iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Depending on the variant of each phone you choose, their price may be comparable. The Galaxy Note 9 starts at $ 999 for its 128 GB version and offers a variant of 512 GB for $ 1,249. The iPhone XS Max starts with a 64GB edition priced at $ 1,099, then offers a 256GB version priced at $ 1,249 and surpasses the $ 1,449 level for a 512GB edition.

In other words, both phones easily cross the price barrier of $ 1,000, but they also make up the best handsets that Apple and Samsung have to offer. Which one is the best and which one deserves the most? Well … let's compare them!

Design

Both of these smartphones display gargantuan screens and are clearly intended for the "powerful user" – the person who spends a lot of time on his phone, whether for entertainment, creativity, social gatherings or even work. The Galaxy Note 9 has a 6.4 inch screen in 18.5: 9 format, and the iPhone XS Max a 6.5 inch screen in 19.5: 9 format. They are quite large and offer tons of real estate for your content.

Fortunately, both phones are surrounded by very thin glasses, which makes their handling much simpler than suggested by the size of the screen. They are still quite heavy and are not really the most comfortable devices to use with one hand, but it is certainly feasible to take extra care not to let them down.

Both phones have a glass bottom and a metal frame – in the case of Note 9, the frame is aluminum, while the iPhone XS Max makes extra effort and is coated with stainless steel. The back of Note 9 is curved towards the edges, reflecting the curved screen of the phone at the front. This gives a softer form to the touch of the palm, but the aluminum frame sandwiched between the front and rear glass panels is rather thin and does not give the impression that we hold the device firmly. The glass panels of the iPhone XS Max are much flatter and they leave plenty of room for a nice, plump piece of this stainless steel frame to press against our fingers. As a result, the XS Max feels a little easier and reassuring to hold.

Turn on the screens and you'll see another difference in design philosophies – Notch or Notch. Samsung's Note 9 has extremely thin side edges around its curved screen, but still has a bit of forehead and a chin. These are of course necessary to accommodate items such as speakers, cameras and other sensors mounted at the front, the display driver, and so on. Apple's iPhone XS Max, meanwhile, aims to have a flat and uniform bezel all around the phone. The disadvantage is that there is a notch in the top of the screen to house the face sensors, the camera selfie and the earpiece.

Which is the best, which is the worst? The notch is a very controversial topic online. Some people hate him, others do not bother him at all, others secretly try to give the iPhone its signature (that many have not hesitated to copy … so not very signature at the moment). . If you do not mind, you will certainly appreciate the uniformly thin goggles that surround the device, which gives the iPhone XS Max a very crisp and compact appearance. If you hate the notch, the Galaxy Note 9 will offer a screen that is a pure rectangle with slightly rounded corners, but the top and bottom frames of the phone give it a look and feel a little larger than necessary.

In terms of manipulation, we would say that the iPhone XS Max wins by a hair. Make no mistake: these two phones are big, heavy and their backs slippery, but the thicker frame and the slightly shorter form factor of the iPhone bring it an extra point every time we slip it into our pockets.

6.2 x 3.05 x 0.3 inches
157.5 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm
7.34 oz (208 g)

6.37 x 3.01 x 0.35 inches
161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm
7.09 oz (201 g)

Display

Samsung and Apple are known for making first-rate screens for years. Samsung's Super AMOLED technology has evolved from this aggressive, aggressive color machine to a customizable display that produces tame, realistic colors. Apple's iPhone screens are renowned for displaying colors accurately and the XS Max is no different: the screen is balanced and gentle to the eyes.
On the iPhone XS Max, we would have the best of both worlds. It has an OLED panel manufactured by Samsung, which has been adapted to Apple standards. Sounds good, is not it? Well that's it. With beautiful colors and real blacks, the iPhone XS screen leaves little to be desired. There is a visible color shift effect when the screen is viewed from an angle, but that comes with the territory – you can also see it on Samsung's Super AMOLED panel.
Note 9 offers a multitude of calibration options that suit more tastes. The adaptive mode will give you the classic cold whites with very saturated and punchy reds and yellows, while the basic mode will melt all the tones to be much softer and more enjoyable for the eyes.

Of course, Apple and Samsung both offer a blue light filter, called "Night Shift". His goal is to make the screen more enjoyable for the eyes after sunset by filtering the blues to varying degrees, you guessed it, leaving you a much warmer image, supposedly softer for the eyes. Why are we talking about it? Well, the blue light filter from Samsung will increase, for some reason, the color saturation. Yes, you do not have the blues that torment you at night, but the reds become annoying, especially for users who like to keep their display in basic mode.

The iPhone XS Max is equipped with the Apple True Tone feature: it is supposed to analyze your ambient light and adjust the color temperature of the screen to match and react in the manner of. a real paper. This feature looks great on the iPad Pro and the iPhones of the past equipped with LCD screens. However, on the iPhone X OLED-sporty, XS and XS Max, it gives a very yellow tint. Apparently, Apple is still struggling to use this feature on its OLED screens.

So, what is the best display? Both screens are really great, it must be said. Large, colorful, detailed and real screens. As noted above, Samsung's Note 9 gives you the option to choose vibrant colors, if you wish. Apple's screen, on the other hand, offers us better options for warming up the colors for night media consumption. Neither is a game modifier. Rest assured that both devices are compatible with the display service.

Interface

We have two very different animals here in terms of software. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes with Android 8.1 ready to use with the Samsung Experience 9.5 user interface laid on top. This ultimately means that you will see very little of Google's original vision for the Android platform because every little icon, animation or even menu structure has been replaced by that of Samsung.
That said, Samsung Experience seems mature and looks smooth, although it is sometimes a bit slow. It has come a long way since the day it was called TouchWiz and everyone used it as a synonym for "bloat" destructive performance (no wonder that Samsung decided to rename the user interface ). Yes, the features installed by Samsung are still many, but many of them are actually good. Like the secure folder, which allows you to have a private folder on your phone, just in case; or the game launcher, which contains various flip-flops useful for the players; the Always On Display, which is cool to have sometimes and that is easy to disable when you do not want it; Dual Messenger, allowing you to have 2 accounts connected to a service; split screen and floating windows; and the device maintenance suite, which will let you know if an app is running out of resources or preventing your phone from sleeping.

Of course, we also have Samsung's patented S Pen Pen, the best stylus to include in the box. Powered by Wacom technology, this software is fast and accurate. It's nice to use whether you choose to take notes or draw with. In Note 9, the S Pen Pen has been upgraded to become a Bluetooth Remote. You can use it to browse music, presentation slides, play and pause clips, or enable the camera shutter remotely, up to a distance 10 meters. This does not seem very serious, but after using it for a while, we can say that this feature is really nice to have.

The iPhone XS Max comes naturally with iOS 12, which is Apple's homemade operating system, developed specifically for its own hardware.

iOS 12, on the other hand, is much simpler. You can only work with the application of your choice on screen – forget about floating windows or screen sharing here. At least, Apple allows you to reply to messages directly from their notification banner, which is neat, but with some restrictions: you can not write a second line of text as soon as you send your reply because the notification disappears, but the red "unread" message "the badge will stay on the chat application icon until you open it.This is a small nitpick, but he only talks about how much iOS does not support multitasking.

However, iOS has its strengths: every little element of interface, gesture and design decision has been made to adapt to the capabilities and ergonomics of the phone. And, of course, the software has been developed to run on Apple's own hardware, making it vivid and responsive. It's a real pleasure to watch floating animations every time you perform an action.

In addition, you have access to this Apple ecosystem, with the ability to send and receive iMessages for free (via data or Wi-Fi) and sync with an Apple Watch., control AirPods and download exclusive AR apps from the App Store – a domain where Android is still catching up.

Siri vs Bixby

Siri has been the focus of "vocal assistant jokes" for years. Well, until Bixby rolled.
Yes, the voice assistant of Apple is still neither extremely intelligent nor helpful, especially compared to the Google assistant., which is an unrivaled leader in AI companions over the phone. But for basic tasks and demands, Siri continues to do the work most of the time.

Samsung's Bixby system, on the other hand, stays on and off with reliability. Still unable to understand certain requests if they are not formulated properly, and unable to understand the context in a conversation thread.

Samsung has big ambitions for Bixby because it wants the assistant to become your way of interacting with the hands-free phone. You can have a voice password that will unlock your phone. Bixby will analyze your vocal and vocal structure, as well as the words spoken. In theory, Bixby should be able to open applications and perform actions in these applications at your request. In practice, it is difficult to operate reliably, especially with third-party applications. But hey, the potential is there …

Material and performance

Of course, we have the latest and best equipment on both devices. The Galaxy Note 9 sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 – the SoC of choice for all the great Android champions in 2018 – and an excess of 8GB of RAM. The iPhone XS Max features the Apple A12 Bionic chip – a SoC that Cupertino manufactures in its own kitchen and is not available for competition – and 4GB of RAM, which for generations previous, is quite the amount of memory an iPhone has.
Which is the best chip? The apple A12, hands down. It has a 2,490 MHz 6 core processor, built on a 7 nm process, while the Snapdragon 845 is equipped with a 2,800 MHz octa-core processor, based on a 10 nm process. On paper, it looks like the Snapdragon 845 should be the best, despite the construction a little older in 10 nm, right?

Well, landmarks say the opposite. The iPhone XS Max achieves impressive scores and is well ahead of the competition.

Of course, as a designer of his own software and hardware, Apple is an advantage here. But does that mean that note 9 is a weak phone?

Not at all. The Snapdragon 845 does not have anything to smile about and thanks to Samsung's new "water-carbon" heat pipe, the Note 9 is able to push the processor further and longer than before.

But, of course, both phones will have their strengths and weaknesses. Let's dive a little further:

Productivity and multitasking

This category is for people who rarely ask their phone and are constantly doing multiple tasks at a time. These are the people who require long battery life, fast performance and multitasking on a phone. And note 9 certainly offers: you have a split screen, floating videos, a big screen for all your content, the pen S Pen to help with the signing of digital documents, side panels for a quick change of application , discussion bubbles hovering. on screen, etc.
The plethora of features of Note 9 may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get used to it, they are just liberating for multitasking. To top it off, you have Samsung DeX – the desktop platform, optimized by Note 9. Type a HDMI-USB Type C adapter or one of the proprietary DeX home stations, connect a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. open any file on your phone and work it in a desktop environment. It's a bit like having a mini PC in your pocket at all times.

The iPhone XS Max is powerful and fast. Performing tasks with the new gesture-based interface is actually fast and intuitive. But iOS's philosophy of doing only one thing at a time may seem a bit restrictive, especially for those who come from an experience. There is no shared screen or floating drive despite the fact that the screen of the XS Max is huge, and nothing more sophisticated than the dashboards or proprietary stylus.

Thus, although both phones are very, very competent, we would say that multitasking users will appreciate Note 9 better.

Which one is best for games?

Regarding mobile games, the iPhone is undoubtedly the best, and has been for several years. Games often look better on iPhone and work better on iPhone. To top it all, many titles arrive on iOS a few months before appearing on Android and some even remain exclusive to the iPhone. Some shooting game developers have also implemented Apple's 3D Touch technology to help control and fire your weapon with limited touch input.

Here is an example – we used PUBG Mobile and Vainglory on the iPhone XS Max and the Galaxy Note 9. And despite the fact that both phones were equipped with high quality graphics, the games certainly have air a little more specific and more detailed on the iPhone. But at the very least, in terms of performance: Note 9 behaved as well as the iPhone.

But hey, some players still have a reason to choose an Android phone like Note 9 on iPhone. On the one hand, you have many more Bluetooth controllers to choose from, if you choose to invest in any of them. In comparison, if you have an Apple device, you must specifically look for a MFi certified controller, which will also be a little more expensive and not necessarily better.

In addition, the recently launched Steam Link application, which allows you to stream PC games to your phone via your home Wi-Fi network, is still exclusive to Android. And yes, we tested it on the Galaxy Note 9: it works pretty well and works in 60 FPS, if only with a little delay of entry, which comes with the territory.

Creativity and niche applications

There are some demanding applications that offer nice features that we think deserve to be discussed, especially if you're considering a device that costs more than $ 1,000.
On the one hand, with all the power of today 's Android smartphones, with all these 8 – core processors, so – called powerful GPUs and an amount of obscene RAM memory, it still seems not exist a single video editor that supports keyframes in the Play Store. . In fact, there does not seem to be a single video editor that is just nice and offers a smooth workflow on Android.

This is not the case for iOS. Some of the most popular video editors on the Apple platform feel both fluid and intuitive and offer an optimal workflow even on an iPhone. Enlight's Videoleap has been passionate about us for quite some time: it works perfectly, offers multilayer track editing, chrominance for transparency, keyframes and its use is relatively simple. Even if it still has its limitations and it will not replace your main video mixing device, it's a great tool for creating minor videos for a social page update or for editing small clips that you will later integrate into your vlog.

In addition, the App Store offers tons of software for mobile musicians for years. Apple has gotten rid of audio latency issues a long time ago and you can connect your iPhone to a guitar, to a MIDI controller or simply use the on-screen keys to produce music or add effects. in real time. Again, this will not replace a recording studio, an amp or an effects unit, but it's definitely an amazing thing to have at hand, whether for practice or experimentation.
The credit given where credit is due, Samsung was tired of waiting for Google to solve the audio latency problems of Android a long time ago and developed its own professional Samsung audio driver. This allowed to run real-time audio applications on Galaxy's flagship products, such as AmpliTube and Samsung's Soundcamp (a GarageBand knock-off). However, the support for developers for such applications on Android is extremely low, applications are few and their functionality is generally limited.

On the note side, we have the S pen Pen and the PenUP app, which allow you to connect with artists from around the world, view their drawings and share yours. I do not know how to draw but I want to learn? PenUP offers a ton of regularly updated "live drawing" tutorials that will literally guide you to create beautiful designs. It's pretty cool, and we have lost more time than we would like to admit in this app.

Multimedia

In terms of media consumption, both phones are also performing well. You have big, clean, beautiful screens for watching movies and clips, and you have stereo speakers on both devices.

The Samsung speakers have the logo "Tuned by AKG" and sound really fleshy with a bump very visible in low mids. This gives them a full and strong sound, but they can sometimes scramble the details in the music. You have a built-in equalizer and a Dolby Atmos software enhancer, but they have a cost: you lose a little volume when you change the equalizer or you get a slight dip when you turn on Atmos.

The speakers of the iPhone XS Max are louder and produce a much heavier sound in the bass. They have a dip in the midrange, which gives the overall sound plus a Hi-Fi character. You have the choice among many equalization presets in the phone settings (no customization for the user setting), but they will only affect the Apple Music app. It is therefore a kind of half-function.

While the speakers of both phones are perfect for what they are, the sound of the XS Max is definitely on another level and eclipses the Note 9 when they are in the same room.

Camera

Apple and Samsung have been pretty much at the top of their camera game for the last few years. Businesses take different approaches here and there, but it's safe to say that both get great results, just the ones that look different.

This year, Apple surprised us with a new feature called Smart HDR. It works much like Google's HDR +, in which the phone takes multiple photos and assembles certain parts to obtain a higher quality image at the end. Less detail is lost in the shadows and fewer highlights become white.

The intelligent HDR is really nice to use and will sometimes give an advantage to the iPhone by comparing it to the camera in Note 9. The very first pictures below show how the camera's Samsung overexposes the building located on the far left, while the iPhone manages to preserve its peach color.

Apart from that, both handsets are very effective at capturing vibrant and colorful scenes. Note 9 likes to sharpen details, in the typical Samsung way, which may or may not be your thing. The images that come out of the iPhone can sometimes seem a little yellow, because Apple seems to like to add heat when processing images, but it can also give colors a little better than those of Note 9, as in the previous case. first pair of samples Portrait below.

Of course, night shots are a challenge for both phones. The sharpness of the Galaxy Note 9 makes things easier, making the details less distorted by noise (image 18 vs image 17), while the iPhone XS Max seems to retain better exposure even throughout the composition (images 13 and 14).

Sample Images – Apple iPhone XS Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Portrait mode

Of course, Portrait mode (called Live Focus, in the case of note 9) is a big deal. Now everyone is working on a release, some are better than others, and we expect the best phones in the industry to have a very convincing bokeh.

And these two do.

Do not get me wrong, Portrait mode and Live focus mode both have their "failure". Some of the subject's hair will be fuzzy, or his ear will be trimmed, or an element of the background will trick the camera into believing that it is supposed to be sharp. But most often, we get a very convincing portrait of one or the other of these phones. And since Apple has added the ability to adjust the strength of the bokeh after taking the picture, the difference between the two functions is even smaller.

Examples in Portrait Mode – iPhone XS Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Video

The iPhone XS Max and the Galaxy Note 9 can record 4K videos at 60 FPS. It means a smooth and extremely detailed sequence at the same time. The reproduction of the images is as beautiful as in the photos. Both will use their own optical stabilization blend assisted by digital stabilization in their own way and with varying success. You can see the examples below.

The iPhone offers 4K recording at the 24 FPS cinematic standard, which will help you record clips that look a lot like those of a movie.

It's still annoying that iOS conceals the camera settings in the Phone Settings app, instead of being directly accessible via the Camera app. You need to do a lot of back and forth when you want to change your FPS mode or your resolution.

On the other hand, the zoom controls of the iPhone XS Max are much more comfortable to use with one hand: hold down the 1x zoom button and slide your finger up or down down to zoom in or out. Note 9 has this feature that lets you use the shutter button as a zoom slider, but it is very very difficult to use and imprecise. This becomes apparent when you try to zoom in or out while recording a video, which is why we mention it here.

Sample Videos – iPhone XS Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9

double-click to zoom in and out

Battery life

This year, Samsung improved its game and inserted a battery of 4000 mAh in the Note 9, which is a clear improvement over the Galaxy Note 8 battery of 3300 mAh. last year. The result? About an hour more screen saver and a lot more waiting time. We can carry the Note 9 with confidence and use it throughout the day while keeping the charge all evening. IPhone XS Max, like the iPhone, offers excellent battery life. More than 9 hours of display screen on our battery life test and outstanding standby efficiency.

Both of these phones will go very well to heavy users, but those who use the iPhone XS Max – better plan their loading sessions in advance. While Note 9 can be fully recharged in just under two hours thanks to its fast charging brick, it will take 3 hours and 30 minutes to iPhone XS Max to fill this battery tank! Well, unless you buy a fast charge and a USB Type C to Lightning, sold separately by Apple.

Conclusion

In the end, there are a ton of people who have their hearts and minds on Android or iOS. So who was this criticism for? You may be about to buy your first truly premium phone and wonder what the best investment is. Maybe you do not mind changing operating systems and wondering who has the best offer this year. Or maybe you already have one of these products and are you curious about how it compares to the competition.
Well, rest assured that both of these phones are performing: the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is one of the most feature-rich and productive Android smartphones that you can get your hands on and the iPhone XS Max. Apple has the largest screen and the fastest chip that Apple has already put on a smartphone. Both devices are mature and rely on years of business know-how. Smartphone users will find a way to justify the price to pay.

Which one is for you, though? Note 9 is the phone that can do a ton of things, a lot at the same time. Multi-window and split screen, floating user interface elements, S Pen for drawing and writing, GIF capture of everything on your screen, Samsung DeX and much more.

The iPhone XS Max has a powerful hardware and certainly excels in fluid performance and graphics fidelity. But iOS is a much more "targeted" operating system – one application at a time, simple and enjoyable. Et l'écosystème Apple prend en charge quelques secteurs de créativité de niche, tels que la musique et le montage vidéo, mieux qu'Android.

On peut dire que la Note 9 tente de dépasser les frontières du combiné et de devenir un appareil multi-usage, alors que l'iPhone XS Max est à l'aise avec le fait d'être juste un téléphone … un iPhone.