Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Battle of giants

By Mariyan Slavov

Updated: Jan 22, 2025, 12:26 PM

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Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Battle of giants

Intro

The iPhone 16 series has been around for some time now, fighting the competition with Apple’s AI features and the all-new camera control button. However, a new contender has popped out of the smartphone frying pan that could challenge Apple’s flagship phones—none other than the Galaxy S25.

Samsung’s recently announced Galaxy S25 and the entry level flagship is shaping up to be a serious threat to the iPhone 16’s prospects. Today, we’re diving into a comparison between the Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 16 Pro to see how they stack up.

The Galaxy S25 officially debuted on January 22, but our comparison is still in a somewhat early stage as we continue running benchmarks and camera tests. Stay tuned for updates and our final verdict soon.

Which of these two will claim the title of the Best Compact Flagship phone?

Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16 Pro differences:

Galaxy S25	iPhone 16 Pro
A more compact phone	Slightly larger and heavier
A smaller 6.2-inch screen, 120Hz refresh rate	6.3-inch display, ProMotion 120Hz, 1-nit minimum brightness
Similar triple camera system, but has 3X zoom	Similar camera system, 48MP stacked sensor for the main camera, 48MP ultrawide, tetraprism telephoto with 5X optical
12GB RAM	Less RAM at 8GB but not that important
128GB of base storage	Same 128GB base storage
A smaller 4,000mAh battery	A smaller 3,582 mAh battery
25W wired charging, wireless charging	Similar wired and wireless charging speeds

Table of Contents:

Design and Display
Performance and Software
Camera
Battery and Charging
Specs
Which one should you buy?

$299 ⁹⁹

$999 ⁹⁹

$700 off (70%)

The exciting Galaxy S25 Plus has finally been revealed. Pre-orders are now open, and you can pre-order a unit for up to $700 off at the Samsung Store with eligible trade-ins. There's an additional $100 Samsung Credit available.

Pre-order at Samsung

$299 ⁹⁹

$799 ⁹⁹

$500 off (63%)

The "vanilla" Galaxy S25 is here! Now's the time to pre-order one with exclusive discounts of up to $500. To get the discount, you must trade in an eligible device. There's an additional $100 Samsung Credit available, which includes your $50 Reservation Gift!

Pre-order at Samsung

$299 ⁹⁹

$999 ⁹⁹

$700 off (70%)

Pre-order at Samsung

$299 ⁹⁹

$799 ⁹⁹

$500 off (63%)

Pre-order at Samsung

Design and Display Quality

Compact flagships are growing bigger?

Flagship phones continue to grow in size, even the most compact models. This trend holds true for the iPhone 16 series as well. The iPhone 16 Pro now features a 6.3-inch display and weighs almost 200 grams.

The Galaxy S25 remains the more compact of the two, with a 6.2-inch display, dimensions of 70.5 x 146.9 x 7.2 mm, and a weight of just 162 grams. In comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro measures 149.6 x 71.5 x 8.3 mm. If you're looking for a more compact flagship, the Galaxy S25 has the edge by shaving off a few millimeters. That said, the design philosophy has remained somewhat a constant across recent generations for both series.

Both the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 Pro stick to the familiar glass-and-metal sandwich design. Apart from the differences in camera housing, the two phones look and feel surprisingly similar. However, there’s a big difference in build materials: the iPhone 16 Pro boasts a Grade 5 titanium frame, while the Galaxy S25 relies on good old aluminum.

The iPhone 16 Pro is available in four titanium finishes: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and Desert Titanium. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 is available in the following hues:

Samsung Galaxy S25 Colors:

Navy
Silver Shadow
Icy Blue
Mint

When it comes to displays, the screen sizes are similar, and both devices use pretty much the same display tech. The iPhone 16 Pro features a flat 6.3-inch display with a resolution of 1206 x 2622 pixels and Apple’s ProMotion technology (120Hz adaptive refresh rate). The Galaxy S25, on the other hand, is equipped with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2320 pixels) and the same 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate. In terms of pixel density, the iPhone has a slight advantage with 460 PPI, compared to the Galaxy’s 416 PPI.

We’re still testing the Galaxy S25, so stay tuned for our display tests, where we’ll dive into details like color accuracy, minimum brightness, temperature, and all the other geeky stuff.

Performance and Software

"For Galaxy" might give the A18 Pro a run for its money

The Galaxy S25 features a supercharged Qualcomm chip for yet another consecutive year, branded with the "for Galaxy" stamp. The Snapdragon 8 Elite "for Galaxy" is potentially faster than the standard version of the chipset, but can it beat the A18 Pro? Early benchmarks from other Android flagships equipped with this silicon suggest that the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a real beast, occasionally even outperforming the A18 Pro.

The aforementioned A18 Pro powering the iPhone 16 Pro is, as expected, a powerhouse as well. It manages to score impressive GeekBench results of 3,330 in single-core and 8,044 in multi-core performance (in our own performance tests). While it remains unclear whether the Galaxy S25’s Qualcomm chip can dethrone the A18 Pro, there’s a good chance it might.

We’re currently running performance benchmarks, so stay tuned for hard numbers. As always, keep in mind that these are synthetic benchmarks, and smartphone processors have advanced to the point where even mid-range devices feel fast and responsive in everyday use.

In terms of RAM, the Galaxy S25 packs 12GB, while the iPhone 16 Pro offers 8GB. However, thanks to iOS’s efficient app management and optimization, the difference in real-world performance is literally non-existent.

The software situation is pretty complicated at the moment. Apple has introduced its AI system, dubbed Apple Intelligence (a rather bold abbreviation hijack), but many features remain in beta or slated for future updates. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy AI is much more mature, and there are some new additions with the S25 series like Now Brief, Gemini integration, and more.

Finally, the Galaxy S25 continues Samsung’s commitment to long software support, offering seven years of major OS updates—a slight advantage over the iPhone 16 Pro and its usual five-year support cycle.

Camera

Hardware stagnation

It’s hard to get excited about a new phone when the camera hardware has remained unchanged for several generations. While we understand that in today’s smartphone landscape, AI and post-processing algorithms are just as important as megapixels, sensor size, and optics, we still wish Samsung had at least upgraded the ultrawide camera on the Galaxy S25.

Unfortunately, the S25 sticks with the same 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto camera as its predecessor—and the one before that... and the one before that.

Before we pass our righteous judgment on the Galaxy S25, we’ll need to test the camera system in real-world conditions, so stay tuned for comparison samples coming soon.

The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, is a known quantity. We’ve already tested its camera system, and it performed impressively, earning an overall score of 154 in our camera rating widget (158 for photo quality and 150 for video). It also features a triple-camera setup, consisting of a 48MP main camera, a 48MP ultrawide, and a 12MP tetraprism telephoto lens with 5x native optical zoom.

Battery Life and Charging

Probably a tie

Apple has increased the battery capacity across all four models in the iPhone 16 series, resulting in better overall battery life. The iPhone 16 Pro features a 3582 mAh cell, which might not sound particularly large, but in our battery tests, the phone performed on par with other flagships that have much bigger batteries. The phone achieved a final score of 6 hours and 35 minutes, placing it 65th among the phones tested in the past two years. While not terrible, this performance isn’t exactly impressive, to be honest.

The Galaxy S25, on the other hand, carries over the same 4,000 mAh battery as its predecessor, so we expect similar results. Given the differences in operating systems and app management, the results from both phones should be close. We’re running the benchmarks as we type this, so expect numbers to appear soon.

Regarding charging, the iPhone 16 Pro sticks with the 25W wired charging from the previous generation, at least on paper. However, our tests have shown that, in certain scenarios, the iPhone 16 Pro can charge faster. The Galaxy S25 matches these charging speeds, which may be disappointing to some, but it is what it is.

Specs Comparison

Here's a quick specs comparison for the number nerds out there. You can check out our full Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16 Pro specs comparison on PhoneArena.

Specs	Galaxy S25	iPhone 16 Pro
Dimensions	146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm	149.6 x 71.5 x 8.3 mm
Weight	162 g	199 g
Screen	6.2-inch Super AMOLED 1-120Hz	6.3-inch OLED 1-120Hz ProMotion
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Elite (for Galaxy)	Apple A18 Pro
RAM, Storage and Price	12/128GB for $799	8/128GB for $999
Cameras	50MP main 12MP ultra-wide 10MP telephoto, 3x zoom 12MP front	48MP main 48MP ultra-wide 12MP telephoto, 5x zoom 12MP front
Battery Size	4,000 mAh	3,582 mAh
Charging Speeds	25W wired Wireless support	25W wired 25W wireless with MagSafe

Which one should you buy?

This isn't straightforward, guys. The iPhone 16 Pro has some very cool refinements, and even though it can't be seen as a groundbreaking upgrade, the package is as strong as ever. The Galaxy S25, on the other hand, features the hardware necessary to put up a serious fight, so the outcome is unclear at the moment.

That being said, we have the usual iOS vs Android battle between these two, and we should also mention that the vanilla Galaxy S25 is around $200 cheaper than the iPhone 16 Pro. Whether or not it will offer enough to make people chose it over the Apple's flagship, we still don't know.

We will update this comparison with benchmarks, camera samples, and other lab data soon, so stay tuned for the final verdict.

View Full Bio

Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.