Next month, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is set to take on the iPhone 15 at an event in San Jose.
While plenty of people will already be firmly on Team Android or Team iOS, if you’re operating-system agnostic, which handset will be best for you? Here’s how the two handsets compare, based on the latest rumors for the Galaxy S24 and the fully revealed specifications of the iPhone 15.
Note that if money is no object, you probably want to compare the Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15 Pro Max instead.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Specs
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Price
Apple’s iPhone 15 starts at $799 for the 128GB version, rising to $899 for the 256GB model and hitting a massive $1,099 if you need 512GB of storage.
While pricing for the Galaxy S24 is currently unknown, Samsung has started out at $799 for its past three Galaxy S handsets, and it would be surprising if it felt the need to outprice Apple this time around.
If that’s correct, you can expect to pay $859 for double the storage. The 512GB model could reach four figures, but we don’t have a S23 variant with that much space to compare it to.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S24 is expected to match the iPhone 15 for use of OLED, but with no advance on the FHD+ resolution of the Galaxy S23, it looks like it’ll be advantage Apple in terms of pixels per inch (PPI).
Assuming the same 2,340 x 1,080 resolution on the slightly larger 6.2-inch screen, that equals 416PPI. The iPhone 15, meanwhile, has a resolution of 2,556 x 1,179 on a 6.1-inch panel for a PPI score of 460.
So a win for Apple? Not so fast. The iPhone 15 persists with a 60Hz refresh rate, leaving its ProMotion displays to the more expensive Pro range. The 120Hz panel on the Samsung Galaxy S24 should feel a whole lot smoother, and that more than cancels out the minor difference in resolution.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Cameras
While camera performance is more than just raw specifications, the Samsung Galaxy S24 should have the upper hand on Apple in the photography stakes too — even though it’s apparently standing still.
The leaks point to no hardware upgrade on Samsung’s triple camera array. That means we’re expecting a 50MP main sensor, supported by a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 10MP 3x telephoto lens for distance shots.
The iPhone 15, meanwhile, has just the two lenses: a 48MP wide sensor and a 12MP ultra-wide one. There’s no dedicated telephoto lens, though the 48MP one can provide optical-quality 2x shots by cropping the frame.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Performance
On performance, recent form would suggest an easy win for Apple. But now that non-Pro iPhones use last year’s chipset, it means the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will essentially be fighting year-old hardware in the iPhone 15 vs Galaxy S24 battle.
So while it looks like the A17 Pro still has the edge on Qualcomm, the A16 Bionic in the regular iPhone 15 is likely to be beaten this time around if leaked benchmarks are anything to go by. Though the waters are somewhat muddied by the fact that the S24 is tipped to be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 2400 chipset in some regions.
Frankly though, differences tend to manifest themselves more clearly in dedicated benchmarks than in day-to-day use, so you’re unlikely to see that big a difference between the two.
What could make a difference is Samsung’s decision to embrace artificial intelligence with the S24 series. Samsung has already boasted of its AI’s ability to translate calls in real time, and it looks like that’s just the tip of the iceberg with it likely to transform photo editing and search too.
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15: Outlook
Both handsets look like they’ll be amongst the best smartphones you’ll be able to buy in 2024. And while Samsung may have the technical edge in some key areas, your choice is likely to come down to personal preference as much as anything. Some people just prefer iOS to Android, or vice versa.
That said, the wildcard is artificial intelligence. If Samsung gets its embrace of AI right, it could be genuinely transformational. We’ll know more when the S24 launches in January 2024.
