Which Phone Is Better? The Samsung Galaxy S9 Or Apple X?

Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus accept come to fight for Apple's phone crown with new features and supercharged cameras. Just the iPhone X won't become down easily, and deciding betwixt the newest Milky way and iPhone may show tougher than ever.

Now that we've reviewed both phones, we can help break down how each performs to help you lot decide which one is the best for you.

Price

Samsung has a flat-out reward here. The cheapest iPhone X (64GB) will cost you lot $999 (£999, AU$1,579). Wait to spend less on the S9, and you become two price points to cull from.Prices vary from carrier to carrier, starting at $720 (£739, AU$ane,199) for the S9 and $840 (£869, AU$1,349). Those are besides 64GB models, but -- unlike iPhones -- they can be hands and massively expanded with the addition of inexpensive MicroSD cards.

Note that Apple'due southiPhone eight Plus, which features about all of the X'south features, is much more cost competitive with the S9 Plus, merely it's got those onetime-fashioned big bezels.

Reward: Samsung

Camera

The S9 has a single chief shooter, while the S9 Plus has a dual-lens setup similar to that of the iPhone X with a 12MP wide angle and 12MP telephoto lens for better zoom and DSLR-fashion portraits. The S9 Plus allows you to control the intensity of the mistiness while y'all're taking the shot or afterward, much like the Note 8. The iPhone 10, on the other hand, has Portrait Lighting that lets you play with different lighting options for portraits during or after you lot take the shot.Check out our comparing if you want to encounter them both in activity.

Galaxy S9 Plus

iPhone Ten

12MP wide-angle

f/ane.five or f/2.4 (dual aperture)

12MP telephoto

f/two.4 (discontinuity)

12MP wide-angle

f/1.8 (aperture)

12MP telephoto

f/2.4 (aperture)

What's unique about the S9 is that the chief lens has a variable aperture which changes from f1.5 and f2.iv depending on the lighting, which helps create brighter shots in low light while even so retaining sharpness and clarity. It'southward a feature that's been effectually for ages in point-and-shoot cameras, simply it's new for a phone and this is why it matters. It likewise lets you choose the aperture yourself from the camera's Pro Mode for both photos and video. The iPhone X has a fixed aperture of f/one.8

During our photo comparison, the S9 took consistently brighter shots in depression light when compared with the iPhone 10 with more than fifty-fifty highlights. Low light shots on the iPhone 10 look darker and accept more than racket, but the color is more than natural. The differences are more subtle in video, but the S9 still has a bit improve results.

The S9 likewise has a new super-slow-motion feature that lets y'all tape video up to 960 fps in Hd. This tin can create more than dramatic shots than the iPhone X, just it's non exactly straightforward. It doesn't capture the full prune at this frame rate, and you lot tin can't edit the slow motion portion after you lot've shot it.

It as well has a 240fps option at 1080p that y'all can program manually similar to what you'll find on the iPhone. The iPhone 10 has max slow-mo charge per unit of 260fps at Total HD which you tin can edit in mail service.

fl-samsung-s9-camera — A shut look at the two cameras on the S9 Plus.
CNET

The front cameras, meanwhile, break down as follows: The S9 has an 8MP front end camera with an f/1.7 aperture, compared to the 7MP depth-sensing camera with an f/2.2 aperture on the iPhone Ten. Both use software to achieve a blurred groundwork option for selfies and augmented reality capabilities. Just according to CNET's Jessica Dolcourt, the blur on the S9's Selfie Focus mode is more aggressive, often blurring out also much of the bailiwick, while the iPhone X's seems to be more than forgiving.

Advantage: Both are cervix and cervix when it comes to full general photography and video, but the Galaxy S9 gives y'all more shooting options and was our winner in lowlight photography. Meet the results of our full comparing to decide on your favorite.

Headphone jack

This one's another clear win for Samsung. Information technology has a headphone jack. The iPhone 10 does non. The 10 requires yous to use a dongle for traditional headphones, apply Apple's Lightning port headphones or you can utilise the Bluetooth option on both phones.

Advantage: Samsung

Software and ecosystem

Android Oreo viii.0 vs. iOS xi is pretty much like comparing apples to oranges (ahem!), but switching from either is a big deal. If you have deep ties to one or the other, this might exist another easy deal-breaker.

Even if yous're neutral on your operating system preference, however, call back that your OS pick has affect beyond the telephone. If you've already purchased all of your Goggle box shows on iTunes, you lot won't be able to access them on a Galaxy phone. Bought a HomePod speaker? Also no practiced on Samsung. Google services, meanwhile, are much more Apple friendly, but nevertheless non 100 percent uniform. Yous can send audio and video from some only non all of your iPhone apps to Chromecast devices, for instance.

Advantage: Varies by user preference

Blueprint

Both phones are glass-on-glass with metal frames and barely-there bezels. The S9s have curved edges and screens that announced to spill over the sides. The bezels on the iPhone X are slimmer top to lesser, only you get the intrusive notch at the pinnacle. The iPhone comes in monochromatic Space Grayness and silver, while the S9 comes in Midnight Blackness, Coral Bluish, Lilac Purple and Titanium Grayness.

Advantage: Varies by user preference

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus: Sizzling photos from every angle

Come across all photos

Screen

The iPhone X's screen is the same size as the 5.viii-inch screen on the S9 (minus the notch), while the S9 Plus has a larger vi.2-inch screen. All three are OLED displays, simply the S9 has a slightly higher resolution and pixel density (2,960x1,440 pixels/529ppi and 570ppi) than the Super HD Retina Brandish on the iPhone X (2,436X1,12,200 pixels/458 ppi). The iPhone X however has TrueTone technology that adjusts the colour temperature of the screen relative to the blazon of ambient light, so that colors expect accurate no matter what the lighting condition.

Reward: Samsung for size and resolution, just color preference will vary.

Speakers

The iPhone 10 has stereo speakers on the lesser of the telephone and on the earpiece. The S9 and S9 Plus are the offset Milky way phones to besides go stereo speakers. They're tuned by AKG and have a Dolby Atmos codec which translates into richer, louder sound than that of the previous S8. The S9 also allows you to adjust the audio profile from the settings.

Advantage: Both have a stereo speaker configuration, but the reward is TBD until we can listen to them both side by side exterior of a demo room.

Fingerprint scanner

samsung-galaxy-s9-2400-6192 — The rear fingerprint placement on the Galaxy S9 (left) is far more sensible than that of the S8 (correct). The iPhone 10 has no fingerprint sensor.
Josh Miller/CNET

Neither phone has anin-screen fingerprint scanner like the Vivo X20 Plus UD or theNoon concept phone, simply the S9 kept the fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone similar its predecessor for mobile payments and unlocking your telephone. Except this fourth dimension information technology's in a better position. It's below the camera instead of beside information technology like on the S8. To unlock the iPhone X or to verify a payment, you'll accept to apply the Face ID characteristic or a passcode. The iPhone viii Plus has the trusty ol' Impact ID fingerprint sensor on the forepart, only that's at the expense of thick superlative and lesser bezels.

Advantage: Samsung, if a fingerprint sensor is a must-have

Face-unlock (Face ID vs. Intelligent Scan)

Both phones take facial-recognition features that tin be used to unlock them, but the engineering used is dissimilar. The iPhone X has a Truthful Depth (depth-sensing) camera on the front of the phone that maps out your face up in 3D using infrared dots. Apple tree says Face ID hallmark is even more than secure than its Touch ID authentication on the fingerprint scanner.

Face ID replaces Touch ID on the iPhone X for unlocking the phone.

CNET

The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus utilise Intelligent Scan, a combination of the iris scanner and the less-secure facial recognition feature that uses the non-depth sensing front photographic camera to unlock. This feature "favors ease of unlocking over security" and defaults to the "trickable" Confront Unlock feature and only uses the more secure iris scanner as a backup when lighting weather don't allow for a full face scan.

In her review, Dolcourt found that theiPhone 10'southward Confront ID is more than tamper-proof than the S9's Intelligent scan, although iris unlock on the Galaxy S8 and newer is however secure.

Reward: Apple

AR emojis vs. animojis

AR emojis are Samsung's have on Apple'southward animojis, the animated emojis that tin be controlled with your face. Apple's animojis focus on a few emojis like the poop and the unicorn with more than coming with the recent iOS 11.3 launch. The S9 gives you a few more options to chose from, including transforming your confront into an animal, Disney character or an avatar you lot can create by taking a selfie on either camera.

Our CNET editors took turns trying out the AR emojis and the consensus was that the applied science seems lackluster and the results creepy considering the gestures on the animations didn't really friction match the existent-life version. Dolcourt said, "Samsung's AR Emoji feature lacks the charm and verve of iPhone's animojis -- they came off every bit eerie and unfinished."

Advantage: Apple

Storage

The S9 has three tiers of onboard storage options depending on the marketplace (64GB, 120GB and 256GB) with up to 400GB of expandable storage. The iPhone Ten merely offers a 64GB and 256GB option with no SD carte du jour slot.

Advantage: Samsung

Speed

The motors on both these phones are beasts, but it's hard to compare them without the S9 in our hands. The S9s are powered by Qualcomm'southward Snapdragon 845 or the Samsung Exynos 9810, depending on your region, while the iPhone has Apple tree'southward A11 Bionic bit on the iPhone X.

Our early tests of the Qualcomm 845 yielded strong results versus other Android phones when we benchmarked "white box" phones earlier this year, though it'due south unclear if the Galaxy S9's Snapdragons volition be optimized at the aforementioned speeds. Like tests by Anandtech on the new Exynos scrap were decidedly less encouraging, simply the site noted that it was unclear if its test device was representative of the final aircraft product.

To that end, nosotros're still performing speed tests on the Milky way S9s and still aren't ready to decide which phone is fastest. Stay tuned.

Advantage: TBD after testing

Battery

Both take wireless charging and some course of fast charging, merely the S9 has a larger battery than the iPhone. Sometimes the size of the battery doesn't determine the usage time.

And only like the speed tests, we aren't yet ready to declare definitively which telephone has the longest bombardment life; however, I volition say that and then far our tests betoken the Milky way S9 having noticeably longer battery life.

Advantage: TBD after testing

Decisions, decisions...

The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus await strong in the early running, simply then far, this is more of a specs and price comparison than anything else. If some of those early "known knowns" sway you lot -- say, the cost and headphone jack on the Galaxy S9, or the iOS and Confront ID on the iPhone -- perchance you're ready to whip out your credit card and accept the plunge.

Merely for everybody else waiting to see how those primal "TBD" items compare, we'll keep updating this article equally nosotros complete further testing.

First published March one, 2018 at 4 a.one thousand. PT.
Update March 1, nine:27 a.g.: Adds news on DxO examination, Anandtech benchmarks and additional context.
March x, five a.m.: Article has been updated with results from CNET's full review of the Galaxy S9.
Apr 2, 5 a.m.: Updated with new hands-on camera findings from our direct Galaxy S9 Plus vs iPhone Ten camera shootout.

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