Did you hear? THE The iPhone 14 comes in a new yellow color. I find the new shade appealing, but there’s just something about the timing of the announcement. It’s because it’s spring, right? Well yes.
But this version also comes just after the Galaxy S23 launch, and this could very well be Apple’s way of trying to steal some of Samsung’s thunder. As you will see in our Samsung Galaxy S23 reviewthere’s a good reason for the iPhone 14 refresh at this particular time.
Do not mistake yourself. OUR iPhone 14 review is quite positive – and both handsets earn a spot on our best phones list. But the Galaxy S23 beats the iPhone quite substantially.
5 ways the Galaxy S23 Ultra beats the iPhone 14
Better zoom
One day telephoto zoom will cease to be a Pro feature, but for Apple right now, if you want optical zoom, you have to jump for one. iPhone 14 Pro Or iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone 14 makes do with a meager 5x digital zoom. That’s super low compared to the 30x digital zoom offered by the Galaxy S23. More importantly, you get 3x optical zoom for the Samsung S23 compared to nothing on the iPhone 14. So if you want to get closer, go for Galaxy.
120Hz display
I’m not going to say it’s a dealbreaker or anything, but I do appreciate that the Galaxy S23 has a 120Hz display, which means you can enjoy smoother scrolling and smoother animations in supported games. iPhone 14 is stuck at 60Hz.
Again, Apple reserves this feature for its more premium iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. That means you also can’t have an always-on display to show the time, battery status, and more, because the iPhone screen can’t be minimized enough to enable this feature.
The Galaxy S23’s screen is also brighter than the iPhone 14’s – 1,158 nits versus 757 nits when we measured both phones on a light meter. It certainly makes the Galaxy S23 easier to see in direct sunlight.
Longer battery life
Samsung’s phone should last longer on a charge based on our Galaxy S23 battery life test. In the Tom’s Guide Battery test, which involves continuous web browsing at 150 nits of screen brightness, the Galaxy S23 lasted 10 hours and 27 minutes in adaptive mode. This runtime increased to 11:20 when we switched the screen to 60Hz mode.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 lasted 9:28, so you get at least an extra hour of juice and up to nearly 2 hours if you switch display modes. To be fair, none of the flagships make our better phone battery life list because they don’t last 11.5 hours or more, but the S23 has more resistance.
Better graphics
The iPhone 14 is a great phone for gaming, but if you’re looking for the best possible performance, it’s hard to ignore Samsung’s edge. THE Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy The chip offered better frame rates than the A15 Bionic chip in the iPhone 14.
| Phone | CPU | Unlimited Wild Life (FPS) | Wild Life Extreme Unlimited (FPS) |
| Galaxy S23 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy | 87.3 | 22.9 |
| iPhone 14 | A15 bionic | 69.1 | 15.5 |
| iPhone 14 Pro | A16 bionic | 74 | 19 |
In the 3DMark Wild Life benchmark, the Samsung S23 hit 87 fps in the Wild Life Unlimited test, compared to 69.1 fps for the iPhone 14. And in the more demanding Wild Life Extreme test, the S23 hit 22.9 fps against 15.5 fps for the iPhone. Even the A16 Bionic power of the iPhone 14 Pro was a bit behind the Galaxy S23.
At the end of the line
As a reasonable person, I know most people won’t switch from iOS to Android. But if you’re open-minded about your next phone, I think the Samsung Galaxy S23 explains very well why it’s the superior handset to the iPhone 14. You even get USB-C charging now , instead of waiting for the iPhone 15.