Apple has officially announced its newest range of smartphones. Here’s how the iPhone 16 compares to the Samsung Galaxy S24.
The iPhone 16 is the most affordable iPhone released in 2024, but how does it stand up to one of its biggest competitors Samsung and its Galaxy S24.
Keep reading to learn how these two phones compare when it comes to the design, camera, performance, battery life and more.
Price
The iPhone 16 was announced on September 9 2024, with pre-orders starting on September 13. Prices start at $799/£799 with 128GB of storage.
The Galaxy S24 made its debut on January 31st 2024 following an announcement on January 17th. Like the iPhone 16, the Galaxy S24 starts at $799/£799 and comes with 128GB of storage at its most affordable configuration.
The iPhone 16 has the Dynamic Island
When it comes to their displays, the iPhone 16 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 have similar specs, with the Galaxy S24’s screen being 0.1-inch bigger and the iPhone 16’s screen having a slightly higher resolution.
The AMOLED screen on the S24 is brighter than the OLED one on the iPhone 16 at 2600 nits to the iPhone’s 2000 nits. It also has the benefit of being an always-on display, which is a technology Apple reserves for its iPhone 16 Pro model.
One major benefit the iPhone 16 does have, however, is the Dynamic Island. This notch replacement first arrived on the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022 and makes the notch feel less like a distraction and more of an interactive feature.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 includes a telephoto camera
Both the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S24 carry cameras that are great for their price but are often overshadowed by their respective Pro counterparts. However, the Galaxy S24 has an edge thanks to its 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.
Otherwise, the iPhone 16 features a 48-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, while the Galaxy S24 packs a 50-megapixel main sensor and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. Both ultra-wide cameras have an FOV of 120 degrees.
The Galaxy S24 is also a step above the iPhone 16 when it comes to video, with its ability to capture 8K/30fps recordings. The iPhone 16 tops out at 4K/60fps.
Both phones are packed with smart AI features
The name of the game this year is AI and both the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S24 have placed a large amount of emphasis on all the smart features coming to each phone this year.
The iPhone 16 is packed with Apple Intelligence-powered tools, from system-wide Writing Tools and summaries in the Notes and Phone apps to ChatGPT-backed Siri and image generations with Image Playground and Genmoji. There’s also the new Visual Intelligence feature, which can be reached quickly with the Camera Control button and is essentially Apple’s answer to Google Lens.
The Galaxy S24, meanwhile, takes advantage of numerous Galaxy AI features, including Circle to Search, Generative Edit for photos, Interpreter for face-to-face language translations and Note Assist for auto-formatted and summarised notes.
Of course, the two phones need powerful chipsets to support all of these AI features. In the iPhone’s case, this is the new Apple A18 chipset. The Galaxy S24, on the other hand, is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the US or the Exynos 2400 here in Europe.
The iPhone 16 supports faster wireless charging
Finally, the iPhone 16 has an additional trick up its sleeve in the form of faster wireless charging.
Apple already had a slight advantage in this area with its line of MagSafe products. Now, you can use a 30W MagSafe charger to reach 50% battery in just 30 minutes. The phone also supports Qi and Qi2 standards.
The Galaxy S24, meanwhile, only supports Qi wireless charging and is limited to the usual 15W speeds, making it best to save wireless charging for overnight or when you’re not in any rush with this phone.
Early verdict
The iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S24 are good-looking phones with bright displays, decent camera arrays and plenty of generative AI tools designed to improve the overall experience. However, you’ll need to wait for us to get our hands on the iPhone 16 for our final verdict on Apple’s newest smartphone.
