iPhone 16 Plus vs. Galaxy S24 Plus: Another battle of the plus points

Introduction

This is a battle between two super-sized phones, both of which represent a strange concept in the flagship smartphone category. They offer a big screen but have cut corners in a place or two to save people some money.

It wasn't always like this. Samsung started with the S9+ as a higher-end alternative to the regular flagship, but then the Ultra took over that role. Apple also had something similar in the early days, the iPhone 6 Plus started the trend, but was replaced by the Pro Max as the ultimate flagship.

These Plus models serve as a bridge between the standard flagship of the series and the top offering. And today we will be iPhone16 Plus and the Galaxy S24+. Which offers the best value for money? Read on to find out!

iPhone16 Plus vs Galaxy S24 Plus Differences explained:

iPhone 16 Plus*	Galaxy S24 Plus
Similar size and weight	Similar size and weight
Same screen size, but only 60 Hz refresh rate	Same 6.7-inch screen, but with dynamic refresh rate of 1-120 Hz
Dual camera, wide angle only and ultra wide angle	Triple camera, including a dedicated macro camera
Less memory in the basic version (6GB)	More memory in the basic version (12GB)
128 GB base storage, no microSD card slot	More base storage from 256 GB
A smaller 4,006 mAh battery	Larger 4,900mAh battery, potentially offering longer battery life
A18 Pro chipset	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy

*provisional differences

Table of contents:

Design and display quality

The status quo remains unchanged

As with the previous generation, the iPhone16 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Plus are merely larger versions of their respective base models. Both also follow the design language of their predecessors, with the iPhone16 In addition, the design of the camera bump has been optimized a little so that vertically arranged wide and ultrawide cameras are now used. Galaxy S24 Plus Use the same separate cutout design for each camera on the back.

In terms of materials, size and weight, the two devices are pretty close. They are both made of glass and aluminum, weigh almost the same and the screen size is identical on both phones, which also results in similar dimensions.

Samsung has opted for a boxier design with flatter sides and back for the S24 series, Galaxy S24 Plus feels more similar in the hand to the iPhone16 Plus than ever before. There are some differences in the colors, although the S24 Plus also offers a little more choice and more vibrancy.

Expected colors of the Apple iPhone 16 Plus:

Available colors of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus:

Amber yellow
Marble Grey
Onyx Black
Cobalt violet
Jade Green (exclusive)
Sapphire Blue (exclusive)
Sandstone Orange (exclusive)

Finally, it should be mentioned that the iPhone16 Plus has its own camera shutter button, which Apple calls the Capture Button. Galaxy S24 Plus lacks such hardware, so if you like to have camera control at the touch of a button, you might tend towards the iPhone16 Plus yes.

Looking at the displays of both phones, we notice something very, very sad. Apple has once again refused to equip its Vanilla and Plus modes with high refresh rate displays and we are stuck with 60 Hz on the iPhone16 Plus. And that’s a big minus if you ask us. The Galaxy S24 Plus has an OLED screen of the same size of 6.7 inches, but it is an LTPO panel and can dynamically switch between 1 and 120 Hz.

The iPhone16 Plus is still a few days away from our test, so we have to wait a bit for things like maximum screen brightness, color accuracy, and color temperature. The Galaxy S24 Plusis a known variable, on the other hand, and delivers solid performance with 1,273 nits of maximum typical brightness and 1 nit of minimum brightness. Stay tuned for lab testing soon.

Performance and software

Can the Gen 3 for Galaxy compete with the A18?

The iPhone16 Plus features the new Apple A18 chip, which is a big unknown at the moment as we haven't done the testing yet. It's a 3nm chip and we expect Apple to maintain the lead in synthetic benchmarks at least, although the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 isn't far behind.

Over and beyond Galaxy S24 Plus comes with a slightly overclocked version of this chipset, called “for Galaxy”, and offers slightly better performance, compared to other Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 equipped telephones.

There are some leaked Geekbench results that show scores of 3678 and 8974 for single and multicore performance respectively, but we should take these with a grain of salt. For comparison: Galaxy S24 Plus achieved 2119 and 6823 points in the same test.

The RAM situation is favorable for the Galaxy S24 Plusas it comes with 12GB of RAM, but the difference in architecture, ecosystem and how iOS and Android treat apps makes such a comparison irrelevant. Some hard numbers will take that place once we test that iPhone16 Plus.

When it comes to software, it is even more complicated. Galaxy S24 Plus comes with Galaxy AI on board, and as we already know, AI is the big thing in smartphone technology these days. We don't yet know much about Apple Intelligence and how good or useful it will actually be, but it's a fierce battle shaping up.

The Galaxy S24 Plus also includes seven years of important operating system updates, while the iPhone16 Plus only offers five, so although there is a good gap between these two phones in favor of the iPhone16 Plus, that’s more than 6 months newer, in the end, the Galaxy S24 Plus Victories in longevity.

camera

Three is still more than two

The iPhone16 is expected to retain the same dual-camera setup as its predecessor. Apple upgraded the main camera sensor on the last generation of non-Pro iPhones with a 48MP main camera capable of capturing high-resolution 24MP images, and this will be added to the iPhone16 Plus.

The ultra-wide-angle camera is the same 12MP camera with f/2.4 aperture and 13mm focal length, so we don't expect any major differences in image quality.

The Galaxy S24 Pluson the other hand, has a triple camera on the back. Samsung is sticking with this system despite rumors that the company might switch to a dual main camera system on its non-Ultra phones.

The main camera is a 50MP sensor under a lens with f/1.8 and a focal length of 24mm. The ultra-wide angle camera is very similar to that of the iPhone16 Plus has. It is a 12 MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a pixel size of 1.4 μm. The field of view should be very similar since this camera also has a focal length of 13 mm.

The Galaxy S24 Plus has an ace up its sleeve in the form of a telephoto camera. It has 10 megapixels and can zoom 3x optically. The iPhone16 Plus uses sensor crops to achieve a 2x optical zoom, giving a clear advantage in terms of flexibility and zoom level for the Galaxy S24 Plus.

But examples speak louder than specs, so stay tuned for the image comparison coming soon.

Battery life and charging

Should be pretty close

Although the Galaxy S24 Plus has a larger battery on paper, but that doesn't mean the battery life will necessarily be better. We've seen this time and again with other iPhone models, the Pro Max is a good example.

The above mentioned Galaxy S24 Plus comes with a 4,900mAh battery, while the iPhone16 Plus is said to contain a 4,006 mAh cell and this 600 mAh difference may or may not affect battery life.

We'll have to wait until our battery tests are complete to give you some benchmark results and a final verdict on this, but keep in mind that all of the iPhone Plus models over the past few years have been very strong in the battery life department.

When it comes to charging, iPhone16 Plus could finally get a much-needed boost in loading speed. We don't have exact numbers yet, but this battle will be more exciting than ever. The Galaxy S24 Plus comes with 45W wired charging support and goes from 0 to 100% in just over an hour. We doubt that the iPhone16 Plus will be able to top that, but let's wait and see.

Specifications comparison

Here is a preliminary comparison of the specifications between the Apple iPhone16 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. To dive deeper, head over to our full comparison on PhoneArena.

	iPhone 16 Plus*	Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
Size, weight	160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8mm, 203g	158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm, 197g
Screen	6.7-inch OLED 60Hz	6.7″ Super AMOLED 1-120Hz
processor	A18 3nm	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy 4nm
RAM, memory	8/128GB 8/256GB 8/512GB LPDDR5	12/256GB 12/512GB LPDDR5
Cameras	48MP Main 12 megapixels 12MP front	50MP Main 12 megapixels 20MP telephoto lens 12MP front
battery	4,006mAh	4,900mAh
Load	USB C 27W wired MagSafe	USB C 45W wired

*-rumored specifications

Which one should you buy?

That's a difficult question, especially at this early stage. iPhone16 Plus is just around the corner, but we need to run all the tests and benchmarks and snap some samples to be able to evaluate it properly. Galaxy S24 Plusis a very good competitor and for many, with a price of $999 (compared to the S24 Ultra), the better choice.

We expect the iPhone16 Plus is set to launch at a similar price and with very similar performance. What sets the S24 Plus apart is the additional telephoto camera, Galaxy AI suite, and potentially better battery life and charging performance. Oh, and the screen is 1-120Hz too.

Let's wait and see how Apple reacts! We will update our comparison and give you a final verdict as soon as our iPhone16 Also, the review has been published!