Cell Phone Showdown: iPhone 14 vs. Galaxy S23 | Shopping guide

comparison Samsung Galaxy S23 to apple iPhone 14 It’s a bit different putting the top brands’ phones side by side – the S23 Ultra and 14 Pro.

Both are indicated for those who want a device with good cameras and fast performance, however You don’t intend to spend that much more for improved zoom or higher resolution on the cameras.

a Shopping guide I tested the two brands’ “regular” models, which are expensive, but not as expensive as the premium manufacturers’ phones.

The difference between the devices is about BRL 2000 (for Apple devices) and BRL 3000 (for Samsung devices).

Here are the main features of each one. And then, the Test results.

a Apple iPhone 14 comes with Few changes in comparison to iPhone 13, 2021. Both have a similar design, 5G connectivity, same size screens, and the same A15 Bionic processor.

It also has a file dual camera– Wide main angle and ultra wide angle.

But compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, it is a slim device less in resources.

On the iPhone 14 Pro, the chip is More powerful (A16 Bionic)The camera offers a higher resolution (48 megapixels) and the operating system has more functionality, such as the dynamic notification area.

The iPhone 14, in the 128GB storage version, sold for R$7,600 in online stores in March.

The cell phone also has versions with a capacity of 256GB (R$8,600) and 512GB (R$10,600).

actually Samsung Galaxy S23 can be considered A smaller and less powerful version of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

mobile phones Co-therapist (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy), however The S23 Ultra has more RAM (12GB vs. 8GB), higher resolution screen, and The most advanced camera (200MP x 50MP).

And unlike the version released in 2022 (Galaxy S22), Samsung has made a slight change in product design, in addition to equipping the new model with the latest processor.

The Galaxy S23, in the 128GB version, was priced at R$5,999 in online stores in March.

The brand is also offering a variant with 256GB of internal storage, which retails for R$6,400.

In performance tests (see at the end how they are performed), Galaxy S23 came close but couldn’t overtake iPhone 14.

These tests assess the simulated usage of the device on a daily basis. In any case, neither of them slowed down or crashed during use.

for games and videos, The Galaxy S23 was faster than the iPhone 14 on more advanced graphics performance tests.

In one of them, which required less processing power, there was a tie. This means that they both run high-end mobile games quite well.

in tests with Fifth generation networkiPhone 14 upload speed reached 474Mbps with a maximum upload speed of 46Mbps.

actually The Galaxy S23 was a little fasterup to 483 Mbps for download and 116 Mbps for upload.

This means that – most likely – neither cell phone is connected to a “pure” (or standalone) 5G network, which is faster, but to an NSA (non-standalone) network, which shares a signal with 4G networks.

The iPhone 14 and Galaxy S23 can spend an entire day out of the socket.

It’s always good to point that out Everyone has a usage pattern And that, practically speaking, a cell phone battery will not run out after this period.

in tests, The Galaxy S23 hit 16 hours of use and the iPhone 14, 10:30 a.m.

The Samsung model has a larger battery capacity (3,900 mAh) than the iPhone 14 (3,279 mAh).

a iPhone 14 comes with a 12MP dual camera. The main lens is a wide angle lens. The second is an ultra wide angle, which allows you to include more objects in the photographed image.

It is noteworthy that the file iPhone 14 does not have optical zoom like the Galaxy S23: If you need to zoom in, it’s up to 5x in digital zoom.

But for Apple, photography isn’t just about the sensor and lens. Together with the A15 Bionic processor, the camera works together to create what Apple calls “computational photography.”

Here, the result is optimized automatically, with the expectation of always getting very good photos all the time. And in general, they are.

actually In comparison, the S23 Ultra is a more versatile model. He has Three lenses on the back: main 50 megapixels, wide angle 12 megapixels and 3x optical zoom With a resolution of 10 megapixels.

Here, the combination of software, cameras, and processor uses what Samsung calls it Scene Optimizer.

It’s an automatic way to learn in real time what you’re shooting (such as food, pets, landscapes) and adjust your camera to get the best result. The result is also excellent.

When you compare the images side by side, a difference appears.

Galaxy S23 images are yellow and “hot”. And those who use the iPhone 14 tend to be more neutral. In testing the Galaxy S23 Ultra with the iPhone 14 Pro, the result was similar.

In the pictures below, the difference is noticeable. Swipe to the side to compare:

This phenomenon is reflected in selfies – more colorful on the iPhone and neutral on the Galaxy.

But the Galaxy S23 allows you to choose, when you first open the camera, whether the tone of the photos will be warmer or cooler.

Pictures taken on both phones are excellent. Below, another example of color in an environment full of contrast:

But, as with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, auto mode photos on the Galaxy S23 don’t show up at 50MP. The manufacturer collects points of light (pixels) to improve image quality and “comes out” with a resolution of 12 megapixels.

These “groups” of points leave images with more detail and sharpness. Since the iPhone 14 image resolution is 12MP, this feature is not used here.

Another valid comparison between the S23 and the S23 Ultra: the zoom isn’t quite as powerful and it doesn’t hit the moon.

At night, with less light, the result of the two cameras is also very good.

But here the Galaxy S23 seems to make the image more defined, with better colors – the yellow house appears more in the first image. see below:

The iPhone family has four models: iPhone 14 and 14 Plus (same configurations, different screens 6.1 inches and 6.8 inches) f iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max (With more advanced processor and camera specifications).

in practice, iPhone 14 is very different from iPhone 14 Pro. It lacks the Dynamic Island, which is the area at the top of the screen that covers the front camera notch and displays notifications. This area also allows you to control applications such as music players.

It also lacks the telephoto camera of the more expensive model, and its processor is slightly slower than the iPhone 14 Pro.

iPhone 14 runs iOS 16, the latest, which should be updated for at least another five years. Since it was released at the end of 2022, it is supposed to be updated until 2027.

Samsung already has three devices in its best-in-class mobile phone family: S23 and S23+ (same, changes the screen size from 6.1″ to 6.6″ in the Plus model), and Galaxy S23 Ultra, With a 100x zoom camera, an ultra-fast pen, and more memory.

The Galaxy S23 looks more like the Galaxy S23 Ultra on the insidewith the same processor, but a smaller screen and RAM and without the 100x zoom that allows you to see very far away.

The system used is the same, Android 13. Which, according to the manufacturer’s policies, must be updated four more times, reaching Android 17 in 2026 or 2027.

The S23 will also get security updates for five years, until 2028.

Despite not being in the “top” of their family, the Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14 are quite complete cell phones.

Its design fits snugly in your hand, thanks to the 6.1-inch screen, and excellent cameras that won’t—and shouldn’t—anytime soon.. and the Long lasting batteries.

If the model is older from 2020 or earlier, upgrading to the iPhone 14 or Galaxy S23 is worth it.

If it’s a cell phone the most recentThe trade-off might not make up much for the features and cameras available on the S23 and iPhone 14.

For performance tests, three applications were used: PC Mark and 3D Mark, from UL Laboratories, and GeekBench 6, from Primate Labs. They simulate everyday smartphone tasks, such as image processing, text editing, battery life, and web browsing, among others.

These tests run on multiple platforms — such as Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS — and allow you to compare performance between them, creating a benchmark for that comparison.

For battery tests, smartphone screens were calibrated to 70% brightness to run PC Mark. This is not always possible, as not all devices allow this fine tuning.

The battery was charged to 100% and the test lasted for hours until the end of the charge. When a charge of 20% or less is reached, the test stops and shows how much battery life the smartphone can have in hours / minutes.

The result is an estimate of how long that battery can last away from the socket. In practice, the real number can be different, because we don’t use the phone intensively all the time.

For camera tests, images were taken both indoors and in the street (if possible), with different lighting changes in similar scenarios in order to compare the images.

5G tests were carried out using the Vivo operator’s line, in the Cambuci district of São Paulo. Ookla’s SpeedTest app was used to measure download and upload speeds.

Products have been delivered for testing and will be returned.

Interest in the 5G network: Test results with 5G depend on several factors, such as signal quality, distance from the 5G antenna, whether the 5G is “pure” (so-called standalone) or shared with the 4G network (“non-standalone”) and even whether a cell phone is used inside or Outside.

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