Samsung Galaxy S9 vs iPhone X: which one is king?

Samsung has just launched its new Galaxy S9 flagship smartphone and its sights are firmly set on dethroning Apple’s iPhone X.

The device comes with a raft of updates on last year’s Galaxy S8. These include augmented reality (AR) features and a new camera that produces clearer images in low-light conditions.

But are Samsung’s new features enough to tempt iPhone users?

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Here’s how the two compare:

Prices

Both are available to order now, but those who opt for the Galaxy S9 will have to wait until 9 March for deliveries to begin.

The Galaxy S9 costs £739 and can be specced in either black, blue or purple. There’s also a larger variant, the Galaxy S9 Plus, which is priced at £869. It’s offered in the same colours as its smaller sibling.

Meanwhile, the iPhone X carries a price tag of £999 and is available in black or silver. The base model comes with 64GB or storage, but you can upgrade to the 256GB version for an extra £150.

The Galaxy S9 is offered as a 64GB model only, but its storage can be upgraded though its MicroSD slot.

Displays

The iPhone X is Apple’s first smartphone to sport an OLED display. This has a higher contrast ratio and more vibrant colours than the LCD panels that feature on the company’s other mobiles.

The smartphone’s 5.8ins panel “fills the entire front of the device”, The Daily Telegraph says, although the company’s “iconic” circular home button has been omitted. There’s also a small notch at the top of the screen, which houses the front-facing camera.

Samsung has fitted the Galaxy S9 with a Super AMOLED display that gradually curves downwards at the left and right-hand edges.

The primary difference between the OLED panel on the iPhone and the AMOLED on the Galaxy S9 is that the Samsung’s screen is “considerably more power efficient”, says Phone Arena.

The Galaxy S9 also packs more pixels. It has a resolution of 2960 x 1440, while the the iPhone has 2,436 x 1,125 pixels.

Cameras

One of the most significant upgrades on the Galaxy S9 touted by Samsung is the smartphone’s new camera.

The Galaxy S9’s rear-facing 12-megapixel camera features “the first variable aperture fitted to a smartphone”, according to The Guardian. This automatically modulates the shooter’s aperture ratio depending on whether you are outside or indoors.

The aim of the system is to let in as much light as possible in dark conditions, the newspaper says, and this in turn bumps up image detail.

Meanwhile, the iPhone X’s dual-lens 12-megapixel camera has optical image stabilisation on both lenses. The Galaxy S9, on the other hand, only has image stabilisation on its wide-angle lens.

Both the Galaxy S9 and the iPhone X are capable of augment reality (AR) emojis, which layer a computer-generated mask over real-world images.

The feature is “surprisingly accurate” on the iPhone X, says Digital Trends, but the feature alone might not be enough to sell the devices.

Verdict

With a cheaper price tag and higher resolution display, the Samsung Galaxy S9 looks to be the winner of the two on paper.

But Cnet argues there are several areas that are unknown with Samsung’s phone, such as its battery life and camera quality. As a result, critics have yet to deliver their verdicts on the new device.

Until the Galaxy S9 arrives on 9 March, the website says it’s hard to known whether the Korean tech giant has delivered a package capable of dethroning the iPhone X from its position at the top of the smartphone market.

Those on the lookout for a new high-end device may want to wait until next week when the Galaxy S9 reviews are due.