Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus vs. Apple iPhone 13 Pro

With the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S22 range, you might be wondering whether to invest in an S22 Plus or pick up an iPhone 13 Pro instead. While the iPhone’s 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display and A15 Bionic chip might seem tempting, the expansive 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and 4,500mAh battery of the Galaxy S22 Plus are also calling to you.

It can be tough comparing two phones and deciding which to buy — but we’re here to help. We’ve compared the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and the iPhone 13 Pro across six core categories, from display to performance and battery life, to help you decide which one you should take home.

You can also check out our Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus hands-on to find out more about Samsung’s latest flagship.

Specs

Design, Display, and Durability

These phones actually don’t look too different in terms of style. The iPhone 13 Pro’s front and back are protected by Ceramic Glass, offering superior drop protection. Although it weighs in at 204 grams compared to the 196 grams of the S22 Plus, its smaller dimensions make it more suitable for one-handed use. In contrast, the larger dimensions mean the S22 Plus definitely feels more comfortable for use with both hands.

The iPhone 13 Pro is a sleek creation, with squared-off stainless steel bezels running around the outside of the handset. In contrast, the Galaxy S22 Plus has a premium Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus front and back with a satin finish, but otherwise sticks fairly close to the design of its predecessor. Both phones look great on first impressions, so it generally comes down to which dimensions suit your needs best.

Down to those displays. The iPhone 13 Pro’s 6.1-inch Super Retina OLED display packs a bright, colorful punch, and viewing it outside even on the brightest, sunniest days isn’t an issue, thanks to 1,000 nits of brightness (up to 1,200 for HDR content). Whether you’re watching videos or playing the latest games, everything looks stunning on this display, and with 460 pixels per inch, the resolution is excellent and the screen is sharp. The S22 Plus features a slightly lower resolution but a larger 6.6-inch screen, with 1080 x 2340 pixels (390 pixels per inch) and a whopping 1,740 nits of brightness, but boasts slightly better dynamic range as it’s an AMOLED display.

The iPhone 13 Pro packs a 120Hz ProMotion display, allowing the phone to dynamically vary the refresh rate from as low as 10Hz (for browsing) all the way up to 120Hz (great for gaming). A variable Super Smooth 120Hz refresh rate is on offer with the S22 Plus too, so right now we’re pushed to say which screen is better until we’ve spent more time with the S22 Plus.

What about available colors? The S22 Plus comes in Phantom White, Phantom Black, Green, or Pink Gold, as well as four Samsung-exclusive colors only available at Samsung.com: Cream, Violet, Graphite, and Sky Blue. It’s worth mentioning here that choosing one of the Samsung-exclusive colors will likely add a few weeks of shipping time to your order. The iPhone 13 Pro color palette is classy if a little more muted, with four choices available: Silver, graphite, gold, or Sierra Blue.

Finally, both phones have an IP68 rating, meaning it’s safe to submerge each handset in up to six meters of water for up to 30 minutes, so you can safely pack either for your beach trip.

Right now it’s too close to call a winner for this round, as it really comes down to whether you prefer a slightly larger device with lower resolution or a smaller device for one-handed use, with a higher resolution display. This might change once we’ve spent some more time with the S22 Plus, though.

Winner: Tie

Performance, Battery Life, and Charging

When it comes to performance, both phones have processors that are pretty much the cream of the crop right now. The S22 Plus is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the U.S. and some other markets, with the Exynos 2200 elsewhere, plus 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. It’s worth noting here that the storage you get is all you’ll ever have, as Samsung has ditched the microSD card slot on the S22 series. This phone is easily able to handle the latest games, and that adaptive 120Hz refresh rate boosts multitasking too for a smooth experience.

The iPhone 13 Pro is packing a punch in the performance stakes too, thanks to the latest A15 Bionic chip. Although you’ll only find 6GB of RAM here, iPhones need less RAM, so you shouldn’t face any issues multitasking or playing demanding games like Genshin Impact. The iPhone 13 Pro has 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage variants too, so even those who download and store huge files on their phones will be spoiled when it comes to storage capacity — though of course there’s no microSD card slot here either.

When it comes to battery life, the 3,095mAh battery in the iPhone 13 Pro is a fair bit smaller than the 4,500mAh cell on offer in the S22 Plus. The latter should easily see you through a day, perhaps two, depending on your usage. That smaller capacity isn’t really an issue here, though, as the iPhone’s variable refresh rate and optimized power usage should see even the heaviest users get through a day and into the second day without charging.

You’ll be back up and at full charge in just 60 minutes with the S22 Plus’s 45W fast charging, compared to the rather-average 2oW wired charging on offer with the iPhone 13 Pro. Both phones have wireless charging, though the S22 Plus has 15W speeds compared to the 7.5W of the iPhone. You do get 15W MagSafe charging with the iPhone 13 Pro though, and the S22 Plus counters this with reverse wireless charging, great for boosting your earbuds or Galaxy Watch on the go.

It’s also worth noting here that neither phone comes with a charger in the box, so you’ll need to purchase your own (or use an existing charger).

Sorry Apple, but even with those larger storage models, the S22 Plus just takes the crown this round for that bigger battery, faster 45W wired charging, and handy reverse wireless charging (and that possible GPU boost from the Exynos 2200 chip).

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus

Cameras

Both phones pack a triple camera array, with the iPhone 13 Pro offering a 12-megapixel wide-angle, 12MP telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide shooters on the rear. In comparison, the S22 Plus boasts 50MP wide, 1oMP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and 30x space zoom, and 12MP ultra-wide lenses, with a 40MP selfie camera compared to the 12MP front camera on the iPhone.

The iPhone 13 Pro’s camera provides excellent results in bright sunlight, with accurate color and plenty of detail. Its cameras are also great at focusing on the photo’s subject and you can enjoy excellent macro shots with lots of detail, although you can’t force the phone into macro mode. Night mode kicks in when the light dims and the results are a lot clearer than most other phones, with more color accuracy. You also get Cinematic Mode on the front and rear camera, which adds a movie-style blur to your backgrounds, plus Portrait Mode, which adds a bokeh effect to front and rear shots and can be fun to play around with.

We haven’t spent much time with the S22 Plus yet to test its camera capabilities, but features like Nightograph for great selfies at night and A.I. Stereo Depth Map, which lets you focus on what you care about, with improved object segmentation, are sure to give you shots to be proud of. The S22 Plus promises great photos in any lighting, with Adaptive Pixel that detects the light around you and intelligently switches between modes, and Detail Enhancer, which uses deep-learning A.I. to intelligently improve your pictures by adjusting highlights and shadows. There’s also Object Eraser for quickly deleting photobombers or other unwanted objects in the background of your shots, plus a handy Quickshare feature for sharing photos, videos, and other files with friends and family.

In the video stakes, the iPhone 13 Pro shoots 4K at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second and 1080p at 30 or 60 fps. The S22 Plus also shoots 4K video at up to 60 fps but adds 8K shooting at 24 fps to the mix. Video features on offer with the S22 Plus include Auto-Framing, Auto FPS (which automatically optimizes the frame rate for low lighting conditions), Super HDR (for capturing well-defined video even with backlighting), and Portrait Night Shots.

Despite the S22 Plus’s 8K video support, we’re giving this round to the iPhone 13 Pro until we can spend more time with the S22 Plus. The iPhone 13 Pro has one of the best cameras around right now — but watch this space, as this could change!

Winner: iPhone 13 Pro

Software and updates

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus ships with Android 11 and Samsung OneUI 4.1 (TBC) Samsung’s skin, out of the box. This can’t really be compared to iOS 15 on the iPhone 13 Pro, as it’s really a matter of personal preference whether you’re an iOS or Android person. Both operating systems have their pros and cons.

The iPhone 13 Pro updates to iOS 15 out of the box, with new features like Focus Mode. It’s worth mentioning here that this version of iOS had more bugs at launch than any other version of iOS, though Apple’s working on ironing these out.

Apple usually provides several years of updates for its phones, with users receiving new versions of software as soon as they’re ready. But Samsung definitely has the edge here, offering four Android upgrades and five years of security patches, making the S22 Plus truly futureproof.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus

Special features

Both the iPhone 13 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus support 5G, with both phones supporting mmWave, sub-6GHz 5G, and Ultra-Wideband for the fastest speeds, no matter your carrier.

One of the best things about the iPhone 13 Pro is its compatibility with MagSafe accessories, a range of magnetic accessories you attach to the rear of the phone, like the 15W MagSafe wireless charger (sold separately).

However, the S22 Plus has reverse wireless charging, great for boosting your Galaxy Buds 2 or Galaxy Smart Watch battery — a feature you’re missing out on with the iPhone 13 Pro, and one that’s pretty handy when you can’t get to a charger.

The S22 Plus also packs lots of new special features into its cameras, most of which we’ve touched on in the Cameras section above.

This round is another one that’s too close to call, and it comes down to whether you’d rather have reverse wireless charging or MagSafe accessories.

Winner: Tie

Price and availability

You can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus from Samsung right now starting from $999 for the 128GB version, or grab the 256GB model for $1,049. If you pre-registered before the Samsung Unpacked event, you’ll get $50 off, and for a limited time, you can get up to $150 instant Samsung Credit, a free memory upgrade, and up to $500 enhanced trade-in credit. The phone goes on general sale on February 25.

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro is available directly from Apple from $999 for the 128GB version, $1,099 for the 256GB version, $1,299 for the 512GB version, or $1,499 for the 1TB version. You can also trade in an older phone with Apple and get up to $900 toward the cost of your new phone, depending on which carrier you choose. You can also pick up the iPhone 13 Pro from Best Buy and other retailers.

Winner: Tie

Overall winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus takes the crown here, though this was pretty close to call. That gorgeous 6.6-inch Dynamic OLED screen with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, long battery life with 45W charging, powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (or Exynos 2200) processor, and innovative camera features — not to mention an impressive update policy — all mean the S22 Plus has earned its place as our winner over the Apple iPhone 13 Pro. Of course, both these phones are excellent choices if you’re looking for a powerful, capable device with a stylish design and impressive features, and ultimately, it may come down to whether you prefer Apple or Android.

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