Samsung Galaxy S23 leaked benchmarks beat iPhone 14 — but there's a catch

A render of the Galaxy S23 — (Image credit: OnLeaks/Digit)

The first Samsung Galaxy S23 benchmarks seem to have leaked, and if they are accurate to the final product, rival Apple may have cause for concern.

The figures, taken from a Geekbench 5 entry for an unnamed Samsung device by GalaxyClub, show results that beat the mighty iPhone 14 and its A15 Bionic chip on multi-core performance.

However, there's a catch. The iPhone 14 still wins on single-core performance. iPhones have outperformed even the best Android phones on benchmarks for years, so at least this is a sign of progress.

Galaxy S23: Leaked Geekbench 5 scores vs competition

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Row 0 - Cell 0	Single-core	Multi-core
Galaxy S23	1,524	4,597
iPhone 14	1,727	4,553
iPhone 14 Pro	1,891	5,469

This alleged Galaxy S23 benchmark shows the phone is using a Snapdragon chipset (as indicated by the arrangement of cores), likely the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that's been previously rumored for the Galaxy S23 series. Along with 8GB RAM, this could be any of the base, Plus or Galaxy S23 Ultra models, since all Galaxy S22 models come with at least 8GB RAM.

The Geekbench 5 result for the S23 model is 1,524 for single core and 4,597 for multi core, compared to 1,727/4,553 for the iPhone 14. To be fair, the iPhone 14 is using the same chip from last year's iPhone 13 Pro series, but it's still very intriguing to see Samsung potentially catching up.

The iPhone 14 Pro's A16 Bionic would still seem to be the champ, as it turned in single- and multi-core Geekbench 5 scores of 1,891 and 5,469.

It's worth noting that other rumors suggest that as with previous Galaxy S phones, Samsung will only use the Snapdragon chip in the U.S. and a few other markets. U.K. users may have an Exynos 2300 version of the Galaxy S23, which may not offer as impressive performance going by previous years' comparisons between Snapdragon and Exynos Galaxy phones.

Galaxy S23 analysis: Just a speed bump?

At least based on the leaks so far, the chipset could be all that meaningfully changes from the Galaxy S22 to the Galaxy S23 on the hardware front. No other upgrades are currently rumored for the S23 or S23 Plus, with only a redesign apparently on the way to help differentiate them from their predecessors.

However, we would expect to see new camera features and computational photography upgrades for the S23 lineup, and we're hoping that the phones are more efficient so they can offer longer battery life.

As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, that will supposedly get a new high-res 200MP main camera and an upgraded display as well as the new chip.

We're as curious to find out if these rumors are true as you are. There are rumors that we could see a launch as early as mid-January. In the meantime, check out our Galaxy S23 hub and Galaxy S23 Ultra hub for all the latest leaks and news.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.