Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16 — how these top flagship phones stack up

Samsung vs. Apple is one of the defining debates of the smartphone era, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16 face-off is just the latest proxy battle between the two phone makers. An iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra showdown may compare the companies' premium models, but the S24 and iPhone 16 are the most affordable entries in the current flagship lineups — as a result, these are the phones most people are going to consider buying.

The Galaxy S24 kicked off the phone wars when it launched back in January, raising the bar with a set of Galaxy AI features that make up the most compelling parts of the phone. Apple added its own smarts just recently with the Apple Intelligence features arriving as part of the iOS 18.1 update. But there are some noteworthy hardware changes to both phones to consider as well.

We've tested the latest models for our Galaxy S24 review and our iPhone 16 review. Here's what we've learned about each phone and how a Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16 comparison shakes down.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Specs

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Price and availability

Samsung kept the pricing of the Galaxy S24 at $799 for the base model with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. You have seven different colors to choose from if you order the phone directly from Samsung — four widely available colors, plus three exclusives — which is more than what you'll find from other phone makers.

The iPhone 16 also costs $799, matching Samsung's starting price. Apple makes the phone in five colors.

Where the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 deviate on price is when you start adding storage beyond the 128GB that comes in each base model. Samsung has only one other option — a 256GB model — but it costs just $60 extra. To get a 256GB iPhone 16, you need to add another $100 to the starting price, so you're paying $899 total. Unlike Samsung, Apple also offers a 512GB version of its entry-level flagship, but that will set you back $1,099.

You can lower the price on either phone by seeking out the best Galaxy S24 deals and best iPhone 16 deals. With Black Friday deals upon us, you may be able to find these phones at a significant discount.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Design and display

Samsung made iterative changes to the Galaxy S24, but otherwise it bears a resemblance to its predecessor. The display and rear panel on the S24 are both flat, joined by an aluminum frame. Where we see the biggest design change are the bezels, since they're trimmed down even more to make it look like the screen covers nearly the entire facade.

Likewise, the iPhone 16 retained the basic look of the iPhone 15, but with some notable changes. For starters, on the back of the phone, the camera lenses are now stacked vertically instead of diagonally. The change allows you to capture spatial photos and videos with your iPhone since that process uses the main and ultrawide cameras simultaneously.

The iPhone 16 also features a pair of new buttons, inheriting the Action button introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro models and adopting a Camera Control button that's new to all iPhone 16 handsets. The Action button replaces the mute switch on the iPhone and lets you trigger shortcuts like launching apps or turning the phone's flashlight on and off. The Camera Control button not only launches the camera app, but can also snap photos, capture video and control zooming depending on how you press and swipe.

Samsung kept the same display size on the Galaxy S24, a 6.2-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Even though the company claims a maximum brightness of 2,600 nits, our own display benchmark testing reveals a peak brightness output of 1,416 nits. Still, that was brighter than the 1,348 nits we measured on the iPhone 16.

Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro models, which get larger displays, the iPhone 16's screen size stayed the same at 6.1 inches. Unfortunately, Apple also hasn't added a fast-refreshing display to its entry-level flagship. The iPhone 16 still has a 60Hz refresh rate compared to a variable 120Hz rate for the Galaxy S24. You can really see the difference when you're scrolling through web pages or playing games that are optimized for fast-refreshing screens.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Cameras

When it comes to the hardware, Samsung didn't make that many changes with the Galaxy S24. It's still rocking a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide shooter and 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

The 48MP main camera on the iPhone 16 remains unchanged from its predecessor. While the iPhone still lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, you can use the main camera to crop in on a shot, simulating a 2x zoom. In our testing, the iPhone 16's zooms compare favorably to the S24 at that length, but the closer you zoom in, the greater the Galaxy phone's advantage grows.

The 12MP ultrawide lens on the iPhone 16 gets an upgrade, as Apple's entry-level flagship phone can no capture macro shots. The close-up images we've captured using that iPhone feature are quite stunning, and it gives Apple's phone a real edge over the competition.

As we've mentioned earlier, the Camera Control button is a new addition with the iPhone 16. It's difficult to say if it's helpful or not, as some of our editors find it extremely helpful — while others say it doesn't help with their workflow. Either way, you have another way of accessing the camera very quickly.

We still need to put the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 through one of our 200-photo face-offs to really put the cameras through their paces. But in comparisons for our reviews of the phones, we think Apple has produced the better camera phone with the iPhone 16. Here are just a few samples from both phones.

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The iPhone 16 cameras have a greater dynamic range than the Galaxy S24, and they produce better shots in low-light conditions. That said, the Galaxy S24 photos are very colorful, and Samsung's phone benefits from Galaxy AI features aimed at improving your pictures, such as suggesting possible edits to spruce up the final image.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Performance

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset powering the Galaxy S24 has a key addition to Samsung's phones. Previously, iPhones far out-paced the Galaxy S series, taking advantage of Apple silicon to post much better results on both benchmarks and real world speed tests. However, Qualcomm has significantly improved its flagship chipsets in recent years, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 reaps the benefits of that work. Before the iPhone 16 came along, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Galaxy S24 finished ahead of the iPhone 15 in graphics testing as well as some speed tests like the multicore test in Geekbench 6.

The iPhone 16 has restored a bit of order, thanks to the A18 silicon Apple uses in its new phone. The iPhone topped the Galaxy S24 in both Geekbench tests which show how well a phone can handle tasks that tax just one core as well as multiple cores of its CPU. The iPhone 16 can also transcode a video nearly 20 seconds faster than the Galaxy S24 in Adobe Premiere Rush.

That said, the Galaxy S24 continues to outperform the iPhone on graphics testing, posting better frame rates in 3DMark's Wild Life Unlimited test. That suggests the Galaxy S24 is more adept at handling demanding games than the iPhone 16.

One note about the Galaxy S24, though — only models released in North America use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. In other parts of the world, Samsung has turned to its own Exynos 2400 silicon for the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus. And while that's a capable chip, the Exynos 2400 isn't as fast as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, according to our benchmark testing.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Battery life and charging

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 doesn't just give the Galaxy S24 a power boost; it also runs more efficiently, helping Samsung's phone last a long time on a charge. That's important because the compact size of the Galaxy S24 means there's not a lot of room for a big battery like there is on larger S24 models. In fact, the Galaxy S24 has to make do with a 4,000 mAh power pack.

Nevertheless, with the help of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Galaxy S24 lasted 13 hours and 28 minutes on our battery test, where we set the phone's display to 150 nits of brightness and have it surf the web until it runs out of power. The average phone conks out at around 10 hours, so the Galaxy S24 beats that standard by about 3.5 hours.

More significantly, the Galaxy S24 also beats the iPhone 16 on battery life, though not by much. Apple's phone lasted an average of 12 hours and 43 minutes on our test. That's about 48 minutes shorter than the Galaxy S24's result, though it's worth noting the iPhone 16 did improve upon the iPhone 15's time.

When it comes to charging your phone, neither the Galaxy S24 nor the iPhone 16 are blessed with fast charging speeds. Using wired charging, we did see the iPhone 16 reach a higher percentage charge after 30 minutes, though the iPhone has a smaller battery than Samsung's handset.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Software and special features

The Galaxy S24 debuted with Android 14, and we're still waiting for the Android 15 update that will likely come as part of the One UI 7 release. There's talk that may not arrive until 2025. That's a long-standing advantage iPhones have had over their Galaxy counterparts — when an iOS update is ready, it's available for all phones.

The iPhone 16 debuted with iOS 18 installed. That software introduced a number of improvements, including the ability to customize home screens and significant updates to the Photos and Notes apps. But the biggest change of all came with iOS 18.1 a month after the iPhone's arrival — that software release launched Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence is a suite of AI-powered tools that represent Apple's attempt to make up lost ground on other phone makers who launched their AI features earlier. (That includes Samsung, as we'll talk about in a moment.) Apple Intelligence is rolling out in stages, with several more updates coming into 2025 that will bring new capabilities. Right now, you can use Apple Intelligence to improve your writing, remove objects from photos and have more contextually aware conversations with Siri. Bigger improvements to Apple's digital assistant are still to come.

You'd have to say that Samsung's Galaxy AI capabilities are further along. They're certainly practical additions whether it's the ability to act as an interpreter with Live Translate and or turn almost any video into a slow motion one with Instant Slow-Mo. While these Galaxy AI features were launched exclusively for the Galaxy S24 series, subsequent One UI 6.1 updates brought them to older Galaxy phones.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs. iPhone 16: Verdict

The iPhone wins on performance, riding both its cameras and its faster processor to victory of the Galaxy S24. The design tweaks Apple made with convenient Action and Camera Control buttons also helps the iPhone 16 edge out the competition. And don't overlook how easy it is to stay up to date on your software with the iPhone 16.

That said, the Galaxy S24 offers a better display thanks to its fast refresh rate, and it lasts a little bit longer on a charge. We'd also argue that Galaxy AI features are ahead of Apple Intelligence at this point, though given Apple's push into AI, who knows how long that will remain the case.

Whichever phone you buy, you can't really go wrong. But the iPhone 16 wins this face-off by a nose.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple Intelligence on the iPhone: A lot of promise but no must-have features
• Best phones: Where the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 rank
• I review phones for a living — and the Galaxy S24 is the first truly great Samsung flagship I've tested