Samsung has lifted the lid on the Galaxy Note 8, giving the Korean company a couple of weeks before Apple’s smartphone machine lumbers into gear and releases the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The latter in particular, with its larger form factor, will be of particular interest to Samsung as it gauges sales of the Note 8 in months to come.
Seeing as the iPhone 8 Plus doesn’t yet exist, it’s hard to be certain about how the competing flagships will measure up to each other. We can, however, make a few educated guesses based on the Galaxy Note 8 and what has surfaced so far about Apple’s plans for the iPhone 8.
Galaxy Note 8 vs iPhone 8 Plus: Design and screen
Samsung has excelled in the aesthetics department for the past couple of years, and the Galaxy Note 8 is no exception. The “infinity display” design of the Galaxy S8; peeling back the side bezels with a screen that fills almost the entire face of the phone, is used to even stronger effect in the Note 8. The result is a 6.3in QHD+ display, with image quality like no other thanks to Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology.
The iPhone 8 is widely rumoured to be adopting a similar approach to its screen, with an edge-to-edge display and tiny bezels. While this would mean the removal of the Touch ID home button, there are even reports that Apple may do away with fingerprint recognition altogether – opting instead for speedy facial recognition.
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Whether or not Apple “does a Samsung” with its design, one thing that the Korean will have as an edge is its screen quality. Unless Apple pull it out of the bag in terms of display, the Note 8 is likely to be the sharper option.
Galaxy Note 8 vs iPhone 8 Plus: Specs and camera
The Note 8 innards are similar to the Galaxy S8, with a 10nm CPU, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, expandable by up to 256GB via microSD. Depending on what region you’re in, the Note 8 will either come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835) or Samsung’s own Exynos 8835 chip.
The iPhone 8 is rumoured to come with Apple’s A11 chipset, although there’s little known so far about what this will entail in terms of performance. There’s talk about wireless charging support, and face-scanning technology, but it is hard to make any real judgement about how the iPhone 8 Plus’ specs size up against the Note 8’s. Samsung’s flagship is certainly no slouch, though.
In terms of camera, the Note 8 boasts a dual-sensor arrangement, with a wide-angle 12-megapixel f/1.7 camera, and a f/2.4 telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom. Both of these come with optical image stabilisation (OIS) for seriously stable shots. For comparison, a number of reports have pointed to the iPhone 8 also adopting a dual-camera setup – but arranged vertically instead of horizontally on the rear of the device. Camera quality has been one of Apple’s big advertising drives in the past, so expect it to make much of image quality in the iPhone 8 – especially considering the device’s larger, bezel-less display.
Galaxy Note 8 vs iPhone 8 Plus: Verdict
The main question you’ll have is: should I opt for a Samsung Note 8, or wait to see what Apple has in store for the iPhone 8 Plus? Given that the latter device’s launch is only around the corner, it wouldn’t hurt to hold on for a few more weeks to see what Apple is planning with its Plus-sized handset.
On the other hand, our experience with the Note 8 so far has been stupendous, and the iPhone 8 Plus will have a serious struggle to compete in terms of performance and aesthetics. With a stellar design, outstanding screen and industry-leading performance, the Note 8 is a very strong handset indeed. If Apple reveals something special it could take the crown, but for now it sits firmly on Samsung’s head.