| 📘 2026-09-24 (.) | Geekbench 7 GPU | 5755 |
| 📘 2026-09-24 (.) | Geekbench 7 CPU | 1191 / 3814 |
| 📘 2026-09-24 (.) | AnTuTu 12 | 1017323 |
| 📘 2026-09-24 -> CR7 | AnTuTu 12 | 1030440 |
Apple iPhone 16e
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1600106 |
| 📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user) | AnTuTu 11 | 1591246 |
| 📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose) | AnTuTu 11 | 1721718 |
| 📘 2026-01-14 (Glib) | AnTuTu 11 | 1656396 |
| 📘 2026-01-13 (киря) | AnTuTu 11 | 1612788 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | - |
| OS size | 21.5 GB | 24 GB |
| OS updates | 6 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4005 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (65% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:13 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | 2000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 11:28 hr | 11:59 hr |
| Watching video | 19:50 hr | 15:01 hr |
| Gaming | 04:53 hr | 05:04 hr |
| Standby | 131 hr | 127 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (70th and 112th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX906 | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX258 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 145 | - |
| Zoom | 59 | - |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A56 5G from DxOMark | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LC | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - 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 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| 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 | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | March 2025 | February 2025 |
| Release date | March 2025 | February 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $599 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy A57 5G | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.61 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.05 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
- The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*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 Apple iPhone 16e is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 295