Samsung Galaxy S10 vs Apple iPhone XS
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S10 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9820) that was released on February 20, 2019, against the Apple iPhone XS, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 6 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S10
- Comes with 742 mAh larger battery capacity: 3400 vs 2658 mAh
- Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Delivers 23% higher maximum brightness (820 against 666 nits)
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- 20% higher pixel density (551 vs 458 PPI)
- Thinner bezels – 5.18% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
- Shows 11% longer battery life (22:46 vs 20:33 hours)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- 58% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1117 and 705 points
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 5.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3040 pixels | 1125 x 2436 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 551 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.08% | 82.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.1% | 98.8% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 4.8 ms | 4.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Max. Brightness
Design and build
| Height | 149.9 mm (5.9 inches) | 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) |
| Width | 70.4 mm (2.77 inches) | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 157 gramm (5.54 oz) | 177 gramm (6.24 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Green | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9820 | Apple A12 Bionic |
| Max. clock | 2730 MHz | 2490 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A75 - 2 cores at 2.7 GHz: Mongoose |
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest - 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 8 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali G76 MP12 | Apple A12 Bionic GPU |
| GPU clock | 720 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~652 GFLOPS | ~560 GFLOPS |
| RAM size | 8 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max. size | Up to 512 GB | - |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 123447 | 145514 |
| GPU | 191749 | 197436 |
| Memory | 85737 | 73728 |
| UX | 108901 | 110833 |
| Total score | 513310 | 528823 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 82% | 63% |
| Graphics test | 19 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3176 | 5763 |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 8806 | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 15.2) |
| ROM | One UI 4.0 | 15.4 |
| OS size | 9.5 GB | 11.8 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3400 mAh | 2658 mAh |
| Charge power | 15 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (9 W) | Yes, Qi (10 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 2:40 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:03 hr | 07:30 hr |
| Watching video | 10:32 hr | 09:19 hr |
| Gaming | 03:12 hr | 04:45 hr |
| Standby | 70 hr | 80 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | - |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 12 MP + 16 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.5 - 2.4 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L4 (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 | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.5 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6", Samsung S5K3M3 (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 | - 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 12 mm |
- |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 7 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4320 x 2432 | 3088 x 2316 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 32 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.12 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" | - |
| 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, 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 |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 16 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2019 | September 2018 |
| Release date | March 2019 | September 2018 |
| SAR (head) | 0.48 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.59 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 |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, camera, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S10. But if the performance and software are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone XS.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 375