The Best Way To Choose Between The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and The New iPhone X
The titans of the mobile telephony industry have come at each other once more with Samsung releasing the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on 15 September, and Apple bound to release the iPhone X on 3 November. These two significant devices of 2017 have impressive features. Which, then, is the best way to choose between the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone X? The choice will depend on what features impress you most. Below is a comparison of the various characteristics of each phone to help you choose.
1. Design
Of the two phones, the Note 8 is larger and heavier. It measures 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6mm and weighs 195g while the iPhone X’s measurements are 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7mm. It weighs 174g. Both have glass components on the front and back with a thin metal band binding the two sides of the edges.
While most phones have a Home button at the bottom, the two phones have done away with it. In its place, Samsung has a pressure-sensitive panel while the iPhone has a digital bar.
When it comes to the fingerprint reader, Samsung has placed it at the back of the phone. Apple, on the other hand, has gotten rid of this feature and the authentication system will rely on Face ID.
2. Display
The screen to body ratio of both phones is 83 percent. They have OLED displays. The Note 8’s display is rectangular with rounded corners and a slightly curved screen at the edges. The iPhone X has the display reaching the corners with the only space cut out being at the top to accommodate the camera and speaker.
3. Camera
The two have dual cameras on the rear with both featuring LED dual-tone flash, optical image stabilization, auto-focus, and 12-megapixel sensors. The Note 8 selfie camera has an 8-megapixel sensor while that of the iPhone has a 7-megapixel sensor.
4. Power and Battery Life
The Note 8 is paired with a 6GB RAM and an internal storage choice of 64, 128 or 256 GB. This is expandable to 512GB using a micro SD card. The phone runs on an octa-core Exynos processor to offer enough power to play games, stream, browse, and multitask. It has a non-removable 3300mAh battery, which translates to 22 hours of talk time and 74 hours of music.
IPhone 8 runs on Apple’s six-core A11 Bionic chip. It comes with a 3GB RAM and an internal storage choice of 64 or 256GB. It has no option for memory expansion. It has a battery with 22 hours of talk time and 60 hours of music.
5. Software
While the iPhone runs on IOS 11, the Galaxy Note 8 runs on Android 7.1.1, which is expected to be updated to Android 8.0, Google’s latest operating system.
6. Special Features
The Note 8 has an S-Pen Stylus designed to make taking notes, drawing, and marking up documents on the phone easier. Related to this is the “live messages” feature, which turns handwritten messages to GIFs. The “Translate” feature helps highlight text using the S-pen for instant translation into another language. The phone also offers an option for biometric authentication using a facial recognition feature, a fingerprint reader, and an iris scanner.
The iPhone X has the TrueDepth camera, which allows users to unlock the phone with Face ID, a facial recognition system. This uses depth-sensing technology to map and recognize the face of a user even when in the dark. This feature can also track facial impressions and create animated characters that can be used in messages. These 3D live rendered emojis are referred to as Animojis
7. Price
The Galaxy Note 8’s 64 GB version comes at the cost of $869 while Apple’s 64GB version is sold at $999.
While both phones are quite close in display, design, power, and camera, the Galaxy Note 8 offers a little more flexibility based on its price, memory and biometric authentication.
Ian Leaf is an author of his own tech blog. He covers things such as tech news, new releases, product reviews, and more.