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Are you looking to jump ship between iPhone and Android, without breaking the bank on the most top tier flagships by the two brands that dominate those two worlds?
Well, now both Apple and Samsung are happy to offer "Plus" models of their flagship series for people who either want to do that, or simply want a big and reliable phone, and are not exactly sure whether the Galaxy S23 Plus, which was just announced, or the already-released iPhone 14 Plus is the better choice for them.
Luckily, we're here to compare those two Plus models, and see which one is right for you, and which one would be more of a minus for your needs. Let's get started!
The iPhone 14 Plus starts cheaper at $899, as opposed to the expected $999.99 for the S23 Plus
The S23 Plus has a third camera (Telephoto, with 3X optical zoom)
The S23 Plus' display refreshes at up to 120Hz, as opposed to the iPhone's slower 60Hz
The S23 Plus has extra power user features like split-screen multitasking and Samsung DeX
The S23 Plus starts at 256GB of storage, while the iPhone 14 Plus starts at 128GB
The S23 Plus is has a bigger battery and faster wired charging (45W, as opposed to the iPhone 14 Plus' 20W)
The iPhone 14 Plus unlocks with Face ID, while the Galaxy S23 uses an under-display fingerprint scanner (and thus has no notch cutting into its screen real estate, just a small selfie camera cutout)
Galaxy S23+ is available at Amazon
The Galaxy S23+ with 256GB of built-in storage arrives at its standard price, but you can trade-in an eligible device for up to $240 off. Limited quantities are available.
iPhone 14 from Apple: save $40-$620 with a trade-in
You can buy the new iPhone 14 at Apple, where the device is sold at its regular price. If you wish to save, opt for a trade-in. Trade-in discounts vary between $40 and $620, depending on what device you trade in and its condition.
AT&T iPhone 14 (256GB) at Walmart: save 23% right now
The iPhone 14 is now available to order with a carrier plan from AT&T Walmart. Prices for this device start at $21.64/month for 36 installments. The phone comes with 256GB of internal storage space in Midnight.
Verizon iPhone 14 Plus: get it for FREE with a new line
Get the iPhone 14 Plus for $00.00/mo with Verizon. This offer requires a new line activation and a select Unlimited plan. Your savings will be applied over 36 months.
As their names suggest, both the Galaxy S23 Plus and iPhone 14 Plus are basically larger variants of the base S23 and iPhone 14, respectively. And in today's world, where we do almost everything on our phones, it makes perfect sense to want a bigger phone, with a bigger screen, and… well, a bigger battery would be nice too, right?
Starting with the Galaxy S23 Plus, it's coming out on February 17, and features a very familiar design, identical to its predecessor, besides the fact that its camera island on the back was removed, and each of its three rear cameras are now their own separate element. We're talking about a minimalist, premium-feeling glass back with just a Samsung logo and three cameras on it. The Galaxy S23 Plus is a flat phone with a flat screen too, which many may appreciate.
Speaking of the screen, the S23 Plus sports a 6.6-inch AMOLED screen, and has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. This bodes well for future users of this phone, as we know Samsung's AMOLED displays are beautiful, vivid, with great contrast and pitch blacks, and that 120Hz refresh rate means everything on it will appear super smooth. Good stuff!
Galaxy S23 Plus (left) and iPhone 14 Plus (right)
As for the iPhone 14 Plus, its back is also premium-feeling and minimalist, with again just the Apple logo and a camera square adding a bit of character. The camera module here does have a defined rounded-corner square, so we could argue this is the less minimalist phone, oddly enough for Apple.
But on the front – we have an ever so slightly larger 6.7-inch screen, albeit a good chunk of it at the top is covered with a notch, so… Don't let those diagonal inches fool you; the Galaxy S23 Plus offers more screen real estate. Also, while the iPhone 14 Plus' display is OLED, meaning once again great contrast, colors and pitch blacks, it's only clocked at 60Hz refresh rate. So while you may not notice anything wrong with it at all, if you've never used a phone with a 120Hz screen, it does feel less fluid if you compare it with one side-by-side.
Both phones are IP68 dust and water resistant, meaning you should be fine using either one outside during a light rain, but still – it's advised to keep them away from beaches and pools.
In terms of weight, the Galaxy S23 Plus is 196 grams (6.91 oz), while the iPhone 14 Plus is ever so slightly heavier at 203 grams (7.16 oz).
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
The Galaxy S23 Plus is packing the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and 8GB of RAM, which basically means – modern flagship specs. It also means we can expect smooth performance from the phone, during both everyday use, multitasking, and even gaming, but stay tuned for our full review when it comes out for concrete results. Will it have throttling or overheating issues, or will it perform like a champ without breaking a sweat? We're yet to find out, but the expectations are high.
On the software side, the Galaxy S23 Plus comes with Android 13 with Samsung's One UI 5 interface on top. One UI has traditionally been my personal favorite Android interface for its many, many great features, such as enhanced multitasking with both split screen apps and windowed apps, and best of all – Samsung DeX, which can turn your phone into a PC replacement when you hook it up to a TV or any external display.
Yes, on the software side, the S23 Plus comes packed with awesome features, and of course, we can't understate how nice One UI 5 and Android 13 look too. Both also allow for lots of user customization, from how your lock screen looks, to the primary colors of the entire Android system. And, as with any Android phone, you can even change your home screen launcher and download icon packs – the sky's the limit!
iOS 16 on the iPhone 14 Plus
As for the iPhone 14 Plus, it's powered by the Apple 15 Bionic chip and 6GB of RAM. Now, that might not sound impressive on paper, but iOS is extremely optimized, so 6GB of RAM is plenty enough for smooth switching between apps and even editing videos or images on your phone without an issue. The A15 Bionic chip is also quite a beast, and in fact, one of the highest-performing processors on any phone. Since this phone is out, we've been able to benchmark its performance, so let's just look at the stats and let them speak for themselves:
Whether you're gaming, working, or just using your phone for basic tasks, the iPhone 14 Plus will handle it all beautifully.
On the software side, we have Apple's iOS 16 running on this one. While iOS has traditionally been way less customizable than Android is, iOS 16 does bring a lot of lock screen customization features; it has home screen widgets too. And while it doesn't have huge desktop-mode features like Samsung DeX, iOS does come with a slew of great professional apps to get you started with any hobby you may have. Those include the iMovie video editor and GarageBand music-maker, plus office apps, and so on. Nice bonuses!
Camera
Galaxy S23 Plus (left) and iPhone 14 Plus (right) cameras
Check out our Samsung Galaxy S23 camera article for everything on that topic, but in short – the Galaxy S23 Plus packs three cameras. Those are a 50-megapixel main one, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom. So, a pretty versatile camera setup! And based on our experience with this phone's predecessor, the Galaxy S22 Plus, we can expect excellent camera performance from it, whether taking photos or capturing videos. Which, by the way, can now be up to 8K, 30FPS!
As we can see from our daylight samples above, both phones are about on par when it comes to clarity, but they do process color differently. As usual, we get warmer colors from the iPhone 14 Plus, while the Galaxy S23 Plus delivers slightly colder, and more vibrant shades. Whether you prefer one or the other is up to you, but either way - you can't go wrong.
It's a similar story with the Plus phones' ultra-wide cameras - once again we get more vibrant images out of the Galaxy, while the iPhone delivers a bit bleak, yet arguably more true-to-life colors. Regardless, both phones' ultra-wide cameras are there to capture more from your surroundings, and they do so about on par, with perfect clarity.
We have 3X and 10X zoom samples above, and besides the usual color difference, there's no contest when it comes to 10X zoom - the Galaxy S23 Plus shows the signs more clearly, with the text being readable. Meanwhile the iPhone 14 Plus struggles with clarity at 10X zoom.
Portrait Mode shots are absolutely great from both phones, with the differences between the two being miniscule. For example, the iPhone 14 Plus applies a tad stronger blur to the background, and if we don our detective hat and hold up a magnifying glass - the subject is slightly more sharply cut in that second sample, which is desirable.
And last but definitely not least, we've done a video quality test with both phones, which you can check out above. Once again, we can see warmer hues from the iPhone 14 Plus, colder from the S23 Plus. In terms of clarity and microphone quality, neither disappoints. But notably, we can see what big of a difference the 12x zoom on the Galaxy does, and for some people - it's going to be a huge advantage to have.
Audio Quality
It appears that Samsung has improved the Galaxy S23 Plus' speakers when compared to its predecessors, which is good news. The setup itself is the same - a bottom-firing speaker, plus the earpiece chiming in, creating a stereo effect when gaming or watching movies in landscape. Now, Samsung's phones, unfortunately, have always been a bit disappointing in the sound department, when compared to iPhones, sounding a bit more tinny. But stay tuned for our full review, where we'll find out exactly how much of an improvement the Galaxy S23 speakers are.
And as for the iPhone 14 Plus, it also packs a bottom firing speaker, plus an earpiece, but that speaker actually kicks out loud, full sound with even some bass, so gaming and movie-watching feels a bit more impactful and satisfying.
And of course, neither of those phones have a headphone jack, if that's even worth mentioning anymore. But you can use all of your favorite Bluetooth headphones or speakers, or, plan B – get a dongle for that.
Battery Life and Charging
Galaxy S23 Plus (left) and iPhone 14 Plus (right)
The Galaxy S23 Plus is packing a 4,700 mAh battery, which is bigger than its predecessor's 4,500 mAh battery, so that's good news when it comes to our battery life expectations – it should be improved. In terms of charging speeds, the Galaxy S23 Plus has 45W wired charging, and 10W wireless charging.
As for the iPhone 14 Plus, it packs a smaller 4,325 mAh battery, slower 20W wired charging, but slightly faster 15W wireless charging.
Our battery life test results (shown above) give us a clear image of how variously the two phones perform in different use case scenarios. The iPhone 14 Plus beats the Galaxy S23 Plus in our video playback test, yet the Galaxy beats the iPhone in our 3D gaming test, which is much more intensive on a phone. Regardless, most users should easily get two days out of either phone, before needing to charge, with light to average usage.
Specs Comparison
Specs
Galaxy S23 Plus
iPhone 14 Plus
Dimensions
6.20 x 2.98 x 0.30 inches (157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm)
6.33 x 3.07 x 0.31 inches (160.8 x 78.1 x 7.8 mm)
Weight
6.91 oz (196 grams)
7.16 oz (203.0 g)
Screen
6.6 inches 2340 x 1080 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio, 390 PPI Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz
6.7 inches 2778 x 1284 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio, 457 PPI OLED 60Hz
Rado, a tech enthusiast with a love for mobile devices, brings his passion for Android and iPadOS to PhoneArena. His tech journey began with MP3 players and has evolved to include tinkering with Android tablets and iPads, even running Linux and Windows 95 on them. Beyond tech, Rado is a published author, music producer, and PC game developer. His professional work on iPads, from producing songs to editing videos, showcases his belief in their capabilities. Rado looks forward to the future of mobile tech, particularly in augmented reality and multi-screen smartphones.
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