Samsung has taken the wraps off the Galaxy S25 range. As the most affordable in the family, and with some significant upgrades, the standard S25 is likely to be the most popular.
It offers a new ProScaler feature that promises to upgrade picture quality and increase detail levels, among other improvements. But the iPhone 16 has plenty going for it – it's been on sale for about four months already, stealing a head start on the S25, and has fared very well in terms of picture and sound.
So how does the newbie compare to Apple's equivalent?
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: price
Pricing is very similar between the two at the lower capacities, but the more storage you get, the more you'll save by choosing the S25 over the iPhone 16.
The S25 and iPhone 16 cost the same at 128GB (in the UK), while at 256GB the S25 is £40 cheaper, and at 512GB it's £140 cheaper. Quite a saving.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Samsung Galaxy S25 | iPhone 16 |
|---|---|---|
| 128GB | £799 / $799 / N/A | £799 / $799 / AU$1399 |
| 256GB | £859 / $859 / AU$1399 | £899 / $899 / AU$1599 |
| 512GB | £959 / N/A / AU$1599 | £1099 / $1099 / AU$1949 |
The difference is even larger right now, thanks to Samsung's introductory offers. These put the 256GB S25 at the same £799 as the 128GB, while reducing the 512GB variant by £100 to £859. Making the latter a whopping £240 cheaper than the same capacity iPhone 16.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: design
The S25 has become 6g lighter than its predecessor, making it 8g lighter than the iPhone 16 (162g to 170g). Other than that, not much has changed from the S24 in terms of design – you get the same 6.2-inch FHD+ display, for example.
Colour options are Icyblue, Navy, Mint, and Silver Shadow (with some other colours available exclusively from Samsung). It is very slightly slimmer than the iPhone 16 (7.2mm to 7.8mm).
The iPhone 16 is one of the best-looking smartphones around. Its 6.1-inch screen is slightly smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S25's, but it does have a higher resolution. The iPhone 16 comes in five colours: Black, White, Pink, Teal and Ultramarine.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: features
Unusually for a smartphone, one of the main selling points of the S25 is the improvement in picture quality. Which we welcome – most new phones make minimal improvements, so much so that they're barely mentioned by the manufacturers. But the S25 makes real strides.
Samsung says its ProScaler feature will upscale video to a higher resolution while increasing the level of detail on lower quality content by 43 per cent. This is similar to the AI Upscaler Pro feature found on Samsung's TVs. Samsung's QN900D TV does a great job in this regard, so if the S25 can get anywhere close, we'll be very happy indeed.
There's no increase in brightness over last year's models, but the S24 had a very bright screen.
Inside the S25 is Qualcomm's latest processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite (in a custom 'For Galaxy' edition which is optimised for the S25). It also has 12GB of RAM, and runs Samsung's One UI 7 operating system over Android 15, with seven years of software updates guaranteed.
AI plays a big part. It offers features like Circle to Search with Google, Live Translation, Generative Edit photo editing tools, Custom Wallpapers, and Chat Assist for tweaking the tone and grammar – plus many more. An on-device large language model powers an improved Generative Edit photo editing system with more natural-looking generative fill sections when removing subjects from a photograph.
Camera-wise, you get a 50MP main lens, 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto camera. 10-bit HDR support brings four times more dynamic colours, and an on-device Audio Eraser feature will cut unwanted background noise from videos at the tap of a button.
Apple too has bestowed its phone with AI. The iPhone 16 has a similarly bewildering array of AI skills, though Apple had to pull its AI news alerts recently after they started getting the facts wrong.
The A18 processor partners with 8GB of RAM – that's less RAM than the S25, but it still flies through the iOS 18 operating system.
The 2000 nits peak brightness is also lower than the S25's 2600 nits, but with HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats on board, it offers a wider range of HDR content than the S25 (which only supports HDR10 and HDR10+). The 60Hz refresh rate is a bit disappointing though – that's half the S25's 120Hz.
The iPhone 16 only has two cameras to the S25's three – a 48MP wide angle and 12MP ultrawide angle. You can shoot spatial videos and photos thanks to the vertical lens alignment, for viewing back on the Apple Vision Pro headset.
The Dynamic Island is back for another year, creating shortcuts and showing info at a glance. It's another classic Apple feature, making a virtue out of the otherwise-annoying screen cutout that houses the front-facing camera.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: picture
Now we're getting into reviews territory, we must make one thing clear: we have only used the S25 briefly, and haven't put it through our thorough reviews process. The image appeared bright and clear, with the ProScaler feature seeming to add in extra detail. We look forward to putting it through its paces in a proper review environment.
In the meantime, you can read our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review for a flavour of what to expect.
The S25 faces quite a foe – the iPhone 16 is an excellent pocket cinema. Its image is rich, with plenty of depth. There's enough detail in the picture to create a sense of textures, and colours are balanced and engaging. Skin tones and flora appear natural, with a degree of subtlety that's been missing from Samsung's phones so far. A highly enjoyable viewing experience.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: sound
Our listening of the S25 was limited to YouTube trailers in a crowded demo room, so we're going to reserve judgement for now.
The iPhone 16 has decent audio chops – it supports Dolby Atmos audio through headphones or built-in stereo loudspeakers, as well as Apple Spatial Audio through supported AirPods or Beats headphones and earbuds. It performs very well indeed – "easily one of the best-sounding smartphones we’ve heard" was our verdict in our review. It's rich, detailed and engaging, regardless of what it's playing.
Bass is deep and rich, and compositions are packed with detail and tonal variation. Your move, Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy S25 vs iPhone 16: early verdict
Until we've given the Galaxy S25 the proper review treatment, we can't comment on its performance. But it certainly looks promising, especially the ProScaler feature to improve picture detail. We can take or leave the AI razzmatazz for now – it's a bit of a gimmick, and teething issues the likes of Apple's AI news alerts are inevitable. If Samsung can improve on the sound quality, it could be up there with the best smartphones of the year.
With a solid track record in picture and sound, the iPhone 16 is a great buy. But given that its higher capacities are quite a bit pricier than the S25, could Samsung steal its thunder? We'll update this page once we've reviewed the S25.
MORE:
Check out our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
As well as our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review
Here are our picks for the best Android phones
