Flagship Fight: Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+ vs. iPhone XS/XS Max

Since Samsung is one of the most prominent smartphone makers and its flagship phones are often seen as direct alternatives Apple's iPhones, direct comparisons are inevitable. The Samsung Galaxy S10 and the larger S10+ have just been announced, and they're ready to square off against the Apple iPhone XS and XS Max. We won't have a final verdict until we get the new phones in for testing, but let's see how they compare on paper.

Processor

The Galaxy S10 and S10+ both feature Qualcomm's newest flagship CPU, the Snapdragon 855. We won't know how the 855 performs in Samsung's phones until we test them in our lab, but we did test a reference version of the eight-core, 2.8GHz processor last month and compared it with a plethora of Snapdragon 845 phones and, yes, the iPhone XS. The reference Snapdragon 855 seems to be neck and neck with Apple's A12 processor. The A12 pulled slightly ahead in GeekBench 4.3, but the 855 did a bit better in Antutu.

It's too close to call on whether Samsung's or Apple's newest phones are faster.

(Left to right: Samsung Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+)

Screen

Samsung has consistently stayed ahead of Apple in screen technology with its AMOLED displays. The S10 and S10+ feature Samsung's new Dynamic AMOLED screens, which support HDR10+ content and offer wider colors and brighter whites than previous screens according to Samsung. They stick with the same 19:9, 2,960-by-1,440 resolution as the S9 and S9+, which still pack in more pixels than the 2,436-by-1,125 and 2,688-by-1,242 screens on the iPhone XS and XS Max.

We recently began in-depth phone screen testing, and while we haven't taken a close look at the S9 (and don't have the S10 yet), we did test the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. It shows more impressive color range than the iPhone XS Max, which doesn't even reach the full DCI-P3 color space. However, the iPhone XS Max is much brighter than the Galaxy Note 9 at 544cd/m² to 311cd/m². We'll see if the Dynamic OLED screens of the S10 and S10+ can make up the gap in brightness.

Connectivity

5G isn't coming to the iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max. But it isn't coming to the Galaxy S10 or S10+, either. However, Samsung does plan to release a Galaxy S10 5G (pictured below) later this year that will support the new cellular standard. Apple has given no word on 5G support for any upcoming phones yet.

Both sets of phones feature plenty of 4G LTE bands and 4x4 MIMO. The S10 and S10+ pull slightly ahead with the addition of 802.11ax, on top of 802.11b/a/g/n/ac. 802.11ax isn't just faster, it has features to help navigate much more crowded airwaves, with support for four times as much traffic as previous Wi-Fi standards according to Qualcomm.

Camera

The iPhone XS and XS Max both have excellent cameras. Of course, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ also have excellent cameras. Samsung is further improving the cameras on the S10 with a new rear-facing triple-camera system compared with the dual cameras of the iPhones and S9s.

The S10 and S10+ feature two 12MP sensors with zoom and wide-angle lenses (with the wide-angle lens an impressively bright f/1.5), along with a new 16MP sensor attached to a 123-degree ultra-wide-angle lens (with a less bright f/2.2 aperture). The iPhone XS and XS Max, meanwhile, keep dual 12MP zoom and wide-angle cameras, with the wide-angle lens a bright f/1.8. The front-facing camera on the S10 and S10+ is a notable step up in resolution, with a 10MP dual-pixel sensor to the iPhones' 7MP, and brighter f/1.9 lenses to the iPhones' f/2.2. The Galaxy S10+ goes even further with an additional 8MP f/2.2 RGB depth sensor, which will further expand the phone's AR selfie capabilities.

Battery

We won't know how long the Galaxy S10 and S10+'s 3,500mAh and 4,100mAh batteries will last until we get them in the lab, but they are notably larger than the 2,659mAh and 3,174mAh batteries in the iPhone XS and XS Max. Still, Apple's phones are no slouch at lasting a long time, with the XS Max handling our video streaming test for 9 hours and 50 minutes. Of course, the S9 and S9+ both broke 10 hours in our battery tests, and the bigger batteries in the S10 and S10+ could last longer.

Both sets of phones support Qi wireless charging, but the S10 and S10+ feature a new trick: Wireless PowerShare. This means the new Galaxy phones can serve as portable Qi batteries, charging other devices wirelessly just by setting them on the phones' backs.

(Left to right: Apple iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS)

Size and Weight

All four phones are slim and curved, measuring approximately 0.3 inches deep and featuring smooth glass screens and backs. The iPhone XS is the shortest of the four at 5.65 inches long to the Galaxy S10's 5.8 inches, though wider by a hair. The iPhone XS Max, meanwhile, is by far the biggest at the same 6.2-inch length as the Galaxy S10+ but wider at 3.05 to 2.92 inches.

As for weight, Apple's phones are much heftier than Samsung's. The iPhone XS weighs 6.24 ounces, over half an ounce more than the S10 and just as heavy as the S10+. The iPhone XS Max is a whopping 7.34 ounces, topping the scales even when compared with the 7.0-ounce ceramic variant of the S10+.

Apples to Galaxies

The Galaxy S10 and S10+ both appear to pull surpass the iPhone XS and XS Max in nearly all categories, with sharper screens, more wireless features, and bigger batteries. However, Apple's phones can pull ahead, or at least keep pace, with processing power; the A12 looks to be a strong competitor with the Snapdragon 855. The iPhones can also have the edge in screen brightness, but we'll have to test all of those things when we get the Galaxy S10 and S10+ in the lab and find out for ourselves. With hardware this advanced, however, the real question is whether you prefer Android or iOS, which is a different story entirely.

Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S10s