Apple iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: Which smartphone should you get?
There's a new gadget that's making waves in the smartphone market, and it may prove to be a strong competitor against Apple's most recent iPhone.
In case you missed it, Samsung unveiled its latest device, the Galaxy S24 series, during its Global Unpacked event that took place on Jan. 18. Its most significant feature is how it is equipped with AI-powered features, making functions such as editing pictures, organizing notes, and translating foreign languages easier for users.
Those who are thinking of getting a new phone are now left wondering: How does the new Galaxy S24 fare with Apple's much-talked-about iPhone 15 line released last year?
To give you an idea, PhilSTAR L!fe made a comparison of each smartphone's key features that could (or could not) make it better than the other.
Design
To kick the gadget showdown off, let us first start with the phones' appearance.
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ are available in Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow colors (but those who will be purchasing the phone via Samsung's website are given three more additional colors: green, blue, and orange), while the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have a similar color palette with blue, green, yellow, and black skins, but the difference is that it also has a pink finish as an option.
For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can choose from Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow finishes, and for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, you can have it in black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, and natural titanium colors.
Both tech giants have also opted to craft their respective phones in an eco-friendly way, with the iPhone 15 being made up of 75% recycled aluminum alongside other recycled materials, while the Galaxy S24 uses recycled plastics, glass, and aluminum for internal and external components.
Display and performance
Like its predecessors, the iPhone 15 retains a 6.1-inch screen and a Super Retina XDR display for a more vibrant visual experience, as well as MagSafe wireless charging, Face ID, and 5G connectivity.
It also boasts a pill-shaped cutout serving as a "Dynamic Island," where you can easily see the next direction in Maps, control music, as well as get real-time updates on food delivery, ride-sharing, sports scores, travel plans, and more.
Its display level now peaks at 1,600 nits and can extend to up to 2,000 nits in sunny settings, making HDR photos and videos look better and allowing you to watch content and play games with greater visual impact.
The Pro and Pro Max phones are available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes and are powered by the A17 Pro, the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip that is claimed to be 10 percent faster than the A16.
The Galaxy S24 meanwhile has a slightly wider 6.2-inch display and is touted to have the “brightest Galaxy display ever,” reaching 2,600-nit peak brightness and improved outdoor visibility with Vision Booster.
The S24 Ultra increases the display size to 6.8 inches and is optimized not just for viewing but also for productivity. It also comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform chipset that is optimized especially for Galaxy users, allowing for remarkable NPU improvement for efficient AI processing.
The gadget is also equipped with a 1-120 Hz adaptive refresh rate that increases performance efficiency. Meanwhile, if you want a 120 Hz refresh rate Apple device, you have to go for the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max.
AI usage
It's safe to say that the Galaxy S24's AI-powered features help it stand out more from the iPhone 15.
To start, it has made improvements in searching for something on the internet through its “Circle to Search” feature. In using this, you must encircle a particular item in the picture that you're curious about, and once done, Google will immediately provide you with a myriad of results that are related to the item.
The smartphone's AI technology can also help with summarizing and organizing your notes into a more digestible format and provide transcriptions when you use the voice recorder app.
The Galaxy S24 can also translate calls and messages coming from someone who is speaking in a language you're not familiar with. But Samsung warned that the AI may not always accurately translate what you've said, so you may have to make some corrections.
It’s important to note that the iPhone 15 similarly utilizes AI technology to make tasks easier for users, but Apple has opted for a more subtle approach such as image recognition, audio recognition, and language processing.
Camera
The iPhone line has long been known to dominate the realm of photo-taking, and its camera quality is arguably the feature that most Apple users look forward to.
The iPhone 15 models improved from its predecessors by boasting a powerful 48-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel ultrawide lens that result in sharp photos and videos with excellent details. The front camera can also adjust automatically when there’s a person, dog, or cat in the frame, or when a user taps to focus, making it an ideal gadget for selfies.
The latest iPhones also feature Cinematic mode, allowing you to take bokeh-rich (blurry background or foreground) videos without the need for fancy cameras.
The Pro and Pro Max models feature the same 48MP main camera that is enhanced by seven Pro lenses. The enhanced setup further features an expansive 3x Telephoto camera, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max provides the longest optical zoom ever on the iPhone: 5x at 120 mm, making it ideal for close-ups, wildlife photos, and catching the action from further distances.
Both the Galaxy S24 and S24+ models have a higher megapixel count at 50 (plus its 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto) and can shoot lower-resolution shots at 2x zoom. The S24 Ultra takes it up a notch as it's built with a 200-megapixel main camera and 5x optical zoom lens, resulting in crystal clear results at 100x with enhanced digital zoom.
Improvements to its night mode capabilities were also added. When recording videos, the Galaxy S24 analyzes gyro information to distinguish between the filmer’s movement and the subject’s. This allows more effective noise removal and clear videos in the dark, even from far away.
The phone’s camera further delves itself away from the iPhone 15 by allowing users to apply AI editing tools for the pictures they have captured. For instance, Generative Edit can fill in parts of an image background with generative AI and can be used to fix a picture that is crooked or when an object needs to be slightly moved to be in the perfect position.
Both gadgets feature 12-megapixel selfie cameras capable of 4K but the iPhone edges the Galaxy in this respect as it can shoot at either 24/25/30/60 frames per second.
Battery
Battery-wise, the iPhone 15 series has a 3,349 mAh battery that allows you up to 20 hours of video playback and can charge up to 50% in around 30 minutes. It has also ditched Apple's proprietary Lightning charger in favor of the universally accepted USB-C connector.
The Pro model can give you 23 hours of video playback while the Pro Max can reach up to 29 hours. They have the same fash-charge capability as the regular iPhone 15 model.
The Galaxy S24 meanwhile has a higher 4,000 mAh battery that allows up to 29 hours of video playback and can charge to up to 50 percent in around 30 minutes.
The S24+ is equipped with a 4,900 mAh battery and allows up to 31 hours of video playback whereas the S24 Ultra has an even higher 5,000 mAh battery, but only has 30 hours of video playback. Both can reach up to 65% charge in around 30 minutes.
Price
Their functionality aside, whichever phone you take home in the end will also strongly depend on your budget. Here’s how much the two smartphone lines are priced in the Philippines:
iPhone 15
- 128GB- P56,990
- 256GB- P63,990
- 512GB- P75,990
iPhone 15 Pro
- 128GB- P70,990
- 256GB- P77,990
- 512GB- 89,990
- 1TB- P101,990
iPhone 15 Pro Max
- 256GB- P84,990
- 512GB- P96,990
- 1TB- P108,990
Galaxy S24
- 256GB- P53,990
- 512GB- P61,990
Galaxy S24+
- 256GB- P68,990
- 512GB- P76,990
Galaxy S24 Ultra
- 256GB- P84,990
- 512GB- P92,990
- 1TB- P106,990
