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Samsung Galaxy S9 Vs. iPhone 8

Samsung Galaxy S9 Vs. iPhone 8 - The Samsung Galaxy S9’s display is stupendous, and is one of the best screens on the market.

Author:Daniel BarrettMay 30, 2022147133 Shares2452223 Views
Samsung Galaxy S9 Vs. iPhone 8
Apple and Samsung have been butting heads in the battle of the flagship for years, trying to one-up each other at every annual release. However, with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9, the fan dispute over the better phone started all over again. So which is it: the iPhone8 or the Samsung Galaxy S9?

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs. iPhone 8: Design

Both the iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S9 look almost identical to their predecessors, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as both are among the best-looking you can buy. This does make it a tough contest to judge, however.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that the Galaxy S9 takes the crown in the design department. That’s because it’s armed with a stunning edge-to-edge screen. The iPhone 8, on the other hand, touts a standard 16:9 panel that’s sandwiched in between some sizeable bezel; dead space occupies the top and bottom, and either side, of the 4.7-inch high-resolution LCD screen.
Both phones are pretty fragile, for starters, having a delicate front and back made out of glass. The iPhone 8 comes in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold. The S9, on the other hand, comes in some more adventurous colors: Midnight Black, Lilac Purple, and Coral Blue.
More screen over the bezel on the S9 than on the iPhone 8, which looks a bit more stylish, but that means no physical home button on the S9, with the fingerprint scanner relegated to the backside.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Vs. iPhone 8

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is IP68 dust and water-resistant, while the iPhone 8 is IP67 rated. Both phones can resist the elements, but while the iPhone 8 can be submerged for half an hour in one meter of water, the Galaxy S9 can be submerged in 1.5 meters of water. There are not many settings apart since we wouldn’t recommend swimming with either phone.
As for wireless charging, Samsung’s Galaxy phones have had the feature for years, and that’s no different for the Samsung Galaxy S9. Thankfully, Apple has finally introduced it into the iPhone 8, so that’s an important step towards parity.
The one thing that might be a deal-breaker for some of you is that beloved 3.5mm headphone jack. While Apple seems to have done away with the headphone jack on its iPhones for good, including the iPhone 8, many people will be pleased to hear that the Galaxy S9 still has one. But, of course, the Galaxy S9 is a true contrarian here, like nearly every other Androidflagship seems to have already killed it or be doing so.
They both look beautiful, but the extra screen and headphone jack give Samsung the edge.

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs. iPhone 8: Display

The Samsung Galaxy S9’s display is astonishing and is one of the best screens on the market, making it difficult for the iPhone 8 to compete.
The S9 has a 5.8in Quad-HD AMOLED (2,960 x 1,440 resolution) display with 567.5ppi. It’s pretty much the same as the Galaxy S8. The only difference is that the bezels on the top and bottom have been reduced slightly, so there’s even more screen real estate.
The iPhone 8 display is smaller than the S9 and, unfortunately, isn’t OLED like the iPhone X. Boasting a 4.7in (1,334 x 750 resolution) IPS display with 326ppi, it might not sound as spectacular as the Galaxy S9. Still, it indeed manages to hold its own. The iPhone 8 is the first iPhone to take advantage of Apple’s TrueTone technology (first found on the iPad Pro), meaning the colors blend in with the environment and are more natural to look at. There are more adjustable display settings on the S9, from color profiles to the screen resolution itself, pushing it over the edge.
As for brightness, with the Galaxy S9, we recorded an impressive automatic maximum brightness of 992cd/m2, with a peak manual brightness of 465cd/m2. While with the iPhone 8, we recorded a maximum brightness of 577cd/m2.

Battery Life and Performance

The Galaxy S9 is armed with Samsung’s much-anticipated state-of-the-art Exynos 9810 CPU in Europe and Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 845 CPU in North America. The iPhone 8, meanwhile, has Apple’s five-month-old A11 Bionic CPU. That comes with 4GB of RAM on the former and 2GB on the latter. The Galaxy S9 also has a dedicated Mali-G72 MP18 GPU, overpowering Apple’s all-in-one solution.
The iPhone 8 uses Apple’s six-core A11 Bionic processor, an M11 co-processor, and a neural engine.
The Samsung Galaxy S9’s battery capacity hasn’t changed from the S8. However, at a 3,000mAh capacity, it will last for just over a day, which is slightly disappointing. While the iPhone 8’s 1,821mAh battery is considerably smaller, the phone seems to manage a decent show and usually clears the day.

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs. iPhone 8: Camera

This is where the Galaxy S9 shines. It’s got a 12-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/1.5, making it the brightest camera on any smartphone ever. The iPhone 8 isn’t too far behind, also boasting a 12-megapixel rear camera, but instead with a slightly narrower aperture of f/1.8.
The S9 also has a nifty new aperture adjustment feature. When there’s enough light, the camera will automatically shift to f/2.4, giving photos more detail.
As for camera features, Both the S9 and iPhone 8 have optical image stabilization. Still, nothing makes the iPhone 8 stand out like the Galaxy S9’s automatic aperture shift or its super slow-motion video recording.

iPhone 8 Vs. Samsung Galaxy S9

The S9’s fancy new super slow-motion video recording capabilities mean that it can record 720p footage at an insane 960fps. As a result, it can drag out 0.2 seconds of footage to six seconds. However, both phones can record in 4K resolution, but the slow-motion video capabilities blow the iPhone 8 out of the water.
As for the phones’ front-facing cameras, the iPhone 8 has a 7-megapixel camera, while the Galaxy S9 has an 8-megapixel one. With the new handsets, Samsung has introduced AR Emoji. While this feels like the success of Apple’s Animoji may inspire it, these are exclusive to the iPhone X, so they aren’t part of this comparison. While AR Emoji themselves are a bit hit and miss, at least the S9 has the functionality, whereas it’s exclusive to the iPhone X with Apple.

Storage

The Samsung Galaxy S9 also allows you to expand the standard 64GB internal storage, supporting micro-SD sizes up to 400GB. Unfortunately, Apple has not relaxed its longstanding objection to expandable storage, so you’re stuck with either 64 or 256GB of space, depending on your purchase model.
iPhone 8 has half the RAM of the S9, but our performance tests still gave the iPhone 8 a very slight edge. In real-world conditions, 99% of people would not notice a difference.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 also allows you to expand the standard 64GB internal storage, supporting micro-SD sizes up to 400GB. Unfortunately, Apple has not relaxed its longstanding objection to expandable storage, so you’re stuck with either 64 or 256GB of space, depending on the model you buy.

Price

Pricing for the Galaxy S9 is set at £739 for the standard 5.8-inch variant and £869 for the 6.2-inch Plus model. The iPhone 8, on the other hand, starts at £699. That’s £40 less than Samsung’s, but you get an awful lot more bang for your buck for the extra cash.

Summary

Design: The Galaxy S9 is the winner with its futuristic edge-to-edge Infinity Display. The iPhone 8, for comparison, has a traditional 16:9 screen with big bezels on either side. Both are constructed from a combination of aluminum and heavy-duty glass.
Specs: Samsung’s latest smartphone is armed with its state-of-the-art Exynos 9810 CPU in Europe and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 CPU in North America, trumping Apple’s A11 Bionic CPU. It also has a better camera and expandable storage (via microSD).
Price: The Galaxy S9 starts at £739 for the standard 5.8-inch variant and £869 for the 6.2-inch Plus model. The Galaxy S7, however, can be had for £699.
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