Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) and Apple iPhone 12 - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) vs Apple iPhone 12

71 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
VS
65 out 100
Apple iPhone 12
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
Apple iPhone 12

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) Manufactured in October, 2023, with display 6.4 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, vs Apple iPhone 12, Manufactured in October, 2020 with chipsetApple A14 Bionic. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
  • Larger display: 6.4in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 4500mAh vs 2815mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 12
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Lighter design: 164g vs 209g

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 4/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) and Apple iPhone 12
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
vs
Apple iPhone 12

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.4 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2340 pixels 1170x2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 403 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1450 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 83.2 % 87.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
982 nits
Apple iPhone 12
646 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.4 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a226 Hz
Response timen/a16 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Apple iPhone 12]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 158 mm (6.22 in) 146.7 mm (5.78 in)
Width 76.5 mm (3.01 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 in) 7.4 mm (0.29 in)
Weight 209 g (7.37 oz) 164 g (5.78 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Green
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Red
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
83.2 %
Apple iPhone 12
87.1 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) and Apple iPhone 12 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Apple A14 Bionic
Max Frequency 3000 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Cortex-A510)
- 3/2.5 (Cortex-A710)
- 1/3 (Cortex-X2)		 - 4/1.8 (Icestorm)
- 2/3.1 (Firestorm)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 730 Apple A14 GPU
GPU Cores 1024 256
GPU Frequency 818 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS 1675.3 GFLOPS 654.3 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
1549
Apple iPhone 12
1941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
3718
Apple iPhone 12
5008
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)15491941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)37185008
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
1203840
Apple iPhone 12
1095315
CPU337597310050
GPU448766323143
Memory183031173777
UX234446288345
NanoReview Score12038401095315
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
7601
Max Surface Temp.n/a41.2 °C
Stabilityn/a77 %
Graphics Testn/a45 fps
Graphics Scoren/a7601
Sources: 3DMark [Apple iPhone 12]

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz n/a
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14) iOS 14.1 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.3.2)
OS Size n/a 7 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.1 n/a

Battery

Volume 4500 mAh 2815 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (58% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:10 h 1:30 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
20:15
Apple iPhone 12
21:15
Web Browsing07:09 h08:00 h
Video Playback10:02 h12:09 h
Games04:27 h04:35 h
Standby Mode118 h112 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8160x6120 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Up to 24FPS No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 123 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.6
Focal length23 mm26 mm
SensorSamsung S5KGN3Sony IMX372
Sensor size1/1.571/3.4
Pixel size1 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix8 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.4n/a
Focal length76 mmn/a
SensorHynix Hi847n/a
Sensor size1/4.4n/a
Pixel size1 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.4
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSamsung S5K3L6n/a
Sensor size1/31/3.6
Pixel size1.12 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
124
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
131
Apple iPhone 12
130
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
127
Apple iPhone 12
117
Bokeh5055
Preview6774
Zoom12360
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)], [Apple iPhone 12]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 3648x2736 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3J1 Sony IMX514
Sensor size 1/3 1/3.6
Pixel size 1.22 μm n/a
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
140

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 n/a
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
DisplayPort Yes n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsUMTS B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4 (AWS), B5 (850), B8 (900)UMTS/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*LTE (B/B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B20/B26/B28/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B46/B48/B66)
LTE category2018
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
81.1 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced October, 2023 yr October, 2020 yr
Release Date October, 2023 yr October, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 599 800
Sensors - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included No n/a

Note

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon):

The Galaxy S23 FE is available in the USA with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, whereas other countries receive a version with the Exynos 2200. The base (128 GB) storage utilizes a UFS 3.1 memory type, whereas the higher-tier 256 GB variant is equipped with UFS 4.0. Models are available with a single SIM card, dual SIMs, or dual SIMs plus eSIM (depending on the market).

* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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