Google Pixel 7 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Apple iPhone 14: Which is the best affordable flagship phone?

Flagship phones are how companies show the absolute best they have to offer. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in research and development, plenty of employees, and months of planning all boil down to this. This isn't cheap by any means, of course, and can often cost well into thousands of dollars in today's world.

However, a vast majority of buyers cannot afford these premium flagships. That is where affordable variants step in. These devices pack premium form factor, hardware, and software experience for a relatively low price.

Note that this does not necessarily imply that these devices are superior to their more premium counterparts. If cost is no bar, then premium flagships beat their affordable cousins every time.

Which affordable flagship phone should you buy?

Recent years have seen a rise in competitively priced premium phones like the Oneplus 11 (and 11R) and Nothing Phone 1. However, these aren't true flagships - they fall into a category called "flagship killers." They usually compromise on camera software, UI/UX, and build quality to undercut their more expensive brethren by $100 or even $200.

Suppose you want an affordable flagship phone with a premium look and feel, dependable software updates, and cutting-edge hardware. In that case, there are three great choices in the market right now: the Google Pixel 7, the Samsung Galaxy S23, and the Apple iPhone 14. Let us take a look at how they compare.

Specs

Before going into software and build quality, let us take a look at the hardware that powers these devices.

	Apple iPhone 14	Samsung Galaxy S23	Google Pixel 7
Price	Starts from $800	Starts from $800	Starts from $600
AnTuTu score	818,00	1.17 million	740,000
SoC	Apple A15 Bionic	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	Tensor G2
Memory	6GB	8GB	8GB
Display	Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision	Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+	AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+

As the above table makes obvious, despite being competitors, these phones are wildly different when looking beneath the surface. Speaking of pure number crunching, the S23, with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, leaves the rest in the dust. The other two flagship phones use proprietary, custom-built chips.

This makes the S23's dominance quite surprising. Theoretically, the custom SoCs, specifically built to work hand-in-glove with their respective phones, should be much more efficient and powerful.

Note that the A15 Bionic is the same chip that powered the previous-gen iPhone 13, something fans are not happy about.

Another very interesting thing to note is the wild price difference: the Pixel is almost $200 cheaper. Really, the Pixel 7 Pro is a closer competitor to these phones than the Pixel 7.

Software

This field is often overlooked in budget phones but can make all the difference when choosing a premium device. To begin with, the iPhone uses Apple's operating system, iOS. Its competitors use their own software skins of Android, with Google featuring its almost-stock Pixel UI and Samsung utilizing its OneUI.

Some prefer Apple's ecosystem and software, hailing it as streamlined and clean, while others criticize it for being too claustrophobic. In the end, it comes down to personal preference.

However, it is worth noting that Android is significantly more customizable and also allows you to control your phone's behavior to a greater extent, alongside supporting sideloading.

Build

This is where the iPhone shines. While its design is nothing extraordinary, being an iPhone gives it a certain amount of street cred. Samsung's design is minimalistic and simple.

It would have been a great one had they not used it in all their new devices, right down to the Galaxy A14, which costs a quarter of the S23. The Pixel's design is hit-and-miss: some like it, while others hate it.

If style points and bragging rights play a large part in your reason for buying a flagship phone, the iPhone is for you.

Verdict

An important factor that this comparison overlooked is pricing: the Pixel is $200 cheaper than the S23 and iPhone 14. This means that if you're on a tight budget, it is your best option. Moreover, it is also acclaimed as having the best smartphone camera out there regarding output quality. Recent flagship phones from Xiaomi and Sony possess incredible hardware, but in today's world, software rules supreme.

This means that if you want a great flagship phone which can snap incredible photos and don't care much about performance, the Pixel is the way to go. If you want a flagship that will make others drool, the iPhone is for you. But if you want the best possible affordable flagship with a great camera setup, amazing performance stats, and a heavily customizable UI, the S23 was meant for you.

Note that if you have $900 to spend, you could buy the Pixel 7 Pro and get a steal deal: a premium flagship with a curved display for the price of an affordable one. It provides premium features like a bigger display, battery, and 12 GB of memory.