iPhone 15 Plus vs Galaxy S23 Plus: The battle of the pluses

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iPhone 15 Plus vs Galaxy S23 Plus: The battle of the pluses
What do you do when you need a bigger screen than the one on the base model phone but don't want to pay the hefty price tag of the top-of-the-line variant? You go for the "Plus" version, of course. And on the battlefield called the smartphone market, there are two Plus phones that fight for your love and cash.

At one corner of the ring, we have Apple with its all-new shiny iPhone 15 Plus, and at the other, we have Samsung with its Galaxy S23 Plus. Both phones deliver exceptional performance and are good on their own, but there could only be one best Plus smartphone of 2023. So, we just have to ask: Is it the new and shiny iPhone 15 Plus, or is it Samsung's also quite remarkable Galaxy S23 Plus

UPDATE: The Galaxy S24 Plus is available now, so stay tuned for another comparison, as the latest Galaxy Plus might be better equipped to take on the iPhone 15 Plus.

We're here to answer this question through our meticulous testing procedures. We've put these two phones through their paces in a series of tests, both synthetic and real-life. We tested how both devices handled in day-to-day scenarios, measured their displays, drained the batteries in the most real-life way, to find out which one is better, and which one deserves your hard-earned money. Here's what we've found.

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$179
$799
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iPhone 15 Plus: $40-$620 off with a trade-in at Apple Store

Looking for the bigger-sized iPhone 15 model? In that case, we suggest you consider the iPhone 15 Plus. The Apple store offers up to $620 off as a trade-in credit on a new iPhone 15 Plus.
$279
$899
This offer is not available in your area.

512GB Galaxy S23+ is available at Amazon for 11% off

The Galaxy S23+ with 512GB of built-in storage is now 11% off at Amazon. This is the model in Lavender.
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iPhone 15 Plus vs Galaxy S23 Plus expectations:
  • iOS 17 vs Android 13
  • A16 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
  • The iPhone 15 Plus is cheaper at $899, as opposed to the $999 S23 Plus price tag
  • The S23 Plus has a third camera (telephoto, with 3X optical zoom)
  • The S23 Plus sports a 120Hz display, as opposed to the iPhone's slower 60Hz
  • The S23 Plus starts at 256GB of storage, while the iPhone 15 Plus starts at 128 GB.
  • The S23 Plus has a bigger battery and faster wired charging
  • The iPhone 15 Plus unlocks with Face ID, while the Galaxy S23 uses an under-display fingerprint scanner

Table of Contents:

Read more:

Design and Size

Apples and Galaxies

The Galaxy S23 Plus and iPhone 15 Plus, as their names suggest, are larger versions of their respective base models, the S23 and iPhone 15. The Galaxy S23 retains the familiar design of its predecessor but now features no camera aisle on the back. The iPhone 15 Plus also follows in the footsteps of its spiritual father, the iPhone 14 Plus.

Both phones offer flat screens, but the iPhone 15 Plus features a more square design, just like its predecessor, while the Galaxy S23 Plus is just a tad more rounded and easy to hold. There's a difference in dimensions and weight too, the iPhone 15 Plus boasts a 6.7-inch OLED screen, while the Galaxy S23 Plus comes with a 6.6-inch AMOLED display. The iPhone 15 Plus weighs 201 grams, while the Galaxy S23 Plus is a tiny fraction lighter at 196 grams.



Both phones employ the glass sandwich design, the iPhone 15 Plus has a textured matte finish on the back, as opposed to a more traditional glossy back for the S23 Plus. As for the colors involved, check them out below.

Galaxy S23 Plus colors:
  • Cream
  • Lavender
  • Green
  • Phantom Black

Galaxy S23 colors: all the official hues

iPhone 15 Plus colors:
  • Black
  • Green
  • Pink
  • Blue
  • Yellow

iPhone 15 colors: a guide to choosing yours

Display Differences

Refresh rate is king

Speaking of the screen, the S23 Plus showcases a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The iPhone 15 Plus, on the other hand, comes with a slightly bigger 6.7-inch OLED screen but only at 60 Hz refresh rate. The resolution of the iPhone 15 Plus is also higher, leading to higher pixel density - 460 pixels per inch, compared to S23's 390 PPI.

When it comes to brightness, the Galaxy S23 Plus is rated at 750 nits nominal brightness and up to 1,500 nits peak HDR, while the iPhone 15 Plus can go up to 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness, and a stunning 2,000 nits peak outdoor brightness. 



All in all, both phones have gorgeous displays with the display refresh rate being the biggest difference. If you want a smooth 120Hz display, the S23 Plus is your phone, if you don't care for high refresh rates, you'd be happy with both phones.

Performance and Software

A16 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2


The Galaxy S23 Plus sports the latest and greatest Qualcomm has to offer - the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. And while the gap between the A-series Apple chipsets and the Snapdragon flagship processors has shrunk over the years, the advantage for the iPhone 15 Plus is there, at least when we talk about CPU synthetic benchmarks.

Geekbench

Geekbench 6
SingleHigher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus2629
Samsung Galaxy S23+1909
Geekbench 6
MultiHigher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus6680
Samsung Galaxy S23+4997


The graphics benchmark paints a different picture with advantage for the Galaxy S23 Plus, but to be fair, you probably won't notice any difference in real life scenarios - both phones are blazing fast with everything you can throw at them.

3D Mark

3DMark Extreme(High)Higher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus2986
Samsung Galaxy S23+3857
3DMark
Extreme(Low)Higher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus2036
Samsung Galaxy S23+2191


It's difficult to compare the hardware between an Android and iOS device, these are different ecosystems, and they are differently optimized. If we want to nitpick, the Galaxy S23 Plus comes with more RAM (8 GB compared to the 6GB on the iPhone 15 Plus), but it really won't make any difference in speed, both have fast LPDDR5 memory.

Now, when it comes to onboard storage, the Galaxy S23 Plus base model starts at 256GB, while the iPhone 15 Plus kicks things off at 128GB, but then again, the iPhone is also expected to be cheaper, so things level out when we factor in the price, memory-wise.


As far as software goes, the iPhone 15 Plus ships with iOS 17 out of the box. Check out our detailed iOS 17 coverage, as well as our dedicated iOS 17 review to learn everything you need to know about Apple's latest mobile OS, including cool new features, such as NameDrop, all the iMessage and Phone updates and more. There's already an update (iOS 17.2) rolling out to the iPhone 15 Plus, bringing AirDrop over the internet, along with other improvements in StandBy and Apple Music, as well as the ability to record Spatial Video (only for the Pro models). Check out our detailed article for a deep dive.

The Galaxy S23 Plus is running Android 13 but it will get the next version toward the end of the year. So, be sure to check out our Android 14 hub to see what to expect from Google's next big mobile OS update.

Camera

Pure mathematics

There are three cameras on the back of the Galaxy S23 Plus. Those are a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide one, and a 10-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom.
Three is more than two, that's simple math, and the iPhone 15 Plus features a dual camera setup, just like its predecessor, albeit an upgraded one - the main camera now has a 48MP sensor taken from last year's iPhone Pro models.

Main Camera



The images taken with the main cameras of both phones look pretty similar. The level of detail, dynamic range, exposure and color tonality are all very similar and in our eyes there's no clear winner here. You can get quality results from both phones, when it comes to the main camera.

Ultra-wide



The ultrawide snapper on the iPhone 15 Plus is the same as the one found on the iPhone 14 Plus, a 12MP sensor with similar aperture and focal length to the ultrawide camera inside the S23 Plus. Unsurprisingly, the results are again very similar, especially considering the field of view and aperture.

Zoom Quality




Having a 3X optical zoom is super useful for framing faraway objects, getting better portrait shots, etc. Even though the iPhone 15 Plus now features that Optical-quality 2X telephoto (which really is a 12-megapixel crop from the main sensor), the Galaxy S23 Plus maintains a clear advantage when it comes to zoom shots. This advantage is present even at 2X zoom ranges but becomes even more evident at 3X and 10X.

Portrait Mode



The iPhone 15 Plus comes with upgraded Portrait mode to assist that 2X crop images and it shows. Both in 1X and 2X modes the iPhone 15 Plus performs on par with the Galaxy S23, producing detailed and color-accurate portraits with convincing levels of bokeh.

Selfies



The selfie camera on the Galaxy S23 Plus has been yielding some impressive results ever since the phone was launched earlier this year. Even though we're talking about the same megapixel count, it seems that the S23 Plus still have an advantage over the iPhone 15 Plus, when it comes to selfie shots. 

The difference isn't huge, though. The S23 Plus produces softer selfie shots with more natural colors, while the iPhone 15 Plus images seem a bit over sharpened. Both will do the job nicely if you like to snap a lot of selfies.

Video Quality


Video Thumbnail

Do you see a big difference in video quality between the two? Most of the differences that were present in still images can be seen in the video sample. Again, if you like to zoom when recording your videos, the S23 Plus has an advantage thanks to its dedicated telephoto lens. 

Audio Quality


Samsung seems to have made significant improvements to the speakers of the Galaxy S23 Plus compared to its predecessors, although the speaker arrangement remains unchanged, with a bottom-firing speaker working alongside the earpiece to produce a stereo effect while gaming or watching movies in landscape mode.

Moving on to the iPhone 15 Plus, it features the same bottom-firing speaker and an earpiece as its predecessor, and just like the iPhone 14 Plus, the new model outputs rich, detailed and loud audio, without distortion even at high volume levels.

Naturally, neither of these phones include a headphone jack, which is hardly surprising in today's smartphone landscape. Nevertheless, you can still enjoy your favorite Bluetooth headphones or speakers with ease, or alternatively, you can opt for a dongle as a backup solution.

Battery and Charging

Numbers don't tell the whole story

The Galaxy S23 Plus comes with a big 4,700mAh battery and 45W fast charging support. The iPhone 15 Plus, on the other hand, bumps up the battery capacity of its predecessor slightly,  (4,383mAh vs 4,325 mAh). One would expect the Galaxy S23 Plus to destroy the iPhone 15 Plus but our battery benchmarks tell a different story.

Video Streaming(hours)Higher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus11h 14 min
Samsung Galaxy S23+8h 15 min
Web Browsing(hours)Higher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus16h 21 min
Samsung Galaxy S23+16h 37 min
3D Gaming(hours)Higher is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus11h 22 min
Samsung Galaxy S23+10h 36 min

The iPhone 15 Plus not only managed to stay on par with the S23 Plus (in the browsing test) but obliterated the Samsung when in the gaming and YouTube tests. This might have something to do with the variable refresh rate of the Galaxy, after all the iPhone 15 Plus is stuck at 60Hz and that might be helping, especially in gaming scenarios.

15 MinsHigher is better30 Mins(%)Higher is betterFull Charge(hours)Lower is better
Apple iPhone 15 Plus27%
55%
1h 32 min
Samsung Galaxy S23+43%
74%
1h


Charging used to be a big unknown due to the new port on the iPhone 15 Plus. Apple was more or less forced to switch from Lightning to USB-C but the irony is that the iPhone 15 Plus uses USB 2.0 and the charging and transfer speeds somehow remained the same. So, the Galaxy S23 Plus has an advantage when it comes to charging speeds, and you can see exactly how much of an advantage that is in the charging benchmark results above.

Specs



Summary


We're looking at two very different devices here, despite their similarity in the naming scheme. For one, there's the Android vs iOS debate, and it's not something to be taken lightly. If you don't want to switch platforms, then you'll be better off staying with what you currently use, so either of these phones will do the job.

If you're looking to switch, the Galaxy S23 Plus offers more on paper, with one extra telephoto camera, a bigger battery, and faster charging. Let's not forget the faster and smoother display refresh rate on the Galaxy S23 Plus as well.

But then again, if you're an Android user looking to dip your toes in Apple's ecosystem, the iPhone 15 Plus could be a great gateway device to do so, especially if you're used to big-screen phones. There's no right or wrong here, and to make things even more difficult, the price tag is also quite similar on both devices.
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