You don't "submit changes to the osm team", you are actually editing the live map. Reviewers can revert changes, but there isn't some process a change must go through, everything is live. Most apps don't use the live data, but regular snapshots of it, that's why it seems like there is some processing behind the scenes, but it's up to the renderers and apps, not by osm.

Answering your question: OM is an app for navigation, and using the map, functionality for contributing data is very minimal and limited. SC is an app for contributing, nothing else, e.g. you can't plan a route there. If you want to contribute, use SC. If you just navigating with OM and notice something is missing, use OM, if it's quicker than opening another app.

Editing with Organic Maps can lead to duplicates since it update maps once a month. StreetComplete shows the current database so you are sure you won't upload duplicate POIs.

StreetComplete, definitely. OrganicMaps is better for navigating. But you can also just try them both out :)

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone talking about "StreetComplete Expert Edition" (SCEE) which I find to be the best middle ground between usability and control (you can directly edit tags but also have all the quests StreetComplete offer plus a few more)

SC redownloads map data if it is over 12 hours old on your device, so you're likely seeing up to date information. And you can always download manually in an area to see the absolute freshest data, if you think that's necessary.

Organic Maps doesn't update the data nearly as often, as it's not really meant for editing. That being said, unless you are in a busy area, the chances of a fellow mapper already having submitted that data since the last update in OM is slim.

At the end of the day, you should just do what is convenient for you and allows you to contribute easier.

In my experience StreetComplete is almost real time. As soon as you close the app it adds all of your changes I think. I've never tried it in Organic Maps but I imagine it's similar

Usually your edits will go straight to the map! There are people that work on tools and foundations of the map data but when it comes to the data itself WE are the OSM team!

Recommended changes are done via map notes. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can turn them on on openstreetmap.org to see what I mean

Try out 'Every Door' as well :)

If you want to be the absolute most efficient for POIs, check out everydoor. It's not very user friendly but it's pretty much peek efficiency, and it has support for saving info that other apps don't offer you.

Give https://mapcomplete.org a try as well

I'd say Organic Maps is quicker, if you know a specific information at a specific place needs to be updated, whereas StreetComplete is better for finding out where on the map information is still missing.

So, StreetComplete basically sends you on various 'quests' to check information on-site. It's more intended, if you're generally interested in contributing, but makes it rather fun to do so.

I find it easier to add POIs with OrganicMaps. StreetComplete is too facy for me.