iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20: Which is the better flagship compact smartphone of the two?

Which is the better of the two? iPhone 12 or Galaxy S20?

Whenever it comes to premium flagships, Samsung and Apple have been delivering their products which have faced a lot of stiff competition. This year Apple has the iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S20 around.

The iPhone 12 series brings along some improvements like a newer design, A14 Bionic chipset and it brings along the support for 5G. The iPhone 12 (Review) is a very strong offering from Apple which makes it worth considering when looking at its specifications. It has the newer cameras, a powerful A14 Bionic chipset, and that great flat design with a tough Ceramic shield on the display.

The Galaxy S20 has been one of the finest smartphones on the Android side of things. This too brings along many features like a 120Hz display, a newer design, a larger battery, and some pretty good cameras. Compared to the iPhone 12, it is cheaper also.

So considering all aspects of the smartphones which we will be going through in the comparison, which of the two is the better one to consider?

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Design:

When it comes to design, the iPhone 12 sports a more flatter design compared to the Galaxy S20. The iPhone 12 is slightly thicker compared to the Galaxy S20 which is slimmer and is slightly curved at the back. This is a big difference compared to the curved display on the last year's Galaxy S10 series. 

The iPhone 12 has an aluminum back which has a flatter design with a magnetic finish on it. This magnetic back brings support for MagSafe accessories which were introduced this year alongside the iPhone 12 series. There are a lot of colors available on the iPhone 12.

On the front, the iPhone 12 has a larger notch which looks a bit outdated and the bezels are slightly thicker compared to the Galaxy S20. Talking about the Galaxy S20, you are getting a full-screen display that houses a single punch hole camera in the center on top.

The back of the Galaxy S20 has a rectangular array housing three cameras compared to a square array housing two cameras on the iPhone 12. The front, as well as the back of the Galaxy S20, has Corning Gorilla 6 for protection whereas the iPhone 12 has the newer Ceramic Shield on the display which is much stronger and has better durability.

To the sides, both get the power button with volume controls and Apple provides an additional button to control sound where you can set to mute, vibrate, and ringing. At the bottom, the Galaxy S20 has a USB Type-C port whereas the iPhone 12 has a Lightning port. 

Both get an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance and also support wireless charging. The Galaxy S20 supports an additional feature called reverse wireless charging also. Though both smartphones have the same weight at 163 grams the Galaxy S20 slightly lighter to hold thanks to the good distribution.

Check here: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Display:

Both the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy S20 sport over 6 inches display on the front where the iPhone has 6.1 inches compared to 6.2 inches display on the Galaxy S20. Both have OLED panels but the one on the Galaxy S20 has support for a 120Hz refresh rate. 

Another difference between the displays is in terms of resolution where the Galaxy S20 has a Quad HD+ display (3200x1440) compared to a Full HD+ display(2532x1170) on the iPhone 12. The colors look punchier on both the displays but the viewing angles are slightly better on the Galaxy S20.

In terms of brightness, the Galaxy S20 has better legibility compared to the iPhone 12 whether it is under direct sunlight or in low-light. The Galaxy S20 can reach a peak brightness of 857 nits compared to 690 nits on the iPhone 12. 

The display on the Galaxy S20 covers around 163% of the DC-P3 color gamut compared to 81%. Both support playback for HDR content and have Widevine L1 to support HD content from third-party applications like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. 

The Galaxy S20 has one big downside i.e. it can only use the higher 120Hz refresh rate at 1080p resolution, not in Quad HD+. But still, it makes gaming and touch responses much better.

The Galaxy S20 has an in-display fingerprint scanner which is an ultrasonic one whereas the iPhone 12 does not have but it has a much more secured FaceID as the massive notch houses the IR sensor that maps the face and is much secured compared to the regular face unlock on the Galaxy S20.

With a larger display and support for a higher refresh rate, the display feels a tad bit better on the Galaxy S20.

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Performance:

Performance is one key area where both shine together as both have the latest and best chipsets in the smartphone industry. The iPhone 12 is powered by the latest A14 Bionic chipset which is built on an efficient 5nm process. 

The Galaxy S20 is powered by either the Snapdragon 865 or the Exynos 990 depending on which region you live in. Our model is powered by the Exynos 990 chipset which is not as good as the Snapdragon 865 but when it comes to daily performance and gaming, it gets the work done.

When you compare the performance between both the smartphones, the application opening and closing times are almost the same on both the smartphones but in some cases, the iPhone 12 feels slightly better. Multi-tasking felt easy on both of them but the higher refresh rate display on the Galaxy S20 feels much better to use.

All heavy games like Call of Duty, Asphalt 9 Extreme ran on both smartphones without breaking any sweat but the gameplay is slightly better on the Snapdragon 865 compared to the Exynos 990 variant on the Galaxy S20. 

When you see the benchmarks, the iPhone 12 scores 1593 in single-core and 3859 in multi-core tests which are slightly better compared to the 867 and 3147 on the Galaxy S20 in Geekbench 5. So in terms of raw performance, it is very hard to distinguish between the two, but considering the newer 5nm process and benchmarks, the iPhone 12 has a clear edge.

See also: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Review

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Software:

The iPhone 12 has iOS 14 out of the box which brings along some very good additions like home screen widgets and an organized App Library which groups all applications into different categories. There is system-wide dark mode, full-fledged Apple Pay and also the Siri is much improved and has a new look.

The Apple Pay is now integrated with FaceID with two-factor authentication and is slightly secured compared to Samsung Pay on the Galaxy S20. Talking about the Galaxy S20, it runs on the latest Android 10 with OneUI 2.5 out of the box. 

You get the system-wide dark mode, Android 10 navigation gestures, Digital Wellbeing, etc. Samsung has some pre-installed applications and some Samsung specific applications. There is also an Always-On display, DeX mode, and Edge Lighting where the edges of the display light up when a notification comes.

Moving to software updates, the Galaxy S20 is slated to receive another three years of software and Android updates. The iPhone 12 can be updated to another 4-5 versions of iOS which increases the longevity of the smartphone. So here the software experience is all personal preference.

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Cameras:

Since both are premium flagship smartphones, the cameras are one of the most important factors. Starting with the Galaxy S20, it houses a triple camera setup at the rear that includes a 12MP f/1.8 main camera with Dual Pixel Autofocus, another 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 64MP f/2.0 telephoto camera with 1.1x optical zoom. 

The iPhone 12 gets two cameras at the rear that includes a 12MP f/1.6 main camera and a 12MP f/2.4 ultrawide camera. On the front, the Galaxy S20 gets a 10MP f/2.2 camera whereas the iPhone 12 gets a 12MP f/2.2 camera.

So clearly when comparing the specifications on both the cameras, the Galaxy S20 holds the upper hand in terms of figures. During daylight, the images from both the smartphones come out with good details and have excellent dynamic range. 

The colors look more natural on the iPhone 12 compared to the Galaxy S20 which tends to oversharpen the images a bit and the colors look more saturated on it. The noise is lower on the iPhone 12 compared to the Galaxy S20 but when you zoom into the images, the Galaxy S20 resolves better details.

Shot on the iPhone 12

Shot on the Galaxy S20

At night, the images from both smartphones come out good. The images on the iPhone 12 have lesser noise compared to the Galaxy S20 and the highlights in shadows are much better on the iPhone 12. Though using the Night Mode does improve the dynamic range and also lowers the noise on the Galaxy S20 and the long exposure images do improve. 

Shot on the iPhone 12

Shot on the Galaxy S20

Both have their respective Night Modes, where the iPhone 12 images look better processed which is due to the newer A14 Bionic chipset's efficient image processing. The Galaxy S20 is not far behind as the images have excellent details but there is some kind of over sharpness noticed most of the time.

Moving to the second camera, the ultrawide camera works well on both the smartphones where the images on the iPhone 12 come out with more natural colors and the dynamic range is slightly better. Both the ultrawide camera images are not as good as the main camera, but still with better contrast and have a more natural look to the images.

Shot on the iPhone 12

Shot on the Galaxy S20

At night, the images on the Galaxy S20 have more noise and the dynamic range is just good and here also the iPhone 12 has punchier colors, details are better and the exposure in the images is well maintained. The iPhone 12 images have better highlights in shadows.

Shot on the iPhone 12

Shot on the Galaxy S20

The third camera on the Galaxy S20 is the telephoto camera which is a massive 64MP shooter that can do 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. The iPhone 12, on the other hand, misses out on a telephoto camera so for zoomed images, you are only restricted to use the main camera which can only go up to 5x digital zoom.

Here clearly, the Galaxy S20 takes the round as the details are much better and the colors look punchier. On the other hand, the iPhone 12 has more noise and the colors look washed out. Similarly, at night, the dynamic range continues to remain excellent on the Galaxy S20 and it has better contrast also.

Both the smartphones lack a macro camera, and you are only left with the main camera which does the duty for macro images on both. The focus works well and here the Galaxy S20 gets autofocus which lets you focus better and the dynamic range is also better than the iPhone 12.

In terms of portraits, the iPhone 12 comes out with a better dynamic range and the colors look more natural compared to the Galaxy S20. The edge detection is better on the Galaxy S20 though. When you zoom into the portraits, the details are better on the iPhone 12.

The images from the front camera come out with good details and the colors look punchier on both. The iPhone 12 has a slightly better dynamic range and the colors have a more natural look to them. It also has a wider field of view compared to the Galaxy S20. The portraits are also better on the iPhone 12 with better edge detection compared to the Galaxy S20.

In terms of videos, both smartphones support 4K videos at 60fps. The Galaxy S20 supports 8K video at 30fps which is barely any good. The 4K videos on both have excellent color and dynamic range. The videos on the iPhone 12 have lesser noise and the stabilization is slightly better.

The iPhone 12 has support for Dolby Vision HDR which enables smooth processing of videos and the 1080p videos on both to come out great. There is Ultra Steady Mode for stabilization on the Galaxy S20.

Overall, the cameras are better on the iPhone 12 compared to the Galaxy S20 but the difference is very marginal.

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Battery Life:

The iPhone 12 sports a smaller 2815mAh battery compared to the 4000mAh battery on the Galaxy S20. Both smartphones can easily last for more than a day with normal to heavy usage. The iPhone 12 has a more efficient A14 Bionic chipset built on the 5nm process compared to the 7nm Snapdragon 865 on the Galaxy S20.

The Galaxy S20 has a 120Hz display compared to the 60Hz display on the iPhone 12, so marginally the battery life is better on the iPhone 12. With heavy usage, it was seen that the iPhone 12 had only 10-15 percent left whereas Galaxy S20 needs a quick charge before going to bed.

Talking about charging, the Galaxy S20 has a 25W fast charger bundled inside the box compared to the 20W fast charger on the iPhone 12. Unfortunately, Apple has not bundled the fast charger inside the box and you need to purchase it separately. So in charging speeds, the Galaxy S20 takes around 68 minutes to charge it completely compared to 75 minutes on the iPhone 12.

Both support wireless charging but the Galaxy S20 gets additional reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 12 has support for MagSafe charger which gets attached when the back of the smartphone and this charger can charge 0 to 50 percent in 57 minutes.

The average screen on time on the Galaxy S20 is around 7-8 hours which is almost close to 8-8.5 hours on the iPhone 12. The battery life is not a huge difference between both smartphones, but here the Galaxy S20 has the included charger inside the box and has faster charging.

iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Audio Quality:

Both the smartphones have support for stereo speakers and the sound is clearly better on the iPhone 12 with better bass and the level of loudness is good on both. Both lack a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you are left with wireless earphones only.

There is Dolby Atmos for enhanced sound experience while watching videos and playing games.

Verdict:

Both are very good smartphones and truly define the word compact flagship in many ways. The Galaxy S20 has a slightly larger display and supports a higher refresh rate, has an extra telephoto camera, and also comes with a fast charger inside the box. 

The iPhone 12, on the other hand, has a slightly better chipset i.e. A14 Bionic chipset compared to Snapdragon 865, and has better cameras of the two on an overall basis. Both smartphones support 5G. The iPhone 12 has the best in terms of software as iOS gets better updates compared to Android.

So if you want a smartphone with a high refresh rate display, telephoto camera, and battery life is what you want, the Galaxy S20 is the one to go for. If cameras are your highest priority and you want that Apple ecosystem around you with slightly better performance, the iPhone 12 is the one to go for.