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The iPhone 12 is the brilliant new phone on the block, but the Samsung Galaxy S20 remains a formidable rival, especially as a price drop has brought both phones to less than $ 800.
Apple’s iPhone 12 brings a host of updates to the table, including a dazzling A14 Bionic chip, 5G connectivity, improved cameras, and a sleeker design with a stronger Ceramic Shield display. But don’t discount the Galaxy S20.
The Galaxy S20 has a lot going for it, including a more versatile camera system, a bigger battery, and a smooth 120Hz display. So which of these phones wins? Our iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S20 showdown will help you decide which device is the best for you.
iPhone 12 vs Galaxy S20: Specifications Compared
| iPhone 12 | iGalaxy S20 | |
| Price | $ 799 | $ 799 |
| Monitor | 6.1-inch OLED (2532 x 1170) | 6.2-inch OLED (3200 x 1440) 120Hz |
| Colors | Black, white, red, green and blue | Gray, blue, pink and white |
| CPU | A14 | Snapdragon 865 |
| RAM | 4GB | 12 GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB | 128 GB |
| Rear camera | 12MP wide (f / 1.6), 12MP ultra wide f / 2.4) | 12MP wide (f1.8), 12MP wide-angle (f / 2.2), 64MP telephoto (f / 2.0) |
| Focus | 5x digital | 3x optical / 30x digital |
| Frontal camera | 12 MP Actual Depth (f / 2.2) | 10 megapixels (f / 2.2) |
| Video | 4K up to 60fps (Dolby Vision) | 8K up to 24 fps |
| 5G | sub-6Ghz, mmWave | sub-6Ghz or mmWave (Verizon) |
| 5G Battery Life (hours: minutes) | 8:25 | 9:31 (8:04 at 120 Hz) |
| Size | 5.78 x 2.82 x 0.29 inches | 5.9 x 3 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 5.78 ounces | 5.7 ounces |
iPhone 12 vs Galaxy S20: price and value
The iPhone 12 starts at $ 799 through carriers and $ 829 unlocked with 64GB of storage. You can upgrade to 128GB for $ 849 and 256GB for $ 949.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 has a list price of $ 999, but you’ll often find it for sale at $ 799 through retailers like Best Buy and Amazon. There is only a 128GB storage option; all S20 models offer a microSD card slot, except Verizon.
Overall, the S20 has a value edge as long as you can find it for sale because you get double the storage for the same price. Check out our iPhone 12 and Galaxy S20 deals pages for the latest discounts.
Winner: Galaxy S20
iPhone 12 vs Galaxy S20: Design
The iPhone 12 brings a whole new look to this fight with its flat-edge design. The screen is also perfectly flat, unlike the Galaxy S20. Samsung’s curved screen can cause accidental touches.
Another plus for the iPhone 12 is its Ceramic Shield display, which promises 4 times the drop performance compared to the iPhone 11. Apple’s phone has performed very well in the iPhone 12 drop tests, so it appears to lived up to expectations.
The Galaxy S20 is slightly taller than the iPhone 12 and slightly lighter at 5.7 ounces versus 5.76 ounces for the Apple device.
The iPhone 12 has more color options. You can choose from black, white, red, green, and blue, while the S20 is limited to gray, blue, pink, and white. The only bump against the iPhone 12 is the prominent notch, which looks quite large compared to the S20’s front camera punched hole.
Winner: iPhone 12
iPhone 12 vs Galaxy S20: Display
The 6.2-inch OLED display on the Galaxy S20 is more advanced than the 6.1-inch panel on the iPhone 12, and that’s because only Samsung’s phone supports a 120Hz refresh rate. This allows for smoother scrolling and animations, as well as smoother gameplay in titles that support 120Hz.
The S20’s screen has a 3200 x 1440 resolution, which is sharper than the 2532 x 1170 screen on the iPhone 12. Samsung’s panel also gains in brightness, as it was able to hit 857 nits in our tests, in compared to 569 nits for the iPhone 12.
Samsung’s display is also capable of producing more colors, registering 163% of the DCI-P3 color space, compared to 81% of the iPhone 12. However, the colors of the iPhone 12 proved to be more accurate as That turned into a Delta-E score of 0.29 versus 0.37 for the Galaxy S20. In this case, a perfect score is zero.
Winner: Galaxy S20
iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S20: Cameras
In terms of sheer versatility, the Galaxy S20 has the advantage over the iPhone 12, as only Samsung’s phone offers telephoto zoom in addition to a wide and ultra-wide lens. However, the iPhone 12 just took more attractive photos overall in our side-by-side shots, making it one of the best camera phones overall.
In this photo of pumpkins, the iPhone 12 is able to capture more of them in the shadows, revealing more details. Pumpkins are also sharper in the iPhone 12 shot, especially the white ones in the foreground. However, the straw looks a bit more discolored on the iPhone than it does on the Galaxy S20.
I also took a close-up of raspberries and blackberries, and the iPhone 12 delivered much more detail, right down to the nooks and crannies of each berry. In comparison, the S20’s shot appears out of focus.
While both the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy S20 offer a night mode, I found the iPhone 12’s night mode to be faster in all cases. I also like that it turns on automatically; you don’t have to look for the stage.
I took this photo between two trees with a streetlight in the background, and the Galaxy S20’s color is too yellow, while the iPhone 12’s looks more realistic. However, both phones do a good job lighting up the scene.
The results in this portrait of the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S20 couldn’t look more different, despite the fact that they were captured only seconds apart. I prefer the iPhone 12 shot in this case because it’s brighter, which may be due to the cameras having a faster f / 1.6 aperture. The photo of the S20 looks grim in comparison.
In this case, I prefer the ultra-wide photo of the Galaxy S20 a bit because the sky looks bluer. The iPhone 12 deserves credit for more accurately depicting the clouds in the sky, but there’s more of a yellow tint to the image that I find less pleasing.
This fountain photo is a good test of autofocus, and as a result the iPhone 12 can deliver more detail in the water. You can also make out more gradations on the rock, while the S20 blurs things together.
Lastly, we compared the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy S20 with a 5x digital zoom. Unfortunately, this is the maximum zoom for the iPhone 12, while the S20 can go up to 30x. For this particular shot of moms and pumpkins, the iPhone 12 produces a brighter image and I appreciate the glitter of the pumpkins. But the S20’s image is sharper, especially on flowers.
Winner: iPhone 12
iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S20: performance
This round is not a contest, and that’s because the A14 Bionic chip in the iPhone 12 is the fastest of any phone. The iPhone 12 benchmarks we’ve made tell the story, but here’s the gist.
In Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the iPhone 12 hit 3859 in the single-core test and 1593 in the multi-core test. The Galaxy S20 collected just 3,147 and 867, respectively.
We also ran a real-world video editing test, which involves transcoding a 4K video to 1080p. The iPhone 12 took just 26 seconds to complete the task, compared to 1 minute and 15 seconds for the S20.
The iPhone 12 also dominated graphics performance, hitting 51 fps in the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited test. The Galaxy S20 reached just 22 fps.
Winner: iPhone 12
iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S20: battery life and charging
This is a round that Samsung has blocked, as the Galaxy S20 offers longer battery life than 5G and faster charging out of the box. In our web browsing battery test, the Galaxy S20 lasted 9 hours and 31 minutes, compared to 8:25 for the iPhone 12. However, the S20 lasted 8:04 shorter with the 120Hz display mode enabled.
Neither phone is good enough to make our best battery life list, as the longer-lasting phones can last 11 hours or more.
For environmental reasons, Apple does not include an iPhone 12 in the box. So if you want fast charging, you will have to buy a $ 19 20W USB-C power adapter. If you want to go the MagSafe wireless charging route (which is 15W), it costs $ 39. The 20W charger brought the iPhone 12 to 57% in 30 minutes, while the MagSafe charger came in at just 32%.
The 25W charger that comes with the Galaxy S20 took that phone to 53% in 30 minutes.
Winner: Galaxy S20
iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S20: overall winner
This showdown between the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy S20 is very close, and the iPhone 12 wins by a single point. It really comes down to what you value most. IPhone 12 offers a tougher screen, faster performance, and considerably better cameras.
| iPhone 12 | Galaxy S20 | |
| Value (20) | sixteen | 18 |
| Design (10) | 9 | 8 |
| Display (15) | 12 | 14 |
| Cameras (20) | 18 | 14 |
| Performance (15) | fifteen | 12 |
| Battery Life and Charging (20) | 14 | 17 |
| Overall score | 84 | 83 |
However, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is a fantastic phone, especially now that you can get it for the same price or less than the iPhone 12 with twice the storage as Apple’s phone. The Galaxy S20 also gains in battery life and charge and its smoother 120Hz display.
I like the fact that the S20 offers better telephoto and zoom, but the iPhone 12’s cameras put Apple over the top here, as you simply get better image quality.
