Samsung Galaxy S22 vs iPhone 13 Compared: Specs, Pricing and More

PCMag analyst Steven Winkelman has furnished his initial comparison pitting Apple’s iPhone 13 against Samsung’s newly launched Galaxy S22.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra at its Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, with pre-orders starting the same day. The iPhone 13 series, on the other hand, is the latest and greatest from Apple — at least until Cupertino launches its successor later in the year.

Winkelman weighed both flagships against one another in several key areas, trying to determine whether either device is able to make a compelling argument beyond the Operating System it runs or the ecosystem it most easily integrates into.

The cursory comparison didn’t happen upon a clear winner, but it did identify important value propositions from each side.

Both devices offer premium build quality with an aluminum chassis and both come with the highest degree of protection, the S22 adorning a Gorilla Glass Victus armour and the iPhone 13 sporting Apple’s Ceramic Shield.

All Galaxy S22 models and all iPhone 13 trims come with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The iPhone 13 pulls ahead in display resolution, but the Galaxy S22’s screen is no slouch either.

Camera arrays on both flagships have their own unique selling points — ProRes video on the iPhone 13 and 100x Space Zoom on the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

As for performance, the Galaxy S22’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset is an upgrade over its predecessor and the best an Android phone can get right now, but the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic still tops it.

The battery, while not included in PCMag‘s comparison, could prove to be the difference-maker. The base S22 comes with a 3,700mAh battery pack, while the iPhone 13 features a 3,240mAh battery. The gap widens as we get to the highest-end models, at 4352mAh for the iPhone 13 Pro Max vs. 5,000mAh for the S22 Ultra.

Then again, Apple’s processors, mobile or otherwise, are notably more efficient than the competition, so battery capacity alone might not be enough to tip the scales in either direction.

For pricing, both the iPhone 13 and the Galaxy S22 start at $1,099 in Canada for the base models. If you go with Apple, though, you can shave another $150 off the sticker price by getting the smaller iPhone 13 mini and making compromises on display size and battery capacity.

“Without having fully tested the Galaxy S22 lineup, we can’t yet declare a winner, but Samsung’s Galaxy S22 lineup appears to be pretty evenly matched with the Apple iPhone 13 family, at least on paper,” the publication concluded for its initial hands-on comparison.

Check out the full comparison over at PCMag, and expect a more detailed head-to-head between the two flagships soon.

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