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The Apple and Samsung rivalry is a decade old and the iPhone 11 Pro and Galaxy Note 20 show how each company attempts to eclipse the other and that story continues to play out every year to the delight and benefit of consumers. Each tech titan keeps the pressure on, refining the design to make beautiful and high quality phones, while also pushing the limits of new technology. Prices have climbed as this challenge escalates, but seem to be plateauing at around $1,000 for flagship level phones.
The operating systems and apps used in these two phones are quite different. Operating system preference is subjective and familiarity plays a large role in that choice, but there are some important considerations. Apple develops both iOS and the iPhone, ensuring a perfect integration of the two and providing rock solid reliability. Apple also curates its App Store, resulting in overall higher quality content. Samsung does have an App Store that focuses on apps optimized for its phones, but primarily draws from Android apps. Android is developed by Google and serves Android phones from various manufacturers. This means some Android apps may not support a specific feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20. For example, the S Pen may not recognize pressure sensitivity and the various camera features may not work with every Android app.
Moving on to the appearance, the Galaxy Note 20 is significantly larger, with a 6.7-inch screen, compared to the iPhone’s 5.8 inches. If a nearly 6-inch display is still too small, Samsung edges out Apple’s smaller pro-level phone and the shopper would need to consider the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which costs $100 more. Note that the Pro Max has nearly identical specs to the smaller iPhone Pro, whereas the Note 20 Ultra varies from the standard Note 20 in several ways. The Note 20 offers a dazzling finish that makes the iPhone look boring by comparison and it has to be seen in motion to fully understand the difference. Whether that is a benefit or detracts is a personal decision. In terms of speed, even a year old iPhone beats Samsung’s newest and best phone easily. Single core speed is 60-percent faster with Apple’s phone. Multi-core benchmarks are closer, but the iPhone wins again. On phone storage is becoming less important with the plethora of inexpensive cloud storage options. However, Samsung starts with a generous 128GB for the Note 20, while the iPhone 11 Pro has half that amount. The next level of storage from Apple is 256-gigabytes for an extra $150. Some prefer Samsung’s cameras, other prefer Apple’s, but both take great photos and have similar video-recording capabilities.
The Whole Is Greater Than The Parts
The S Pen that is included with every Galaxy Note, hidden inside the body, but just a click away is the most enviable and iconic feature of these Samsung phones. No other manufacturer has achieved what it has, at once beautiful, intuitive and accessible. The few that have tried to compete have failed. For those that love the S-Pen, the conversation ends here as the Note 20 is the only choice. On the other hand, there is a strong incentive for those that own other Apple devices to purchase an iPhone. All Apple devices work together seamlessly, copy on one and paste on another, send files and photos from iPhone to Mac to iPad and back. Everything is intuitive and easy which likely helps the fact that Apple owners buy Apple devices over and over.
For those undecided, it’s important to remember that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is a 2020 model, having a full year to advance beyond the iPhone 11 Pro. Apple’s 2020 iPhone 12 is expected to arrive soon and will change the comparison considerably. Anyone shopping for a new phone may want to wait another month or two to see what the newest iPhone has to offer. However, if the need for a phone is urgent, either phone will be sure to delight and the comparisons above should help identify whether the latest from Samsung or Apple is the best option.