Who is the real premium flagship smartphone king?
As Samsung officially took off the wraps off of their Galaxy Note 8, we thought of pitting Samsung’s latest flagship against the current flagships in the market. How does the Note 8 fare with other premium flagships like LG’s Q6, Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium, and Huawei’s P10+? Does the Note 8’s features, like its dual OIS rear cameras, Infinity display, Retina scanner, and its proprietary S Pen help it stand out as the new premium flagship king? Check it out in our comparo!
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor (US, Europe), Exynos 8895 processor (Asia, rest of the world)
- 6GB of RAM
- 6.3-inch Quad HD+ resolution, 18.5:9 aspect ratio, 2960 x 1440 resolution display, Gorilla Glass 5
- 12-megapixel twin rear camera with Dual Pixel tech, wide-angle camera with f/1.7 aperture lens, OIS, PDAF, 2x optical zoom lens with f/2.4 aperture lens with OIS, PDAF
- 8-megpixel front camera with f/1.7 aperture
- 64GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Fingerprints scanner, facial recognition tech, iris scanner, USB Type-C, NFC, Wireless charging
- 3300mAh battery
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat with TouchWiz UI
- Php 49,990
LG G6
- 3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor
- Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 7-inch QHD+ FullVisison display , 2880×1440 resolution, Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- 32GB expandable storage, via microSD
- Twin 13-megapixel rear camera, f/1.8 aperture, OIS, LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera
- Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Fingerprint scanner, IP68 certification
- 3300mAh battery
- Android 7.0 Nougat
Read: One Week with the LG G6 in the Philippines
Huawei P10+
- HiSilicon Kirin 960 octa-core processor
- 6GB of RAM
- 5-inch WQHD display, 2560 x 1440 resolution
- Leica co-developed cameras, 12-megapixel color sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, f/1.8 aperture, OIS
- 8-megapixel front camera
- 128GB expandable storage via microSD
- Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, fingerprint scanner, fast charge
- 3650mAh battery
- Android 7.0 Nougat (EMUI 5.1)
Read: Huawei P10 Plus: The Upgrade You Deserve
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 64-bit processor
- Adreno 540 GPU
- 4GB of RAM
- 5-inch 4K HDR Triluminos display, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 3840 × 2160 resolution
- 64GB UFS internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
- 19-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS Motion Eye rear camera with Hybrid AF, Super slow motion 960fps video capture, SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization)
- 13-megapixel 1/3.06-inch Exmor RS front camera
- Dual SIM
- 3G, Gigabit LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, IP68 certification, USB Type-C, Fingerprint sensor
- Android 7.0 Nougat
- 3,230mAh battery
Read: Sony Xperia XZ Premium Quick Review: Shiny And Chrome
Internals: The P10+ is simply a beast
The P10+ offers the best spec sheet among the four, combining its Kirin 960 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The Note 8’s Exynos 8895 and 6GB RAM has come close to the P10+, if it just offered a bigger internal storage instead.
Display: Bigger is better, especially with an Infinity Display
If you have been impressed with LG’s FullVision Display on the G6, the Note 8’s Infinity Display is a pleasure to use, having more pixels (2960×1440 over the G6’s 2880×1440) and a much bigger screen estate compared to the G6. While Sony technically offers a higher resolution display at 3840 × 2160, the advent of near-bezel less phones has made Sony’s design a bit dated–especially since they have been using the OmniBalance aesthetic since the Xperia Z in 2013.
Camera: Dual cams with OIS? Sure!
In this department, it’s a close fight between the P10+ and the Note 8. While the P10+ boasts of Leica-branded dual rear cameras delivering “Leica Boss” image quality from its f/1.8 lens, the Note 8 edges it by having OIS on both of its dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, and by offering a 2x optical zoom while not having any lens protrusion at the back. Samsung did take down some notes after the P10+ won over the Galaxy S8+ in our blind camera test.
Battery: More juice with the P10+
While it is disappointing that the Galaxy Note 8 gets a smaller battery (3300mAh compared to 3500mAh in the Galaxy Note 7), we can assure you that the Note 8 is not a glorified grenade like its predecessor. This time around, Samsung got things right to make sure that they don’t repeat the same mistake with the Note 7. However, this downgrade in battery capacity made the P10+ win in this department, offering a larger 3650mAh battery, paired with fast charging.
Verdict: It’s a tight match between the P10+ and the Note 8
The Note 8 may have some new tech with it, like its Iris scanner, IP68 certification, and dual OIS rear cameras, but it will have an uphill battle with the P10+, which has equally powerful specs and its standout Leica-branded cameras. Yes, the P10+ may have launched earlier this year, but it can rival the performance of upcoming premium flagships in the latter half of the year—the Note 8 included.
Another crucial point with the Note 8 is its pricing. Considering that you can get the P10+ for a hair under 37k, Samsung should be aggressive with its marketing efforts (ie. promos and freebies) for the Note 8, considering the latter retails for Php 49,990. After last year’s fiasco with the Note 7, Samsung also has to make the right moves to give the Note 8 a competitive edge against the P10+ and other upcoming premium flagships this year, like Apple’s iPhone 8 and LG’s V30.
Check out our articles for the Galaxy Note 8 Coverage:
Samsung Takes Wraps Off Of Bigger, Better Galaxy Note 8
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Quick Review: Samsung Crushes It
