The Galaxy S9 vs. the competition: Under the hood

On the outside the Galaxy S9 looks pretty familiar: not only does it maintain the same basic shape as the S8, but it’s kept the screen and battery size of its predecessor as well. In fact, other high-end phones like the Pixel 2 and iPhone 8 have also stuck with familiar design language, which means that you have to look at the specs to see what’s been revised or refined. This year it’s mostly about the S9’s cameras, with the rear-facing one boasting a dual aperture and the software adding a slew of new features for better pictures and videos. But what other changes should you look at, and how do they compare to what’s already on the market? We’ve stacked up the Galaxy S9 versus its closest competitors so you can get a better idea which one you might want to pick up this spring — though we also advise checking out our full review of the S9 when it drops next month.

Galaxy S9
Pixel 2
iPhone 8

Pricing
$720 (off contract)
$649, $749 (off contract)
$699, $849 (off contract)

Known dimensions
147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5mm (5.81 x 2.7 x 0.33 inches)
145.7 x 69.7 x 7.8mm (5.7 x 2.7 x 0.3 inches)
138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 inches)

Weight
163g (5.75 ounces)
143g (5.04 ounces)
148g (5.22 ounces)

Screen size
5.8 inches (147.32mm)
5.0 inches (127mm)
4.7 inches (119.38mm)

Screen resolution
2,960 x 1,440 (570ppi)
1,920 x 1,080 (441ppi)
1,334 x 750 (326ppi)

Screen type
Quad HD+ Super AMOLED
Full HD AMOLED
Retina HD IPS LCD

Battery
3,000mAh
2,700mAh
1821mAh

Internal storage
64GB
64 / 128GB
64 / 256GB

External storage
microSD
None
None

Rear camera
12MP, dual aperture f/1.5 and f/2.4, 1.4μm pixel size
12.2MP, f/1.8, 1.4μm pixel size
12MP, f/1.8

Front-facing cam
8MP, f/1.7
8MP, f/2.4
7MP, f/2.2

Video capture
4K at 30fps
4K at 30fps
4K at 60fps

NFC
Yes
Yes
Yes

Bluetooth
v5.0
v5.0
v5.0

SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
Apple A11 Bionic

CPU
2.8GHz octa-core
2.35GHz octa-core
2.39GHz hexa-core

GPU
Adreno 630
Adreno 540
Apple three-core

RAM
4GB
4GB
2GB

WiFi
Dual band, 802.11ac
Dual band, 802.11ac
Dual band, 802.11ac

Operating system
Android 8.0
Android 8.0
iOS 11

Other features
Fingerprint sensor, IP68 certified,
USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, WPC/PMA wireless charging
Fingerprint sensor, IP67 certified,
USB-C
Fingerprint sensor, IP67 certified, Lightning connector,
Qi wireless charging

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