Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone 15
70
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
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 15, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15
- Shows 16% longer battery life (25:31 vs 22:02 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 37% higher peak brightness (1632 against 1189 nits)
- 31% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2612 and 1987 points
- The phone is 7 months newer
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
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 | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 306 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 171 g (6.03 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.96/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Apple A16 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 3460 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 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 680 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~1789.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 9410 | 22764 |
| Single-core score | 1987 | 2612 |
| Multi-core score | 5171 | 6705 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 587063 | 462812 |
| GPU | 434955 | 453603 |
| Memory | 275390 | 222511 |
| UX | 414985 | 533367 |
| Total score | 1712393 | 1672293 |
| Samples | [29 tests] | [9 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 76% | - |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1069 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 73% | 74% |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | 15 FPS |
| Section 1 | 23 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Section 2 | 20 FPS | 15 FPS |
| Section 3 | 18 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5348 | 3979 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 61% | - |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3669 | 2868 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 15188 | - |
| Video editing | 7873 | - |
| Photo editing | 33939 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12935 | - |
| Writing score | 19390 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S23
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22 | AnTuTu | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa) | AnTuTu | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-08-09 (Sevin) | AnTuTu | 1700056 |
| 📘 2026-08-02 (Trouble) | Battery life | SOT 6:42 / 16:34 |
| 📘 2026-07-24 (nemesistech) | AnTuTu | 1684546 |
Apple iPhone 15
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-19 (Bear lover) | AnTuTu | 1714105 |
| 📘 2026-09-14 (ZUSEPRO) | AnTuTu | 1603687 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | GeekBench GPU | 24336 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | GeekBench CPU | 2615 / 6477 |
| 📘 2026-08-12 (j0elz) | AnTuTu | 1638319 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| ROM | One UI 8.0 | - |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 18 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 5 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 3349 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 08:12 hr | 10:47 hr |
| Watching video | 13:41 hr | 16:55 hr |
| Gaming | 05:20 hr | 05:36 hr |
| Standby | 109 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual 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 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.5" (≈ 0.67 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 70 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 70 | 80 |
| Preview | 72 | 84 |
| Zoom | 126 | 114 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 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 | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 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 | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2023 | September 2023 |
| Release date | February 2023 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $799 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | 0.98 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 | 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
If the camera, performance, gaming, battery life, and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 15. But if the display is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S23.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1979
