The iPhone 11 might not be as packed with features as the iPhone 11 Pro lineup. Yet for $700, it is a great smartphone that rivals other flagship Android smartphones out there including the Galaxy S10. The latter is easily among the most popular and one of the best smartphones out there in the Android ecosystem. So how does the iPhone 11 compare to the Samsung Galaxy S10? Find out in this comparison.

The Galaxy S10 has a higher retail price tag than the iPhone 11. However, it is easily available at a discount of $100-$200 which puts its price in the same ballpark as the iPhone 11. So despite the iPhone 11 being a ‘budget’ flagship, it ends up competing with the Galaxy S10 — a real flagship.

iPhone 11 vs Galaxy S10 Comparison: How are They Different?

Design

• iPhone 11 – 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm, 194g, IP68 certified
• Galaxy S10 – 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8 mm, 157g, IP68 certified

The Galaxy S10 and the iPhone 11 come with the same 6.1-inch display size. Yet, the former is smaller in size than the iPhone 11 due to the relatively narrow bezels. The Galaxy S10 is also lighter than the iPhone 11 by a fair margin. Both phones are IP68 certified and can withstand being submerged in 2m depth of water for up to 30 minutes.

The Galaxy S10 and iPhone 11 both feature an aluminum chassis with glass panels at the front and back. The iPhone 11 does make use of a single piece of glass at the rear while the Galaxy S10 has a cutout for the vertical triple-camera system. The Galaxy S10 does have one key advantage over the iPhone 11: it comes with a headphone jack. Apple ditched the headphone jack with the iPhone 7 and has not looked back since then while Samsung continues to include it on its flagship Galaxy S devices.

Display

• iPhone 11 – 6.1-inch True Tone Liquid Retina HD LCD display, 1792 x 828 pixels (326 ppi), Haptic Touch
• Galaxy S10 – 6.1-inch curved Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED, 1440 x 3040 pixels (550ppi), HDR10, Dynamic AMOLED

The Galaxy S10 absolutely demolishes the iPhone 11 in this department. While both phones have the same display size, the Galaxy S10’s Dynamic AMOLED display is leaps and bounds better than the iPhone 11’s Liquid Retina HD LCD display. The Galaxy S10’s display has a higher resolution, higher peak brightness, better contrast ratio, viewing angles, and more.

Processor

• iPhone 11 – A13 Bionic, 7nm+ EUV, Third-generation Neural engine
• Galaxy S10 – 7nm Snapdragon 855 or 8nm Exynos 9820

The iPhone 11’s A13 Bionic chip trumps the Galaxy S10’s Snapdragon 855 chipset when it comes to raw horsepower. The difference is so massive that the A13 Bionic feels like it is from a generation or two ahead of the Snapdragon 855 inside the Galaxy S10.

Storage

• iPhone 11 – 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
• Galaxy S10 – 128GB, 512GB, microSD card slot

The Galaxy S10 lives up to its flagship title here and ships with 2x the amount of base storage as the iPhone 11. Samsung even offers a 512GB variant of the Galaxy S10 while the iPhone 11 tops out at 256GB.

Another commendable about the Galaxy S10 is that it features a microSD card slot allowing one to upgrade the storage on their device later on for cheap. This is something that is not possible on the iPhone 11 since it lacks a microSD card slot.

Camera

• iPhone 11 – Dual 12MP camera setup f/1.8 and f/2.4 aperture, OIS for Primary sensor, 100% Focus Pixels for primary camera, Improved Smart HDR, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth control, Brighter True Tone Flash
• Galaxy S10 – Triple-camera setup, Primary 12MP camera with variable f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture, 1.4um pitch pixel, OIS; Secondary 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle shooter; Third 12MP f/2.4 telephoto sensor with OIS, 2x optical zoom, Auto HDR, Super Speed Dual Pixel, Live Focus with adjustable bokeh effect

The iPhone 11 features a dual-camera setup while the Galaxy S10 features a triple-camera system. Both phones feature a 12MP wide and ultra-wide angle shooter, with the S10 also featuring a telephoto sensor. The iPhone 11 brings about a major improvement in camera performance when compared to the iPhone XR but it is unclear as to how it fares against the Galaxy S10.

The Galaxy S10’s telephoto sensor has limited usability so its triple-camera system does not really get it more brownie points over the iPhone 11. The latter also offers better video recording capabilities than the Galaxy S10.

Front Camera

• iPhone 11 – 12MP TrueDepth Camera, f/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth control, Smart HDR, ‘Slofies’, 4K video recording
• Galaxy S10 – 10MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.9 aperture, Display Flash, Live Focus, 4K video recording

The iPhone 11 has a vastly improved front camera compared to previous iPhones. Apart from a higher-resolution sensor, it also has a wider field of view. While the Galaxy S10 also comes with a new 10MP selfie shooter, its performance is not that good.

While the Galaxy S10 and iPhone 11 can both record 4K videos from the front camera, the latter is also capable of recording ‘slofies’ a.k.a slow-motion videos.

Connectivity

• iPhone 11 – 1.2Gbps LTE modem, VoLTE, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 6 with MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC with Reader mode, Ultra-Wideband chip
• Galaxy S10 – Dual SIM, 2Gbps LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, VoLTE, NFC, 3.5mm headphone jack

The iPhone XR was sub-par in terms of its connectivity options. With the iPhone 11, Apple is fixing that for good. The phone features a Gigabit LTE modem along with Wi-Fi 6 support. The Galaxy S10’s modem is still capable of reaching faster LTE speeds theoretically but otherwise, both phones are on par here.

The iPhone does feature an Ultra Wideband chip for improved indoor positioning. The Galaxy S10’s trump card? Headphone jack for people who still care.

Biometrics

• iPhone 11 – Face ID
• Galaxy S10 – In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock

The iPhone 11 features an improved Face ID experience thanks to a wider FoV 12MP camera. This ensures that Face ID now works with a wider field of view.

The Galaxy S10 also offers face unlock but its experience or security is nowhere close to what Face ID offers. It does offer an in-display fingerprint scanner but it is very slow to unlock.

Battery & Charging

• iPhone 11 – One hour longer than iPhone XR, 18W fast charging support, 7.5W Wireless charging
• Galaxy S10 – 3,400mAh battery, 15W fast charging, 12W Fast Wireless Charging

The iPhone 11 offers an hour of additional battery life over the iPhone XR which was already known for its all-day battery life. The Galaxy S10 might come with a bigger battery than the iPhone 11 but its battery life is not as good as it. The phone can make it through a day of moderate use but if pushed hard, you will have to top-up its battery in the evening.

While both phones support fast charging, Apple only bundles a 5W charger with the iPhone 11. The Galaxy S10 ships with a 15W fast charger in the box so you can top-up its battery relatively quickly. The iPhone and Galaxy also support wireless charging but the S10 has a speed advantage here.

Price

• iPhone 11 – $699
• Galaxy S10 – $899

At first glance, the iPhone 11 might seem a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than the Galaxy S10. However, the latter is almost always on discount and be picked for around $750. Considering the fact that the base variant of the iPhone XR only ships with 64GB storage and many users might consider upgrading to the 128GB variant, this brings the pricing of both devices to the same level.

In the end, whether the Galaxy S10 is superior or the iPhone 11 depends on your needs. The Galaxy S10 has a better display, more storage, and better connectivity, while the iPhone 11 will trump it in the performance, software update, and video recording experience.