Samsung Galaxy A16 5G vs Galaxy A12
47
out of 100
VS
37
out of 100
Here we compared two budget smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A16 5G (with Exynos 1330) that was released on October 7, 2024, against the Samsung Galaxy A12, which is powered by MediaTek Helio P35 and came out 3 years and 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
- Water-resistant body (IP54 classification)
- 2.8x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (576K versus 204K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
- Delivers 74% higher peak brightness (818 against 470 nits)
- 43% higher pixel density (385 vs 270 PPI)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
- More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 1330
- Has 2x more RAM: 4GB versus 2GB
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X 2133 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 5 wireless networks
- Slow-motion recording at 120FPS
- The phone is 3 years and 11 months newer
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A12
- Shows 28% longer battery life (26:02 vs 20:24 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | PLS TFT |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 720 x 1600 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 385 ppi | 270 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 90 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 450 nits |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86% | 82.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - |
| RGB color space | 99.1% | 96.3% |
| PWM | 360 Hz | 337 Hz |
| Response time | 3 ms | 52 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 864:1 |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A16 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A12
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.4 mm (6.47 inches) | 164 mm (6.46 inches) |
| Width | 77.9 mm (3.07 inches) | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 205 g (7.23 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP54 | No |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Gray, Blue, Green | White, Black, Blue, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
| Repairability | Good (3.2/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Very good (B) · 180 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 1330 | MediaTek Helio P35 |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A53 |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 12 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | No |
| Graphics | Mali-G68 MP2 | IMG PowerVR GE8320 |
| GPU shading units | 64 | 32 |
| GPU clock | 949 MHz | 680 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~121.5 GFLOPS | ~43.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 1284 | - |
| Single-core score | 960 | 300 |
| Multi-core score | 1826 | 824 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 244407 | 98355 |
| GPU | 42598 | 9461 |
| Memory | 110301 | 57623 |
| UX | 178943 | 38722 |
| Total score | 576249 | 204161 |
| Samples | [2 tests] | [2 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | - |
| Graphics test | 1 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 139 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 13054 | - |
| Video editing | 6777 | - |
| Photo editing | 21291 | - |
| Data manipulation | 9362 | - |
| Writing score | 15837 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 1286 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 960 / 1826 |
| 📘 2025-12-10 (Nait) | AnTuTu 11 | 576249 |
| 📘 2025-11-14 (Nait) | AnTuTu 11 | 491818 |
Samsung Galaxy A12
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-25 -> a05stech | AnTuTu 12 | 261637 |
| 📘 2026-08-09 (Fintex) | AnTuTu 11 | 193141 |
| 📘 2026-06-12 -> Karlue392007 | CPU Throttle | 78% |
| 📘 2026-06-03 (Renzs) | AnTuTu 11 | 204161 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 1866 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 32 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | eMMC 5.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1536 GB | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | One UI Core 5.1 |
| OS size | 26 GB | 13 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 3 years | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (47% in 30 min) | Yes (20% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:21 hr | 3:03 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1200 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 08:05 hr | 11:00 hr |
| Watching video | 11:26 hr | 13:25 hr |
| Gaming | 06:26 hr | 06:03 hr |
| Standby | 100 hr | 133 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#138th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | No | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (720p) | No |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 123° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP 4) Depth: 2 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 | Samsung S5KGM2 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | SmartSens SC501 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | 2 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Stabilization | No | No |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 55 | - |
| Preview | 52 | - |
| Zoom | 49 | - |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A16 5G from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A12 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 13 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4160 x 3120 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC13A0 | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | No | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Depends on the region | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 7 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Budget | Budget |
| Announced | October 2024 | November 2020 |
| Release date | October 2024 | December 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $199 | $180 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy A17 5G | - Samsung Galaxy A17 4G |
| SAR (head) | 0.38 W/kg | 0.67 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.94 W/kg | 1.38 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | - |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 17