Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9 is official, and the company has once again outdone itself when it comes to putting a truly staggering amount of firepower into a phone. The top-of-the-line model offers a whopping 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which are numbers that put most midrange laptops to shame.
Specs that — on paper — could put some laptops to shame
But in 2018, the smartphone market is already pretty tough. And both Apple and Google are already gearing up to release their own updated flagships this fall, so the Note 9’s competition is only going to get tougher. As is now tradition with these posts, it’s important to realize that raw specs don’t always tell the full story for a smartphone. What manufacturers do with their hardware, how well it’s optimized, and what real-world performance looks like isn’t always reflected in the specifications.
We’ll have a full review of the Note 9 soon. In the meantime, we’ve put the Note 9 head-to-head against some of its biggest competition on the market today, including the iPhone X, the G7 ThinQ, the U12 Plus, and Samsung’s own Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus to help you get a better idea of where things stand now as you decide which way to vote with your wallet this fall.
Galaxy Note 9 spec shootout
Specification | Galaxy Note 9 | Galaxy S9 | Galaxy S9 Plus | iPhone X | iPhone 8 | iPhone 8 Plus | LG G7 ThinQ | HTC U12 Plus | Huawei P20 Pro | Pixel 2 XL | Pixel 2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 6.4-inches | 5.8 inches | 6.2 inches | 5.8 inches | 4.7 inches | 5.5 inches | 6.1 inches | 6.0 inches | 6.1 inches | 6.0 inches | 5.0 inches |
Resolution | 2960 x 1440 | 2960 x 1440 | 2960 x 1440 | 2436 x 1125 | 1334 x 750 | 1920 x 1080 | 3120 x 1440 | 2880 x 1440 | 2240 x 1080 | 2880 x 1440 | 1920 x 1080 |
Processor | Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz and 1.7GHz, octa-core) | Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz and 1.7GHz, octa-core) | Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz and 1.7GHz, octa-core) | A11 Bionic | A11 Bionic | A11 Bionic | Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz and 1.7GHz, octa-core) | Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz and 1.7GHz, octa-core) | Kirin 970 (2.36 GHz and 1.8 GHz, octa-core) | Snapdragon 835 (2.35GHz and 1.9GHz, octa-core) | Snapdragon 835 (2.35GHz and 1.9GHz, octa-core) |
RAM | 6GB, 8GB | 4GB | 6GB | 3GB | 2GB | 3GB | 4GB | 6GB | 6GB | 4GB | 4GB |
Storage | 128GB, 512GB | 64GB | 64GB | 64GB, 256GB | 64GB, 256GB | 64GB, 256GB | 64GB | 64GB, 128GB | 128GB | 64GB, 128GB | 64GB, 128GB |
Rear camera | 12 megapixel, 12 megapixel (wide) | 12 megapixel | 12 megapixel, 12 megapixel (wide) | 12 megapixel, 12 megapixel (wide) | 12 megapixel | 12 megapixel, 12 megapixel (wide) | 16 megapixel, 16 megapixel (wide) | 12 megapixel (wide), 16 megapixel (telephoto) | 40 megapixel, 20 megapixel (monochrome), 8 megapixel (telephoto) | 12.2 megapixel | 12.2 megapixel |
Front camera | 8 megapixel | 8 megapixel | 8 megapixel | 7 megapixel | 7 megapixel | 7 megapixel | 8 megapixel | 8 megapixel, 8 megapixel | 24 megapixel | 8 megapixel | 8 megapixel |
Battery | 4000mAh | 3000mAh | 3500mAh | 2716mAh | 1821mAh | 2675mAh | 3000mAh | 3420mAh | 4000mAh | 3520mAh | 2700mAh |
Water protection | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP68 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 |
Wireless charging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Ports | USB-C, headphone jack | USB-C, headphone jack | USB-C, headphone jack | Lighting port | Lighting port | Lighting port | USB-C, headphone jack | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Weight | 0.44 pounds | 0.36 pounds | 0.42 pounds | 0.38 pounds | 0.33 pounds | 0.45 pounds | 0.36 pounds | 0.41 pounds | 0.40 pounds | 0.39 pounds | 0.32 pounds |
Dimensions (in.) | 6.37 x 3.01 x 0.35 | 5.81 x 2.70 x 0.33 | 6.22 x 2.91 x 0.33 | 5.65 x 2.79 x 0.30 | 5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 | 6.24 x 3.07 x 0.30 | 6.03 x 2.83 x 2.83 | 6.17 x 2.91 x 0.38 | 6.10 x 2.91 x 0.31 | 6.20 x 3.00 x 0.30 | 5.70 x 2.70 x 0.30 |
Starting price | $999.99 | $719.99 | $839.99 | $999.00 | $699.00 | $799.00 | $750.00 | $799.99 | €899 (not available in the US) | $849.00 | $649.00 |
Misc. | Bluetooth S Pen, iris scanner, mechanically adjustable aperture | Iris scanner, mechanically adjustable aperture | Iris scanner, mechanically adjustable aperture | Face ID scanner, runs iOS | Runs iOS | Runs iOS | Quad DAC for Hi-Fi audio, ThinQ AI | Squeezable side function | Triple camera system | Squeezable sides | Squeezable sides |