Apple Watch Series 3 (38mm) vs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G vs Samsung Galaxy A17 5G Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
	Mar 01, 2025	Aug 08, 2025
Prices (MSRP)
	8GB/128GB - $499	€239

Design

Dimensions
1.52 x 1.31 x 0.45 inches 38.6 x 33.3 x 11.4 mm	6.39 x 3.05 x 0.29 inches (~0.35 inches with camera bump) 162.2 x 77.5 x 7.4 mm (~8.9 mm with camera bump)	6.47 x 3.07 x 0.30 inches 164.4 x 77.9 x 7.5 mm
Weight
1.50 oz / 42.4 g	6.98 oz / 198.0 g	6.77 oz / 192.0 g
Materials
Back: Ceramic Frame: Stainless steel	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Plastic Frame: Plastic
Resistance
Water, Dust	Water, Dust; IP67	Water, Dust; IP54
Biometrics
	Optical in-screen fingerprint
Keys
	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Space Black, Silver	Pink, Olive, Graphite, Lightgray	Black, Gray, Blue

Display

Size
1.5-inch, 55.12% screen-to-body	6.7-inch, 87.64% screen-to-body	6.7-inch, 85.99% screen-to-body
Type
OLED, 1000 nits	Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1900 nits	Super AMOLED, 90Hz, 800 nits
Resolution
340x272px, 290 PPI	2340x1080px, 19.5:9 ratio, 385 PPI	2340x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 385 PPI
Protection
Sapphire	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+
Features
Pressure-sensitive, Scratch-resistant glass		HDR support, Ambient light sensor
Front cover display
		Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus)

PhoneArena Display Test

Bright Max (20% APL)
Untested	1715 (Good)	1081 (Average)
Bright Min
Untested	1.6 (Good)	1.7 (Good)

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Apple S3	Samsung Exynos 1580	Exynos 1330 S5E8535 (5 nm)
Processor
Dual-core	Octa-core 1x2.9GHz 3x2.6GHz​ 4x1.9GHz	Octa-core 2x 2.4GHZ Cortex-A78 4x 2.4GHZ Cortex-A55
GPU
PowerVR	Xclipse 540	Mali-G68 MP2
Memory
768GB/16GB	8GB (LPDDR4)/128GB (UFS 3.1) 8GB/256GB 12GB/256GB	8GB/128GB 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
	not expandable	microSDXC
OS
watchOS (8.x, 7.x, 6.1, 6.x, 5.1, 5, 4.x)	Android (15)	Android (15), up to 6 OS updates

PhoneArena Performance Test

GeekBench 6 Single
Untested	1361	723
GeekBench 6 Multi
Untested	3894	1910
3D Mark High
Untested	1322	346
3D Mark Low
Untested	1313	338

Learn more on our PhoneArena Performance Test Results page.

Battery

Type
279 mAh	5000 mAh, Li - Ion	5000 mAh
Charging
Qi wireless charging	Fast charging
Charge speed
	Wired: 45.0W	Wired: 25.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

Untested

Video

Untested

Gaming

Untested

Battery Life Estimate

7h 3min

Browsing

17h 46min

Video

9h 9min

Gaming

10h 11min

Battery Life Estimate

8h 6min

Browsing

17h 36min

Video

13h 26min

Gaming

8h 37min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
	Triple camera	Triple camera
Main camera
	50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm	50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Sensor size: 1/2.76" Pixel size: 0.64 μm
Second camera
	12 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Sensor size: 1/3.06" Pixel size: 1.12 μm	5 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Sensor size: 1/5"
Third camera
	5 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4	2 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4
Flash
	LED	LED
Video recording
	4K UHD (30 fps)	Yes
Front
	12 MP Video capture: 4K UHD (30 fps)	13 MP

PhoneArena Camera Tests

N/A

Overall

N/A

Photo

N/A

Video

122

Overall

131

Photo

113

Video

124

Overall

136

Photo

112

Video

Learn more on our PhoneArena Camera Test Results page

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.2	5.3	5.3
WLAN
b,g,n 802.11 b, g, n	a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	a,b,g,n,ac Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
USB
	Type-C, USB 2.0	Type-C
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Altimeter, Compass, Heart rate, Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Location
A-GPS, Glonass	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC	NFC	NFC

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Multiple speakers

Cellular

5G Bands
	n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n77, n78, SA, NSA, Sub-6	n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n40, n41, n66, n77, n78, 5G Ready
LTE Bands
1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 18, 19, 20, 26	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 28, 66
TDD Bands
	38, 40, 41	38, 40, 41
3G Bands
1, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8	1, 2, 6, 8, 9
Data Speed
LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A
Dual SIM
		Yes
SIM type
eSIM	Dual Nano SIM + eSIM

Alternative variants

With 256GB internal storage

Memory	256GB

With 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage

Memory	12GB/256GB

Discover more

Full Specs Apple Watch Series 3 (38mm) Specs PA Review Apple Watch Series 3 (38mm) Review

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G Specs PA Review Samsung Galaxy A56 5G Review

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy A17 5G Specs PA Review Samsung Galaxy A17 5G Review