The Xcode simulator runs a real iOS and a real Safari: it's the only way to reproduce a WebKit rendering engine bug. It requires a Mac, several gigabytes of download, and it doesn't open in the middle of an integration session.
The responsive mode of DevTools resizes the browser window and changes the User-Agent. It's an inspection tool: no device frame, no realistic touch gestures, one screen at a time, and nothing to show a client.
Mobile FIRST stands between the two. It reproduces the viewport, density, User-Agent, and touch events of 31 iPhones in the browser you already have open, on Windows, macOS, or Linux, and displays multiple models side by side. The rendering engine remains that of your browser: to validate a WebKit-specific behavior, a real device or Apple's simulator is still necessary.