Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Battle of giants
We may earn a commission if you make a purchase from the links on this page.
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, and our comparison is slowly shaping up with all the necessary benchmarks and camera samples.
Which of these two will claim the title of the Best Compact Flagship phone?
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.
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:
Also read:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: The world's most interesting phones
- Galaxy S25 vs Galaxy S24: New chip promises an exciting upgrade
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:
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.
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.
Both phones performed great in our brightness test with a slight advantage for the Galaxy S25. Samsung's flagship managed to outshine the iPhone with a total of almost 2,400 nits at 20% APL, while the latter is still no slouch, outputting 2,152 nits.
The minimum brightness is excellent on both phones, as is the color accuracy, but the iPhone has a slight edge over the Galaxy with an average deltaE under 2. You'll be happy with either of these phones when it comes to display quality, but if we absolutely have to nitpick, the Galaxy is a tad brighter, while the iPhone has slightly better resolution and color accuracy.
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). Let's see how the Galaxy S25’s Qualcomm chip with its special tuning performs against 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). Let's see how the Galaxy S25’s Qualcomm chip with its special tuning performs against the A18 Pro.
The results are in and we have a new silicon champion, well, sort of. The Snapdragon 8 Elite managed to beat Apple's A18 Pro in every test, barring Geekbench's single core performance benchmark. Which is a bit controversial, as smartphones utilize a single core most of the time, especially in everyday tasks. But benchmarks are still benchmarks and the Galaxy S25 outperforms the iPhone 16 Pro in all other categories.
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.
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
PhoneArena Camera Score:
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.
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.
There are some differences between these two phones in the camera department. Even though the hardware is similar when it comes to the main cameras, the iPhone 16 Pro does a better job with dynamic range and also depth. Some Galaxy S25 samples look a bit washed out and the exposure isn't quite right.
The zoom shots are again in favor of the iPhone, thanks to the tetraprism lens system, when zooming at close magnification there are digital artifacts in the S25 samples and in general the images from the iPhone look a bit better. It's also worth mentioning that the iPhone still produces warmer pictures, something we've grown accustomed by now. It's especially evident when the samples are put next to a more neutral or cold photos.
Selfies look pretty similar, but once again the color tonality is different, if you look at the sky in the background, it almost looks purple in the S25 sample, while the iPhone kind of gets closer to what our eyes saw during the photoshoot. Time for a quick video comparison.
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.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
We're getting close results when it comes to video streaming, but in gaming and browsing the Galaxy S25 has a clear advantage. It might be down to the larger capacity of its battery or the new AI algorithms that supposedly prolong battery life, but whichever it is, the results are clear.
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. The charging score is very similar with both phones charging from 0 to 100 in roughly one and a half hours.
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. The charging score is very similar with both phones charging from 0 to 100 in roughly one and a half hours.
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. In the camera department it looks like the iPhone has a slight edge, but on the other hand, the S25 has better battery life overall. It's more or less a tie everywhere else.
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. So, if you want a capable compact flagship and don't mind the ecosystem, you can get a lot of bang for your bucks with the Galaxy S25.
Popular stories
Latest News
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: