Samsung’s newest phones, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, will be released on March 16th. Their top priority right now is keeping up with Apple, who released their iPhone X just months before. Samsung needs something that consumers will want to choose over the iPhone, so that they can remain relevant in the smartphone game. So, how does the Samsung Galaxy S9 compare to the Apple iPhone X so far?
Aesthetics of The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Apple iPhone X
When it comes to the design of the Galaxy S9, there are a few differences from the iPhone X. While size doesn’t vary much – the S9 is 163 grams, the S9 Plus is 189 grams, and the iPhone X is right in the middle at 174 grams – the screen does. iPhones all have the notch at the top of their screens and the iPhone X is no different.
However, Samsung opted to keep the notch off and make the screen simply one big rectangle. As usual, the bezels (space between frame and screen of phone) on the Galaxy S9 are extremely thin, but this time around the iPhone X’s are thinner. This is something new for Apple as they have always made their bezels a little wider. Customers will have to decide if they prefer the thinner bezels, or a screen without a notch. Either way, the phones are quite similar in this aspect.
Galaxy S9 VS iPhone X: Hardware and Performance
It’s hard to gauge real-world performance of the S9 right now, since it has not officially been released yet. In the past, iPhones have always had a leg up in this department, because they run Apple’s own iOS operating system which allows it to take full advantage of the hardware.
The iPhone X uses the A11 Bionic Chip while Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be equipped with either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or it’s own Samsung Exynos 9810 chip, depending on what country you buy it in. Although real-world performance can’t be tested yet, the Snapdragon 845 has been benchmarked in a non-retail phone to get an idea of how it performs compared to the A11 Bionic chip. It didn’t pass up Apple in the benchmark tests, but that’s not to say Samsung’s chips won’t be powerful; they will still be able to compete with Apple in many ways, and no matter what phone you choose, it will be powerful.
Storage
When it comes to storage, Samsung is giving customers a cheaper way to get more storage. Apple has always allowed you to buy their phones with a set amount of storage (either 64GB or 256GB for the iPhone X) and then rely on iCloud or Dropbox for extra storage. Instead of paying the extra money for a phone with more storage, Samsung’s Galaxy S9 will be able to support micro SD cards for additional storage space. This is a much less expensive option and is one way Samsung may be able to sway customers away from Apple.
S9 Fingerprint & Iris Scanning VS iPhone X Face Recognition
However, Samsung has not yet been able to one-up Apple when it comes to security. The Galaxy S9 will have fingerprint and iris scanning for unlocking the phones, but iPhone has now come out with a system to map the user’s face and recognize the owner of the phone without a fingerprint. This may or may not be a deal breaker for customers.
Camera and Image Quality
Possibly the biggest difference between the Galaxy S9 and the iPhone X is the camera. They both have 12megapixel duo lens cameras, including both a wide angle and a telephoto lens. On both phones, the lenses are mounted vertically, which is something new. One difference between the two phones is that the Samsung Galaxy S9 has an f1.5 aperture while the Apple iPhone X has an f1.8. This may not seem like much, but the wider aperture of the S9 lets in more light, which can make a big difference in photo quality.
Samsung is also taking photo quality a step farther even by upping the low-light performance. The Samsung S9 will capture 12 images each time you take a photo and then compare the exposures to create the best picture possible. This is comparable to the Apple iPhone X’s processing of high-dynamic range photos in which three images are taken at different levels of light exposure to make a better image. Both cameras are creating photos with better quality then ever before, but Samsung has seemed to put more emphasis on this than Apple.
Galaxy S9 VS iPhone X: Summary and Pricing
When it comes down to it, both phones are incredibly impressive and similar in many ways. They are also the most expensive phones that both, Samsung and Apple have created. The iPhone X starts at $999 while the Galaxy S9 comes in a little cheaper at $720 and $930 for the Plus.
Customers will have to choose between some very small tradeoffs; ranging from design to camera quality. When the Samsung Galaxy S9 is officially released, performance will be compared more thoroughly, and soon we will be able to see what customers choose.
