2018 will be remembered for flashy high-end phones that breached all previous records. The iPhone XS Max costs a whopping Rs 1,45,000 for the 512GB variant, which has helped other brands to price their products respectfully.
Compared to the iPhones and the Pixels, Samsung and Huawei with their Galaxy Note 9 and Mate 20 Pro respectively feel like feature-packed devices for under 70K. So, it was obvious that a comparison between the Galaxy Note 9 and the Mate 20 Pro was on the cards. Both are Android devices, packing multiple cameras at the back and come loaded with a big capacity battery.
But which one of these is worth picking up? Especially if you want a flagship phone right now.
Design
Not much has changed with the Galaxy Note 9. The phone carries a marginally bigger form size, which ends up making it heavier and thicker than the Galaxy Note 8, but only just. The S Pen slots inside on the bottom right, with the USB Type C port for charging and data transfer right next to it.
Compared to the Galaxy Note 8, this year’s Note gets sharper edges, making it look different from its predecessor. At the back, the fingerprint scanner is now placed below the camera sensor. This design change ensures that you can at least get easier access to the biometric feature
The Mate 20 Pro matches its sibling the P 20 Pro with the twilight colour code, something that had impressed people earlier. Yes, it is made of Gorilla glass, but you would be better off using a case, just in case one has butter fingers.
It has a notch at the top, but it is not as tall as the others in the segment, especially the Google Pixel 3. It’s wider than most other phones we have seen this year. The chin size is respectably small and that ends up offering a lot of screen space for viewing content.
Display
Galaxy Note 9 gets a 6.4-inch screen with the same resolution 2960x1440 pixels.
Even in 2018, Samsung isn’t sold on the idea of a notch on the phone, which is why they are sticking to their so-called Infinity Display which offers 83 percent screen-to-body ratio. From the front, both Note 8 and Note 9 look identical and Samsung is playing to its strengths.
Quality-wise, everyone knows what you’re getting from a Samsung patented screen. It is bright, heavy on contrast that throws warm colours and extremely pleasing.
The Mate 20 Pro packs a 6.39-inch AMOLED screen with 3160x1440 pixels or 2K resolution quality. The screen is bright and high on contrast – something that we’ve gotten used to with Samsung’s trademark display panel over the years.
Having said that, for over Rs 70,000, we would have liked the phone to come with a Super AMOLED display.
Hardware and Software
The Galaxy Note 9, as you get to choose between the Exynos 9810 octa-core processor or Snapdragon 845, depending on where you live. The RAM options have expanded to 6GB and 8GB, with storage now starting from 128GB, going up to 512GB, which is expandable up to 1TB as claimed by Samsung.
It’s still a dual-SIM phone, with 3.5mm headphone jack support and for security you get iris as well as fingerprint scanner as the biometric options.
This year, Samsung has changed the narrative of the S Pen, by adding Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), making it multi-purpose.
With S Pen, now people can click selfies by clicking on the button, or show presentations at work by connecting to the Note 9 to a bigger screen. The use of BLE means the S Pen now has a battery, which gets fully charged by putting it inside the slot of the Galaxy Note 9.
They have bumped up the battery from 3,300mAh on the Galaxy Note 8 to 4,000mAh for the Galaxy Note 9. Samsung has chosen USB Type C for the Galaxy Note 9, but still doesn’t support the latest standard of fast charging.
Galaxy Note 9 is still running on Android 8.1 Oreo version out of box, while Mate 20 Pro gets Android 9.0 Pie version running over EMUI.
Mate 20 Pro packs the 7nm Kirin processor with 6GB or 8GB RAM with storage up to 256GB and you can choose between using the second SIM or expand storage further. Huawei claims to be one of the first to use a 7nm chipset, the Kirin 980, that promises flagship-level performance.
You get a 4,200mAh battery that’s loaded into a device that’s deceptively slim at 8.6mm and lightweight at 189 grams. The specialty of the battery is that it can be reverse charged to – wait for it – wirelessly charge other phones.
Camera
The highlight of the Mate 20 Pro are the three rear cameras, offering 40, 20 and 8 megapixels with wide, ultra-wide and telephoto lens respectively. You can also rely on a 24-megapixel front camera for basic photography use.
With the Galaxy Note 9, you get dual rear cameras sized at 12-megapixels each and offering aperture of f/1.5 and f/2.4 respectively.
Both the sensors at the back support optical image stabilization (OIS) which is essential for high-quality shooting in all conditions.
Worth Buying?
Samsung has a tough battle on its hand with the Mate 20 Pro lining up against the Galaxy Note 9. Both are competent devices, feature packed to deliver the experience a high-end phone commands. You get multiple rear cameras, big capacity battery, impressive screen with a good looking design that will appeal to buyers.
Between the two, Galaxy Note 9 offers the better software experience but Samsung needs to hasten the process of updating the phone with Android 9.0 Pie. While the Note 9 carries the S Pen, Mate 20 Pro lets you wireless charge other devices.
It’s quite even for us, and depending on your preference for a brand, you can safely go for either of these two and get good value for the money.
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