Apple iPhone 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S20: Is the iPhone Good Enough?

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Photo by Mockup Photos on Unsplash

Luis Silva (May 2020, updated: February 2021)

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Introduction

Maybe they're not the most expensive siblings, but they sure are the popular ones, whether it's because of their price-tag or perhaps they're just good enough.

In March of 2020, Samsung started selling its Galaxy S20, while Apple's iPhone 11 hit the stores in September of 2019.

Here you can look at the iPhone 11 and the Galaxy S20, compare each other's features, and decide which one is best for you. Let us delve into the finer details.

If you have the time, click here to skip the spoilers and continue to the full comparison.

The prices of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and the Apple iPhone 11 are similar. Although the Galaxy S20 is cheaper most of the time, aside from promotions that might appear. Remember that when you're comparing the two models.

For each featured section, there's a "Tek-Score" for you to check. We evaluate all quantifiable specifications to help you quickly identify how much they are far apart. You'll find a global score at the end, which can help you compare to other phones if you're curious about other models aside from these two.  ? 

This score is based on research from Globalwebindex.com about the most wanted features from people looking to buy new smartphones.

For additional information regarding our smartphone comparisons, check this FAQ.

Some features have a colored bar next to them. It's there for you to better understand how they sit side by side with equivalently priced phones.  ? 

Here is their competitors' full list: i  but we've only included smartphones within a 40% price range.

Some items are clickable, and they'll get you to several top 10 tables for up to seven different budgets.

Price*			vs.
Device	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Release Date	2019, September	2020, March	1y.
OS Updates	6 years	3 years	-3y.
Security Updates	6 years	3 years	-3y.

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Performance

Inside the Galaxy S20 is the Exynos 990 SoC, while on the iPhone 11, there's the Apple A13 chipset.

Regarding the graphics chipset, the former features the past year's Mali-G77 MP11, and the latter has a proprietary Apple GPU.

As for performance, Geekbench 5 (IOS)(Android) scores the iPhone 11 26% ahead of its competitor on the multi-core rankings. It's something to consider, but it shouldn't be a deal-breaker. The iPhone is a bit more responsive to tasks like rotating the phone to landscape mode because Apple did their work to keep it fit.  ? 

We can classify the iPhone 11 as high-end and the Galaxy S20 as a lower high-end.

At least you'll get the iOS 13 on the iPhone 11, and the Galaxy S20 has Android 10 and OneUI at its core.

PS: The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (with the Adreno 650 GPU) and the Exynos 990 (with the Mali-G77) are market-dependent. Click here for more info.

There's a performance increase of about 15% on the 865 for the Galaxy S20.

Performance*			vs.
Features	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
SoC	Apple A13	Exynos 990
Graphics	Apple GPU	Mali-G77 MP11
Geekbench 5 Score	3328	2631	-697
OS	iOS 13	Android 10 and OneUI
Tek-Score	7.5	6.4	-1.2

*Reference: Apple iPhone 12.

Display

The iPhone 11 offers a sharp, 6.1-inch LCD display that is slightly smaller than the 6.2-inch AMOLED panel on the Galaxy S20. To each, it's own. Most people seem to prefer AMOLED for its saturated colors and higher contrast.

The display of the Galaxy S20 has a resolution of 1440x3200 Quad HD. The iPhone 11, in its turn, has 828x1792 HD. If you can't get over the iPhone 11's notch, there's one more reason to consider the Galaxy S20.

The iPhone 11 sets itself apart from most competitors at its price-range: Its display density is 143 dots per inch below the usual.

Screens seem to get bigger each year, so it's essential to know what kind of glass protection they have. The Galaxy S20 has a Corning Gorilla Glass 6 display. The iPhone 11, in its turn, has a Corning toughened glass.

There's a phone with an Always-On display here, the Samsung Galaxy S20.

If you don't manually set the screen brightness, the iPhone 11 will reach 644 nits, while the Galaxy S20 does 814 nits.  ? 

The Galaxy S20 is capable of displaying HDR10+ video formats.

If high refresh rates are your thing, the Galaxy S20 can go up to 120hz.

If you haven't noticed yet, the Galaxy S20 has a much better display.

About the iPhone 11, just know that 89% of its rivals can play HDR content, 96% have an AMOLED screen, and 93% of them have an Always-On display.

Compared to the Galaxy S20, 85% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all of them have an AMOLED screen, and 90% have an Always-On display.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Size	6.1	6.2	0.1
Screen Type	LCD	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	828x1792	1440x3200	3124224
Refresh Rate	60hz	120hz	60
Dots per Inch	323.61	565.98	242.37
Always-On-Display	No	Yes
Notch	Wedge	Hole
Peak Brightness	644 nits	814 nits	170
HDR	-	HDR10+
Sub Tek-Score	1.2	9.8	8.6
Protection	Corning toughened glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 6
Tek-Score	5.2	8.3	3.1

*Reference: Sony Xperia 1.

Cameras

Who's gonna win this battle? Apple's iPhone 11 can record videos at up to 2160p. It also has a shooter with 12 MP, an aperture of f/1.8, a 26mm wide-angle lens, four flash LEDs, HDR capabilities, and Optical Image Stabilization.

It also has a secondary 12 MP camera with an aperture of f/2.4 plus a 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens.

With the selfies camera, you get a 12 MP shooter, with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 23 mm wide-angle lens.

DxOMark gave this shooter a rate of 132. If you add its wide-angle lens, you'll end up with a score of 138**. If you want to know more about it, click here.

Last (but not least), you'd probably like to know that all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. However, only 19% of them feature a macro lens.

There's nothing to compare here. You'll soon find out that both the Galaxy S20 and the iPhone 11 have the same 12 MP camera. It also has two extra rear-facing camera lenses. One has 64 MP (with an aperture of f/2.0), and another with 12 MP (f/2.2) with a 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens.

Did you know? By zooming in and cropping a 64 Megapixels photo, you can get (for example) an additional 2x of optical zoom and a 16 Megapixels sample.

You can get selfies with 10 MP Megapixels. It has a lens with f/2.2 of aperture and a 26 mm wide-angle lens.

DxOMark's gurus should be reviewing this shooter anytime soon, I hope. Given specs and similar cameras, it'll get close to 120* points. And if we consider its wide-angle lens, that score goes up to 132**.

Finally, if you must know, just like the other device, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. Still, only 10% of them feature a macro lens.

That's why I think that these cameras are about the same.

If you prefer, we can grade these two as high-end.

If you love optical zoom like I do, none of these will help you. Just pick something like the Galaxy S20 FE or the Oppo Find X2 Neo instead.

*DxOMark is a well-known market reference when it comes to camera benchmarking. Unfortunately, they don't test every smartphone camera out there. So when I find one such shooter, I rate every camera spec (like sensor size, lenses, and so on) to get a similar global rate. The last time I've checked this formula, some cameras had a topmost discrepancy of 2 points.  ? 

**You should give this score a margin of error of up to 6 points, especially with cameras with less than 40MP and no telephoto lens. They moved to a new camera test protocol, and there aren't enough reviewed cameras to extrapolate a backward-compatible score.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	1.8	1.8	0.0
Lens	26mm	26mm	0
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	4	1	-3
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	2160	4320	2160
Score	138	132	-6

*Reference: Huawei Mate 40 Pro.

Extra Camera(s)	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20	vs.
Megapixels	12	64	52
Aperture	2.4	2.0	-0.4
Lens	13mm	-
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	-
Megapixels	-	12
Aperture	-	2.2
Lens	-	13mm
Lens Type	-	Ultra-wide-Angle
Score	6	12	6

Selfie Camera	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20	vs.
Megapixels	12	10	-2
Aperture	2.2	2.2	0.0
Lens	23mm	26mm	3

	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20	vs.
Tek-Score	8.1	7.8	-0.4

Body

The iPhone 11 is 150 mm (5.91 inches) tall and 75 mm (2.96 inches) wide. Samsung's Galaxy S20 is a bit taller, precisely 1 mm (0.04 inches), and a bit narrower too, about 6 mm (0.24 inches).

When it comes to thickness, they're almost equal: 8 mm (0.32 inches) vs. 7 mm (0.28 inches).

Both have a premium feeling thanks to their glass body. The iPhone 11 is a little bit heavier: About 31 g. (1.09 oz). If you're looking for a lightweight device, I've come up with an adapted "display size to phone weight ratio" rate. The iPhone 11 got 3.3, showing it's kind of weighty for its screen size. In the meantime, the Galaxy S20 has 7.4, which is pretty nice.  ? 

You can have the iPhone 11 in Black, Yellow, Green, White, Red, and Purple. And you can compare that with the Cosmic Grey, Cloud Pink, Cloud Blue, Cloud White, and Aura Red, which comes with the Galaxy S20.

If the Galaxy S20 is big enough for you, then excellent. If not, then the other one may not be a great choice either.

Does a fingerprint scanner matter to you? Unfortunately, you can't count on the iPhone 11, but if you're already considering the Galaxy S20, then good for you.

Although a pin isn't the only login option in the iPhone 11. Usually, logging in with a fingerprint scanner is faster, but at least you'll get a Face ID scanner.

The iPhone 11 is resistant to water up to 1 to 3 meters, identical to the Galaxy S20. But remember: it's for a maximum period of half an hour, and it's freshwater in standby mode only.

Looks*			vs.
Body	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Size	150 x 75 x 8 mm (5.29 x 2.65 x 0.28 in)	151 x 69 x 7 mm (5.33 x 2.43 x 0.25 in)	-17067
Weight	194 g. (6.84 oz)	163 g. (5.75 oz)	-31
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Black, Yellow, Green, White, Red, and Purple	Cosmic Grey, Cloud Pink, Cloud Blue, Cloud White, and Aura Red
Screen To Body Ratio	81.25%	89.07%	7.82
Disp.Size To Weight Score	3.3	7.4	4.1
Looks	8.6/10	10.0/10	1.3
Waterproof	IP68	IP68
Biometrics	Face ID	Under Display Fingerprint
Tek-Score	7.1	8.6	1.5

*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.

Battery

You can probably guess who's the winner here by looking at these numbers: 4000 mAh vs. 3110 mAh. But are the numbers really that clear? This is asking for a thorough test after a full charge. And that's how the iPhone 11 performs:  ? 

• For 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll still have 83% left.
• After 1 hour of talking, 3 hours of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll still have 71% left for the rest of the day.
• After 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 3 hours of video playback, the phone will have 73% left for the rest of the day.

And these are the results for the Galaxy S20:

• After 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll be at 76% of the battery charge.
• From 1 hour of talking, 3 hours of web browsing, and 1 hour of video playback, you'll probably have 59% left for the rest of the day.
• For 1 hour of talking, 1 hour of web browsing, and 3 hours of video playback, the phone will have 60% left for the rest of the day.

It may come as no surprise here, but the iPhone 11 wins, hands down.

The Galaxy S20's battery is well below the average in this price range. These numbers show that it is 9% below the rest.

The iPhone 11 features quick-charging at up to 18w, but the Galaxy S20 does it too, at 25w.

Both phones support wireless charging at 5w vs. 15w.

A nice add-on to the Galaxy S20 is the ability to charge any Qi-enabled gadgets at 9w.

The Snapdragon 865 also has better battery efficiency (about 10% more screen-on-time) when you compare it to the Exynos 990.

Battery*			vs.
Features	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Capacity (mAh)	3110	4000	890
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	83% left	76% left	-7
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	71% left	59% left	-12
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	73% left	60% left	-13
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	5.6	5.3	-0.3
Sub Tek-Score	7.6	6.5	-1.1
Fast Charging	18w	25w	7
Wireless Charging	5w	15w	10
Reverse Charging	No	9w	9
Tek-Score	6.7	6.5	-0.2

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy A31.

Storage

In terms of RAM, the iPhone 11 brings 4GB. In terms of storage, it has 64GB. Memory cards aren't welcome here. This shouldn't be an issue for most of us. You should know that at this price level, its rivals have more RAM and more storage. They're closer to 154Gb of storage and 8GB of RAM.

The Galaxy S20, in its turn, has 128GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. You can count on the MicroSD card to save the day.

Most people should be OK with their internal storage. However, if you plan to store some movies or record tons of videos, 64 GB will be a problem sooner than later.

Storage*			vs.
Features	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
RAM (GB)	4GB	12GB	8
Internal (GB)	64GB	128GB	64
Micro SD	No	microSDXC (shared SIM slot)
Tek-Score	2.8	7.5	4.8

*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).

Connectivity

When it comes to connectivity, you can count on the traditional Bluetooth 5.0 chip. Both phones also have NFC, so nothing special here.

If you love good-old wired headphones, you're out of luck because none of them included a 3.5mm headphone jack. Want a piece of advice? Forget about adapters and go for the wireless buds. Or you can also check its rivals if you're not really leaning towards any of these. The Sony Xperia 1 II can give you a headphone jack.

You can connect the Galaxy S20 to LTE or (LTE and) 5G networks. The 5G variant of the Galaxy S20 has 12GB of RAM.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Network	LTE	LTE (also available in 5G)
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	4.6	4.6	0.0

Price

You're likely not considering the Galaxy S20 to make all your pennies count. But do search for any deals or price drops before making up your mind. The Apple iPhone 11, on the other hand, is usually more costly, but I believe that it shouldn't come as a surprise at all. Theoretically, you should get more money back if you end up selling it.

Don't worry, because the following tables will help you make up your mind.

Here are the best prices that we've found:

I earn a small fee from qualifying purchases. It doesn't affect the price you pay nor my opinions, but it will mean a lot if you click on one of these buttons before purchasing your next phone. You'll be helping to take this to the next level.

Prices on eBay are in $US but Europe-based. You can click to check the prices in your country.

Prices marked with ! are from renewed/refurbished/carrier-locked phones (except eBay prices that, as a last resort, can be from bids or used devices).

How much of a "phone" can your money buy?
That's how much "score" you can get with $100 based on the global score that you'll see in the next section (higher is better).

Have you found better prices elsewhere? The formula is simple: score/price*100.

Value for money	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20	VS
Amazon	- !	0.73	-
eBay	-	-	-
Best Buy	-	-	-
Wallmart	0.53	-	-

And this is the "The Best Smartphones On A Budget" list.

Are you curious to know what their global score is? Just so you have an idea, take a look at where its adversaries average. They're around 6.9 for these two.

Verdict: What Makes the Samsung Galaxy S20 Stand Out?

Apart from apples vs. robots (that's up to you do decide who wins), you'll be getting a top-of-the-line display (Please note that the iPhone has a lower, but very acceptable DPI). Too bad Apple doesn't give much information about their Scratch-resistant glass. Picture quality isn't an issue, but you'll be getting more out of your phone if you go for the iPhone 11. While the iPhone surely likes to keep it's mAh's, the S20 does give you more freedom when charging it. Storage is also a no-brainer. If you're in to do some workout every time you lift your phone, the iPhone clearly is your choice.

Pros	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
#1	Performance	Performance
#2	Cameras	AMOLED
#3	Battery Life	Always-On-Display
#4	Fast Charging	Cameras
#5	Wireless Charging	Fast Charging
#6	Glass Protection	Wireless Charging
#7		MicroSD Slot
#8		Glass Protection

Cons	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
#1	Screen Resolution	3.5mm Jack
#2	AMOLED	Price
#3	Always-On-Display
#4	MicroSD Slot
#5	Weight
#6	3.5mm Jack
#7	Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	iPhone 11	Galaxy S20
Gaming Score	4.2	7.7	3.5
Tek-Score	6.04	7.30	1.26

*Reference: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

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