Since the introduction of the first iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy phones have always been the iPhone’s arch rival. They’ve been in constant battle, striving to outperform each other while stretching the boundaries of innovation. A few days ago, the Galaxy S9 was revealed, warranting a comparison between the iPhone X and the S9. And you can decide which flagship is the one to rule them all.
Software
The iPhone X runs on iOS 11 and the S9 runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. Fairly speaking, they are equally good, except that the TouchWiz UI on the S9 isn’t nearly as refined as stock Android. This category’s winner is based purely on your preference and the ecosystem you are comfortable with. One might argue that the S9 has more features in the UI, but iOS is easier to use.
Hardware
The iPhone X has the A11 bionic chip with 3 GB of RAM, while the S9 comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with 4 GB/6 GB RAM. They are both blazing fast, smooth to use and are absolute beasts in terms of performance. Heavy gaming, multitasking and web browsing will be tackled with ease.
Display
The iPhone X comes with a 5.8 inch OLED display, similar to the S9, while the S9 plus has a 6.2 inch OLED display. The S9 and S9 Plus have higher pixel densities than the iPhone’s Super HD retina display. However, the TrueTone technology on the iPhone X allows for better colour accuracy.
Battery
The iPhone may have a smaller battery than the S9 duo, but iOS has much better optimised battery usage and might as well outperform the S9’s battery. The S9’s battery is yet to be tested. They both support wireless charging and fast charging as well.
Design
There is no doubt that these two are one of the best looking phones out there. They both mostly consist of glass and both have tiny bezels. The iPhone X has extremely thin bezels but has the out-of-place notch on top. The S9 has curved edges but doesn’t look as slick as the iPhone. But kudos to Samsung for including the headphone jack while maintain such a slim profile.
Camera
This category might be the most important as both these phones are known for their excellent cameras. The S9 duo have 8 MP front camera compared to the iPhone’s 7 MP. They both have background-blurring features and Augmented Reality capabilities.
The iPhone X has dual 12 MP lenses with one being a telephoto lens and one, a wide-angle lens. It is the same for the S9 Plus except that the wide-angle lens here has dual-aperture. You can either choose between f/1.5 or f/2.4. The S9 has a single lens 12 MP camera.
The S9 can now record slo-mo videos in 720p at 960 frames per second. It can also now record 4K at 60 fps. The camera interface has been updated as well for ease of switching between different modes.
Security
The iPhone X was introduced with a new facial recognition system called ” FaceID” and ditched the fingerprint sensor. The iPhone X has a depth sensing camera in the front which maps out your face using infrared dots for better accuracy. The S9 has a fingerprint sensor right below the camera button. It also has a feature where it combines the use of the iris scanner and facial recognition software to unlock the phone.
In the category of pricing, the iPhone X starts at $999 and the S9, which is much cheaper, starts at $720. There are several carriers who offer a varied number of plans. So what do you think is the better phone of the two ? They are both evenly matched and is purely a matter of personal perspective.