Samsung S8 VS. iPhone 8: Specs, Features and retail price in Lebanon

We all know the ongoing battle between the smartphone giants Apple & Samsung, which has become exaggerated to the point where we classify someone as an “Apple person” or “Samsung person”. Although some people are strong brand advocates and defend the brand of their preference, others seem to take the issue more lightly and don’t mind switching from one brand to the other.

There’s also a few who take it humorously and created funny illustrations like the ones below:

Credits: Quer Time

Regardless of how we feel about these brands, the only way to know which of their products provides us more value according to our needs is to compare two of their phones and see which one is worth the coin. The contestants of today’s post are: The iPhone 8 and Samsung galaxy S8; specs, features and all.

Network Samsung Galaxy S8 iPhone 8
Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE GSM / HSPA / LTE
2G Bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
4G Network LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 32(1500), 66(1700/2100), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 29(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 66(1700/2100)
Speed  HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (5CA) Cat16 1024/150 Mbps HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (3CA) Cat12 600/150 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps
GPRS  Available Available
EDGE Available Available
Dimensions & Weight Dimensions 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm (5.86 x 2.68 x 0.31 in) 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 in)
Weight 155 g 148 g
Build Front/back glass (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame Front/back glass, aluminum frame
SIM Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) Nano-SIM
Other – Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified)
– IP68 certified – dust/water proof (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)
– Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified)
– IP67 certified – dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 mins)
Display Type Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 5.8 inches, 84.8 cm2 (~83.6% screen-to-body ratio) 4.7 inches, 60.9 cm2 (~65.4% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1440 x 2960 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~570 ppi density) 750 x 1334 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~326 ppi density)
Multitouch Yes Yes
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating
Other – HDR10 compliant
– 3D Touch (home button only)
– Always-on display
– Wide color gamut display
– 3D Touch display & home button
– True-tone display
Platform OS Android 7.0 (Nougat), upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo) iOS 11, upgradable to iOS 11.3
Chipset Exynos 8895 Octa – EMEA
Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 – USA & China
Apple A11 Bionic
CPU SnapDragon 835

Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Mongoose M2 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) – EMEA
Octa-core (4×2.35 GHz Kryo & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo) – USA & China

A11 Bionic
Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral)
GPU Mali-G71 MP20 – EMEA
Adreno 540 – USA & China
Apple GPU (three-core graphics)
Memory Card Slot microSD, up to 400 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) – dual SIM model only Not Applicable
Internal 64 GB, 4 GB RAM 64/256 GB, 2 GB RAM
Camera Primary 12 MP (f/1.7, 26mm, 1/2.5″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF), phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash 12 MP (f/1.8, 28mm), phase detection autofocus, OIS, quad-LED dual-tone flash
Features Geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, Auto HDR, panorama Geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 8MP image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, HDR (photo/panorama)
Video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR, dual-video rec. 2160p@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps
Secondary 8 MP (f/1.7, 25mm, 1/3.6″, 1.22µm), autofocus, 1440p@30fps, dual video call, Auto HDR 7 MP, f/2.2, 1080p@30fps, 720p@240fps, face detection, HDR, panorama
Sound Alert Types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones Vibration, proprietary ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes Yes + stereo speakers
3.5mm Jack Yes No
Other – 32-bit/384kHz audio
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– Lightning to 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter
COMMS WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX 5.0, A2DP, LE
GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS
NFC Yes Yes
USB 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector 2.0, proprietary reversible connector
Features Sensors Iris scanner, fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2 Fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM iMessage, SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
Browser HTML5 HTML5 (Safari)
Java No No
Battery Type Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery (11.55 Wh) Non-removable Li-Ion 1821 mAh battery (6.96 Wh)
Talk Time Up to 20 h (3G) Up to 14 h (3G)
Music Play Up to 67 h Up to 40 h
Miscellaneous Colors Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold, Rose Pink, Burgundy Red Silver, Space Gray, Gold, Red

 

Design

From the table above, you can find which features are more important to you and compare them across both phones. In terms of design, the iPhone 8 is very similar to its predecessors, except for the glass back which might not be a good thing for clumsy people out there (like myself). On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S8 boasts an infinity Display from edge to edge with a luxurious curvy design. In the end it’s all down to the consumer’s taste and preferences, but in any case you can check out the following products from Beirut Shopping to keep your phone protected and available on the go:

Luxury Hard 360 Full Cover Protection Case For iphone 6 6s 7 8

Galaxy S8 Screen Protector

Samsung Galaxy S8 Case

Powerbank for iPhone & Samsung Smartphones and iPads

 

Display & Camera

When it comes to Display, the Samsung S8 with its 5.8″ OLED screen, 2960 x 1440 pixels, and delivering more than 180% of the color gamut beats the iPhone 8 with a 4.7″ screen and resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels, delivering around 120% of the color gamut. However, the iPhone 8’s camera slightly outperforms the Samsung’s S8 camera, in terms of brighter lighting and richer colors in an outdoors scene with natural sunlight. On the other hand, in a low light setting, the S8’s camera manages to pick up more light with its  f/1.7 lens, and with some fidgeting around the camera settings or some edits I’m sure you can manage to perfect your shot.

Performance & Battery Life

When it comes to performance, one of the two major deal breakers, according to Toms Guide, the iPhone 8 outperforms the Samsung S8 big time. While the iPhone scored 10,170 when tested for performance using the Geeekbench 4 Synthetic benchmark, it is way out of Samsung S8 league with a mere score of 6,295. Regarding battery life, the Samsung S8 takes the lead with an endurance rating of up to 84 hours, versus the iPhone with only 66 hours. Finally, we’re down to the real deal:

Price

The Samsung S8 sells in the Lebanese market for $555  and the iPhone 8 can also be found for $745, both in 64GB storage size.

So will you base your purchase decision on the features important to you or the value-to-price ratio? Let us know below on what characteristics you consider before purchasing a smartphone.

Felicia Reyes:
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