Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs. Apple iPhone X: Big-Ticket Phones Do Battle

Two major electronics manufacturers. Two $1,000 smartphones. Which is mightier, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or the Apple iPhone X?


Samsung just revealed its newest phablet, the Galaxy Note 9. This extra-beefy phone looks like a beast, with a big battery, big screen, and big specs. It stands up against the iPhone X, Apple's current smartphone behemoth. Let's see how they compare.

Name Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Apple iPhone X
Lowest Price
Editors' Rating  
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Apple A11
Dimensions 6.38 by 3.01 by 0.35 inches 5.65 by 2.79 by 0.3 inches
Weight 7.09 oz 6.14 oz
Screen Size 6.4 inches 5.8 inches
Screen Type Super AMOLED Super Retina HD
Screen Resolution 2,960 by 1,440 pixels 2,436 by 1,125 pixels
Screen Pixels Per Inch 516 ppi 458 ppi
Camera Resolution Dual 12MP rear/8MP front-facing Dual 12MP Rear/7MP front-facing
Video Camera Resolution 4K 4K, 1080p
Total Integrated Storage 128 GB 64 GB
microSD Slot Yes No
  Read the Review Read the Review

SEE ALSO: Honor 20 Pro


This is the easiest tie. It's also the hardest sell. At $1,000 each, the Galaxy Note 9 and the iPhone X are the most expensive smartphones you can buy (that aren't obscure, limited-edition models or purpose-specific military or scientific equipment). A few years ago, flagship phones hovered around $600 to $700, but Apple and Samsung blew the roof off of that soft cap with bigger price tags for their marquee phones.


These are both pretty big phones, but the iPhone X is downright svelte compared with the Galaxy Note 9 (which needs a bit of extra room to hold the included S Pen stylus). The iPhone X measures 5.65 by 2.79 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.14 ounces, while the Galaxy Note 9 is much longer and a bit wider (6.38 by 3.01 by 0.35 inches) and heavier by almost a full ounce (7.09 ounces).


Notch-haters rejoice, the Note 9 doesn't have one (though the iPhone X does, of course). The Note 9's screen is also significantly bigger than the iPhone X's (6.4 to 5.8 inches), with a higher resolution (2,960 by 1,440 vs. 2,436 by 1,125). As mentioned before, the Note 9 includes the S Pen stylus, so you can write and draw more precisely on the bigger screen compared with using your finger on the iPhone X.


The iPhone X has Apple's most powerful smartphone processor, the A11 chip. Rather than using a Samsung CPU, the Galaxy Note 9 is packed with Qualcomm's current flagship mobile processor, the Snapdragon 845. We haven't given the Note 9 its full battery of benchmarks yet, but we have tested the Galaxy S9+, which has the same general hardware specs as the Note 9. In our tests, the Galaxy S9+ runs neck-and-neck with the iPhone X in Antutu, while Geekbench performance numbers put the A11 ahead.


Apple and Samsung's flagship smartphones have consistently featured some of the best cameras we've seen. Both the iPhone X and the Galaxy Note 9 boast dual-lens cameras, combining wide-angle and zoom lenses to take crisp shots at different distances. The two cameras also feature dual aperture modes, with the wide-angle lens able to open up to capture more light in dark settings. Both phones' cameras are 12MP for each lens, and generally appear very similar with a small advantage for the Note 9: Its wide-angle lens can open up to f/1.5, brighter than the iPhone X's f/1.8 wide-angle lens.


The iPhone X disappointed us with its 2,716mAh battery, which lasted just shorter than five hours in our testing. The Galaxy Note 9 has a much bigger 4,000mAh battery, which will hopefully mean it can last longer even with the larger, higher-resolution screen. Of course, we won't know until we test it in the lab. The Galaxy S9+ has a smaller 3,500mAh battery, but it lasted longer than 10 hours in our tests.


No contest here. The Galaxy Note 9 doesn't just have a microSD card slot so you can easily expand storage on the fly, it also boasts double the internal storage of the iPhone X. The two tiers of Note 9 offer 128GB and 512GB, while the iPhone X is only offered in 64GB and 256GB versions.

The Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is certainly bigger than the iPhone X, and on paper it boasts a better screen and higher-capacity battery. These are just based on technical specs, however; we won't be able to fully judge the Note 9 until we're done putting it through its paces in the lab. Keep an eye on for our full review.