The flagship battle – part 1 is upon us, and first up we have the Galaxy Note 8 (yes, the Note is back) which will go up against the iPhone 8 Plus in India before the end of this month.
While the Note 8 is now available in the country (online and offline) priced at Rs 67,900, Apple will start retailing the iPhone 8 Plus starting from Rs 73,000 for the 64GB variant.
Both the phones pack dual cameras, fast processors, big-size display, and some features that are unique to the respective devices. But, the question is, which one should you splurge on? We’ll try to make it simpler for you.
Design
Let’s make it clear, the iPhone 8 Plus looks very much like the 7 Plus from last year, with minor design changes and a glassy back body. The 8 Plus still carries big bezels on the front (totally not flagship-worthy in 2017) and the home button is also there.
Galaxy Note 8 has a bezel-less or edge-to-edge display (sporting an 18:9 ratio), dual cameras at the back, and carries a design that takes forward from what we’ve seen with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ this year.
The iPhone 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen while the Galaxy Note 8 stands at a mammoth 6.3-inch.
The Galaxy Note 8 weighs 195 grams, which is marginally lighter than the iPhone 8 Plus at 202 grams. Having said that, neither of the devices can be termed feather-light, which for a change, works in favour of those who’ll be using it.
Display
The difference in quality isn’t huge. With the Galaxy Note 8, you get a 6.3-inch sized phone with edge-to-edge display that packs 2560x1440 pixels in resolution, or Quad-HD as they call it. It also sports a Super AMOLED panel which stands out in every possible aspect.
The colours are extremely bright, with high contrasts, something that Samsung is renowned for. And with the 18:9 ratio of the display, watching or even reading stuff on the Note 8 will leave you impressed.
The iPhone 8, on the other hand, relies on its Retina HD display quality that according to GSMarena offers 1920x1080 pixels resolution. It’s hard to compare the quality of both these devices but generally over the years we haven’t seen a lot of difference in terms of what is offered.
While we can vouch for the bright and crisp quality of the Galaxy Note 8 (after using it for over a week), we can’t really say if the iPhone 8 Plus improves on the 7 Plus. More on that later.
Hardware
This again is a segment where whatever we say won’t make a difference, as both Android and iOS function in their own manner. The Galaxy Note 8 packs an octa-core Exynos 8895 processor paired with 6GB RAM.
The iPhone 8 Plus gets a hexa-core A11 bionic chipset, which is also running on the iPhone X (ten), coupled with 3GB RAM. This might make you feel that the Note 8 is more powerful than the iPhone 8 Plus, but in real-life conditions, both devices have turned out to be equal competitors.
Storage wise, you get 64GB on the Galaxy Note 8, which is expandable up to 256GB (via microSD slot), and the iPhone 8 Plus will be available in 64 and 256GB variants.
The one thing that separates the Note 8 from the iPhone 8 Plus is the S Pen.
Camera
Galaxy Note 8 is the first Samsung flagship phone to come with dual cameras, which is why comparing it with the iPhone 8 Plus seems fair. So, how does the Galaxy Note 8 fare?
The Galaxy S8 had a pretty decent camera, but with the dual sensors on the Galaxy Note 8, the difference is noticeable and evident. The presence of optical image stabilisation (OIS) on the Note 8 makes a huge impression when recording videos.
Both sensors packed in offer better lighting in images when compared with the iPhone 8 Plus.
We’re yet to see how the iPhone 8 Plus compares with the Galaxy Note 8, but if the 8 Plus is as good as the iPhone 7 Plus, then the competition is going to be mouth-watering.
Battery and More
Samsung has loaded the Galaxy Note 8 with a 3,300 mAh battery, while the iPhone 8 Plus from Apple gets a 2,675 mAh unit (probably the biggest an iPhone has ever had).
But when you consider Samsung’s use of Quad-HD Super AMOLED display and the overall power packed inside the Note 8, you might end up charging it once every day. The Note 8 on an average will last you through a full working day (10-15 hours), but a regular juicing up is required.
Apple iPhones have a sketchy past when it comes to battery life, especially in India (most iPhone users carry a powerbank), but hopefully, the bigger capacity battery changes that for good.
Both these phones now support wireless charging (via an additional pad), and Samsung is bundling its charger for early buyers of the Note 8. Apple will make its charging pad available later this year (costing a lot, for sure).
And Finally
So, while the Galaxy Note 8 matches up to its flagship standard, the price is definitely debatable. We all know that the prices of Samsung devices come down gradually, so there’s no harm in waiting for that and getting one of these for yourself.
The iPhone 8 Plus starts at Rs 73,000 and comes with minor design changes, but with a big hardware bump, and cameras that are likely to be better than the 7 Plus.
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