Specs:
Intro:
I think this could be a much better year for Apple. Because it was always the same thing before. Samsung’s basics were always much better. To be precise, the older non-Pro iPhones didn’t have a 120Hz refresh rate. That was a very basic requirement. Or take the example of fast charging. I mean, iPhones didn’t charge that fast. But this year, the story has changed. You’ll find out for yourself whether Samsung’s features are more important to you or the iPhone’s features are more important. In short, it will help you choose one phone out of the two.
Design:
So, let’s start with the design. Materials matter a lot in expensive phones. And the good thing about both these phones is that they come with an aluminum frame. And both phones fall into the category of compact phones. So, they are considered quite lightweight and super comfortable.
The Samsung S25 is exactly 15 grams lighter than the iPhone 17. Let me tell you something very interesting, if you didn’t use a screen protector on the older iPhones, you would get a lot of scratches. But this time Apple has solved many things in the iPhone 17. This time they have used Ceramic Shield 2, which results in far fewer scratches compared to before. So, we can say that things are looking better.
And if we compare this with the Samsung, it has Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It’s a fantastic glass, strong, and doesn’t get many scratches. And the older Samsung models also didn’t get many scratches. So, the scratch problem wasn’t there in Samsung phones.
But if we talk about the IP rating, Apple’s has been quite strong for a long time. On paper, Apple writes that the iPhone can go up to 6 meters underwater for half an hour. While Samsung mentions that it can go 1.5 meters underwater for 30 minutes. Both phones have an IP68 rating, but the iPhone 17 has a better rating.
Now let’s discuss the buttons. Because Apple has given too many buttons on its phone. The new action button is very useful; you can also customize it in the settings. Now there’s even a camera control button inside the phones, which hasn’t had any good use yet.
Samsung has still kept a simple approach. They have given the volume rockers and power button on the right side of the phone. So, it’s very easy to use the phone. And speaking of the speakers, they’ve been compared very well, with different types of content. And the iPhone 17 speakers seemed slightly better. But the speakers on both phones are quite good.
Display:
Similarly, if we compare the displays, Apple has finally made significant upgrades this year. However, the iPhone screen is one inch larger than the Samsung. In fact, Apple has also reduced the bezels this year. So, the screens of both phones look good. And finally, this time we can say that both phones come with a 120Hz refresh rate. The benefit of this is that whenever you open an app, it will feel very smooth. Or when you’re scrolling, the iPhone will also have smooth scrolling, just like Samsung.
This time, Apple has also included an always-on display in its iPhone 17, similar to Samsung. This is also an advantage. But there is a difference in the displays of both phones. The iPhone 17 has an anti-reflective coating that reduces reflections. This year, the iPhone has come a long way in the display department. This year, the iPhone has a brightness of 3000 nits. And if we compare it to the Samsung 2600 nits, there’s no doubt that the iPhone 17 looks a little brighter. But the displays of both phones are clearly visible in sunlight.
If I talk about Netflix, Prime Video, and any other OTT platform, the iPhone 17 shows more accurate colors, while the Samsung S25 shows more vibrant colors. But the iPhone has Dolby Vision support, which is also a good thing.
However, while watching videos, the iPhone’s Dynamic Island becomes distracting, whereas the Samsung has a small camera cutout, so it’s not as distracting.
Network and Connectivity:
Next, let’s talk about a very important point: connectivity. Now, let’s compare connectivity. Many users may not know that iPhones don’t have very good network reception compared to Samsung phones. And the same thing applies to Apple’s Pro models as well.
The Wi-Fi isn’t that strong either, if I compare it to Samsung. I hope Apple improves the network performance next year.
And the haptics on the iPhone are better than the Samsung . And Apple’s Face ID is quite fast. But Samsung’s fingerprint scanner feels easier to use.
Performance:
And now let’s discuss the performance in detail. The iPhone 17 has the new A19 processor, and Samsung also uses Qualcomm’s flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Both processors are based on 3nm technology, which is a good thing.
There’s a difference in RAM the iPhone comes with 8GB of RAM, while the Samsung comes with 12GB. Regarding storage, the iPhone 17 has a 512GB variant, and its storage speed is very fast. But the crazy thing is that the 256GB variant of the iPhone 17 has significantly slower storage speeds. So, keep this in mind when buying the iPhone 17.
The Samsung also has 512GB of storage, and its speed is slightly faster. In terms of overall performance, the iPhone 17 is slightly ahead. The benchmark scores were also higher for the iPhone 17. However, when it comes to 3DMark stress tests, the best loop scores are better on the Samsung, while the stability is better on the iPhone. In gaming, the iPhone delivers 120 FPS, while the Samsung runs at 60 FPS. Due to the 120Hz refresh rate on the iPhone 17, you get 120 FPS in gaming, which is a huge advantage for the iPhone. And for casual gaming, both phones offer 120 FPS.
But another factor in performance is the USB port. If you’re a user who uses an SSD for data transfer, the iPhone 17 still uses USB 2.0, which doesn’t offer very fast speeds. Whereas the Samsung has USB 3.2, allowing for much faster data transfer. And the good thing is that despite delivering such good performance, neither of these phones overheats.
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Battery:
Regarding the battery department, Apple never discloses the exact mAh capacity of the battery inside their phones. Currently, the iPhone is running the new iOS 26, which is stable. Both phones can last a full day on a single charge. As you may know, this year Apple has included fast charging in the iPhone 17.
And if we look at the charging test for both phones, the Samsung takes 1 hour and 17 minutes to fully charge, while the iPhone takes 1 hour and 22 minutes. Apple has also launched a new charger for fast charging.
Camera:
If we talk about the cameras of both phones, the iPhone 17 comes with a 48MP + 48MP setup, and the Samsung S25 comes with a 50MP + 10MP + 12MP setup. Basically, the Samsung comes with an extra camera, which is a 10MP telephoto lens.
No doubt, both phones capture very good photos. But technically speaking, the iPhone captures slightly better details and has better color accuracy. However, Samsung has an advantage in that all its lenses are slightly wider compared to the iPhone. The benefit of being wider is that it can capture a larger area.
When it comes to portrait shots, both phones perform quite well at 1X. But when we talk about 2X, sometimes there is noise in the Samsung, while the iPhone captures better details. Edge detection is better in the Samsung S25. But when capturing photos with 3X zoom, you can’t compare it with the iPhone because the Samsung has a dedicated 3X lens, so its photos are much better. In fact, because of this dedicated lens, Samsung takes very good photos even at 10X.
But if we talk about the ultrawide lens, the iPhone has a 48MP lens. So, many improvements are visible here, and it’s better than Samsung’s.
If we talk about macro photos, both phones have very different approaches. For example, the iPhone takes macro photos with its ultrawide lens. The good thing is that it gets much closer to the subject.
Whereas, the Samsung S25 takes macro photos with its 3X lens. This allows the focus to be on the subject, but at the same time, you get a nice bokeh effect in the background, which gives a different perspective.
If we talk about low-light photos, the iPhone produces slightly more natural colors and better detail compared to Samsung.
But when it comes to the front camera, there’s a very interesting story this year. The new 18MP front camera that Apple has used has its advantages. But if we compare it side-by-side with the Samsung S25’s 12MP front camera, both phones capture very good selfies. However, since the iPhone comes with a new front camera, its advantage is that the front camera is much wider. This is because it has the Center Stage option, which allows you to take wide selfies. And this advantage is also visible in front-facing video. And when it comes to video recording with the back camera, the Samsung S25 shoots 8K video. But the iPhone 17 records good videos in HDR settings.
Software:
And let’s talk about the last important point, which is the software experience. To mention something new, the Samsung comes with One UI 8, and the iPhone has iOS 26, so a few things have changed. The good thing about both phones is that opening and closing apps is very fast on both of them these days. The animations are quite smooth. Samsung’s advantage is that it offers a lot of customization options. And the new iOS 26 has some new customization features. That is, many things have improved compared to previous iPhones. But in terms of customization, we can say that the Samsung S25 is better.
And Samsung has another advantage it comes with Samsung Pay, so you can store your credit cards. And when it comes to AI, the Samsung S25 clearly has the advantage here as well. There are many thinks where Samsung’s AI is better.
Conclusion:
So, that was the complete comparison of both phones. Hopefully, you now understand which features are important for you.