Samsung announced three phones earlier this month, its Galaxy S25 series. The vanilla Galaxy S25 model is the most compact one, and also the most affordable one in that high-end smartphone series. In this article, we’ll compare the Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro. Those are two compact high-end smartphones, the very best compact phones Samsung and Apple have to offer at the moment. Comparing them sure does make sense.
Do note that the iPhone 16 Pro is notably more expensive, though, by $200 with their base price tags. With that being said, we’ll first list the specifications of both smartphones and will then move to compare them across a number of other categories. We’ll be comparing their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio output.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (flat, 120Hz, 2,600 nits max brightness)
6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 120Hz, HDR, 2,000 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2340 x 1080
2622 x 1206
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite for Galaxy
Apple A18 Pro (3nm)
– RAM:
12GB (LPDDR5X)
8GB
– Storage:
128GB/256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
50MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor, OIS, Dual Pixel PDAF), 12MP (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor, 1.4um pixel size), 10MP (telephoto, f/2.4 aperture, OIS, PDAF, 1/3.94-inch sensor, 3x optical zoom)
48MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.28-inch sensor, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF), 12MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 1/3.06-inch sensor, 1.12um pixel size, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 5x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
12MP (wide, f/2.2 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF, 1/3.2-inch sensor size, 22mm lens)
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, 1/3.6-inch sensor size, OIS)
– Battery:
4,000mAh
3,582mAh
– Charging:
25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready), 4.5W reverse wireless (charger not included)
38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, 5W reverse wired
– Dimensions:
146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm
149.6 x 71.5 x 8.3 mm
– Weight:
162 grams
199 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.4/5.3
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic), facial scanning
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
– OS:
Android 15 with One UI 7
iOS 18
– Price:
$799.99+
$999+
– Buy:
Samsung Galaxy S25 (Samsung.com)
Apple iPhone 16 Pro (Amazon)
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Design
Design-wise, there are some similarities between the two phones, They both have a similar shape, with rounded corners, though those corners are more rounded on the iPhone 16 Pro. Their displays are flat, as are their backplates. You’ll also find a flat frame on both smartphones. That’s where similarities end, though. The Galaxy S25 is made out of aluminum and glass, while the iPhone 16 Pro uses titanium and glass, with a little bit of aluminum.
You’ll notice that the Galaxy S25 has a display camera hole on the front, it’s centered up there. The iPhone 16 Pro has a much larger pill-shaped cutout, the so-called Dynamic Island. Samsung handset includes power/lock and volume up and down buttons on the right-hand side, those are the only buttons on the device. The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, has a lot more buttons to speak of.
On the right, you’ll find the phone power/lock key, and also a Camera Control button. On the left, the volume up and down buttons are located, along with an Action Key. You’ll notice that their rear camera setups also look notably different, even though there are three on the back of both smartphones. The Galaxy S25 has three vertically-aligned cameras, and each of that cameras is its own island. The iPhone 16 Pro, on the flip side, has all three cameras inside a single camera island. Both setups are placed in the top-left corner, though.
The Galaxy S25 does have a slightly smaller display, and it’s shorter, narrower, and thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro. It’s also considerably lighter at 162 grams. The iPhone 16 Pro weighs 199 grams. Both phones come with an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, and both are quite slippery in the hand.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S25 features a 6.2-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display. That panel is flat, and it supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It also supports HDR10+ content and has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is around 91%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. You’ll also get the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 here, on top of the phone’s display.
The iPhone 16 Pro, on the flip side, has a 6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. The resolution here is 2622 x 1206. That panel is also flat, and it supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It also has HDR10 and Dolby Vision support and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is around 90%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The Ceramic Shield Glass protects this screen.
Both of these displays are very good, actually. They’re both more than sharp enough, and quite vivid too. They also provide great viewing angles and good touch response. The blacks are as deep as you’d expect them to be, and both displays are well-protected. Despite the fact the Galaxy S25 technically can get a bit brighter, that’s not something you’ll notice. They’re both bright enough. Neither display offers high-frequency PWM dimming, though.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Performance
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy SoC fuels the Samsung Galaxy S25. That is a 3nm processor and a slightly overclocked variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It’s the best chip Qualcomm has to offer. It is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM inside the phone, along with UFS 4.0 flash storage.
The iPhone 16 Pro, on the flip side, comes with the Apple A18 Pro processor. That is also a 3nm processor, and the best Apple has to offer. It is paired with 8GB of RAM, and NVMe flash storage. Neither phone offers storage expansion, in case you were wondering. As you can see, they’re both quite powerful hardware-wise.
The performance in day-to-day tasks is outstanding on both smartphones. They can open apps really fast, and also jump between them, and do various other tasks. Image and video processing is not a problem on either phone, and the same goes for multimedia consumption, browsing, and basically anything else you can think of.
When it comes to gaming, both smartphones can do the job with ease. Even when it comes to the most demanding games, these two smartphones do the job without a problem. Do note that they will get quite warm during such tasks, however, but that’s not really a problem. They never got too hot to hold, or anything like that.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Battery
A 4,000mAh battery sits inside the Galaxy S25. The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, has a 3,582mAh battery on the inside. While the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery size is actually good, as iPhones usually have smaller battery packs due to the way iOS works, the one inside the Galaxy S25 is not all that impressive. Battery capacity is not everything, though, so the Galaxy S25 may surprise you.
We have been using the device for a bit thus far, but not long enough to give you some proper information about the battery life. We do know that the iPhone 16 Pro has really, really good battery life, though, so that won’t be easy to compete with. Based on what we’ve seen thus far, the Galaxy S25 does have better battery life than its predecessor, and by quite a margin. As I said, though, we still didn’t test it all the way through. More information will be included in our full review of the phone.
In terms of charging, the Samsung Galaxy S25 supports 25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready), and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, supports 38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. Neither phone comes with a charger in the box. Neither phone charges particularly fast, by the way.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Cameras
Both of these phones have three cameras on the back, but they’re quite different in comparison. The Samsung Galaxy S25 includes a 50-megapixel main camera (1/1.56-inch sensor), along with a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV, 1/2.55-inch sensor size), and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom, 1/3.94-inch sensor size).
The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, has a 48-megapixel main camera (1/1.28-inch sensor size), a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/3.06-inch sensor size, 5x optical zoom). The iPhone 16 Pro also has a LiDAR scanner, unlike the Galaxy S25.
When it comes to main camera photos, the iPhone 16 Pro takes the cake. The photos, more often than not, look closer to real life, with a bit more detail, and they’re usually well-balanced. The Galaxy S25 still has some pain points from its predecessor, with artificial saturation, oversharpening at times, and so on. They both do a good job in low light, but the iPhone 16 Pro photos simply look better.
Ultrawide cameras are good on both ends, but the ones on the iPhone 16 Pro does provide more details. The Galaxy S25 has a regular telephoto camera, compared to a periscope telephoto unit on the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple’s handset does a better job at longer zoom ranges, while it’s a closer call up to 3x.
Audio
Stereo speakers are included inside both of these smartphones. The ones inside the Galaxy S25 are slightly louder when directly compared, while the sound quality is very good from both sets of speakers.
There is no audio jack on either phone, but you can use your wired headphones thanks to their Type-C ports, you’ll need a dongle though. In regards to wireless audio, the Galaxy S25 comes with Bluetooth 5.4, while the iPhone 16 Pro offers Bluetooth 5.3.
