Home Local Brands Comparisons Samsung Galaxy S9 vs Google Pixel 2 – Comparison Review

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs Google Pixel 2 – Comparison Review

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The two biggest rivals in the smartphone industry are yet again to battle. Google Pixel 2 came out late last year and the 9th generation Samsung’s Galaxy S debuted early this month. Now, the question here is, which of these two Android flagships is right for you?

Design

The similarity between last year’s Galaxy S8 and this year’s Galaxy S9 are very visible. But, Samsung finally changes the placement of its fingerprint scanner right below the 12mp rear camera on the S9. Meanwhile, Pixel 2 kept its predecessor’ fingerprint scanner location on the back of its phone.

When it comes to their outer shell, S9 has a glass-on-glass with metal frames finish that gives a more premium look while Pixel 2 has a matte coating for gripper handle, which is kind of weird at first, but surprisingly really nice once you get used to.

Both offers a variety of colors you can choose from. S9 has Lilac, Midnight Black, Titanium Silver, and Coral Blue. Pixel 2 carry Just Black, Clearly White, Kinda Blue, and Black & White.

Display

In front, these two has the always on display mode, Corning gorilla glass 5 and AMOLED display, showcasing very sharp and vibrant colors. Though, that’s where the similarities end. The S9 is looking much dashing compared to Pixel 2, thanks to its infinity display.

With a whopping 5.8 inches, 86% screen to body ratio. It’s almost bezel-less opposed to 5 inch-OLED display, 67.9% screen to body ratio of the Pixel 2 which is pretty much an outdated looking android phone for me. But it’s still a matter of personal preferences. If you favor a smaller handset, then go for the Pixel 2!

Also, these two rivals are water-resistant. With the S9’s slightly upscale resistance rating of IP68 than the Pixel 2’s IP67.

Audio

Now, if you’re the headphone jack aficionado. Samsung Galaxy S9 would really work best for you. Samsung is still hanging onto a jack for the S9. In which, Google Pixel 2 definitely misses out on.

The two have a stereo speaker configuration. Even so, S9 is powered by AKG and partnered with Dolby Atmos codec which they claim to translates into richer, louder sound than the previous S8. On the other side, Pixel 2 has a front-facing stereo that explains the thick upper and lower screen bezels.

Chipset/Processor/Rom

The Google Pixel 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB RAM. The S9 has the newer Snapdragon 845 processor and 4GB RAM which makes the Samsung Galaxy S9 the fastest Android phone on the market.

Both the Pixel 2 and S9 runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. Using the following benchmarking tools, we received these results in the process:

Device Antutu Geekbench (single) Geekbench ( multi)
Samsung Galaxy S9 239717 3709 8814
Google Pixel 2 170241 1915 6862

If you’re wondering why the Pixel 2 actually aced the onscreen stats here, It’s because the Pixel 2 has a lower resolution screen which is, 441ppi than the S9’s 570ppi. To put it simply, the Pixel 2 is much slower.

Battery

When it comes to battery life, S9 got the upper-hand of 3,000mAh battery Pixel 2’s 2,700mAh. Take note that Pixel 2 doesn’t support wireless charging, unlike the S9.

Camera

These two really raised the bar high for the best smartphone camera you can get. Both run 12-megapixel rear camera. S9 has dual lens. A wide angle and 1 telephoto lens for better zoom and DSLR- style portraits. Take note that s9 has 1.5 aperture the lowest ever on a smartphone. Which can improve your low-light shots. On the other hand, Google Pixel 2 has gone for a single main camera. This might sound not as fancy as a dual-lens camera, but in fact, the main camera shoots gold images especially in low-light conditions.

Both are looking crisp but the Samsung S9 gives a more vibrant tone on this one.

S9 also has a live focus mode to give a creamy bokeh effect that is lacking on the Pixel 2.

Google’s HDR processing may be getting a little out of hand here although it delivers a sharper result than the S9. But I’ll give my nod to the Samsung galaxy s9 on this part because of its warmer and natural-looking shot.

Notice that the Pixel 2 renders sharper and clearer cloud formation and giving as a cooler tone in comparison to the warmer tone on the S9.

For the selfies, the S9 is presenting a warmer, slightly pinkish tone while the Pixel 2 is kicking it off with a crispy look.

Results are the same with these portrait shots.

In Low-light photography, the Pixel 2 is winning it. Presenting a clean-cut photo with just the right amount of contrast needed. While the S9’s delivering a cloudy result blowing out the highlights.

Again, In Low-light selfies, the Pixel 2 giving us a much competitive result than the S9, thanks to its better contrast and the knack of keeping the highlights under control.

On the Night Photography angle, the Pixel 2 is retaining the clear and sharp impression but with the presence of noise and grain. In contrary, the Galaxy S9 lay down photos without noise and grain but failed to deliver a cut-edged result.

It’s difficult to pick a winner between on daytime video recording because both are flaunting the same brightness and dynamic range. Nigh time videos from these two opponents render noise and grain output. Both can shoot videos at 1080p with different framerates, 240 frames per second on the S9 and 120fps on the Pixel 2.

Price

To wrap it up, these two smartphones are available in local and online stores with Google Pixel 2 at PhP43,990 while the Samsung Galaxy S9 at PhP45,990. And the best among the two? That is really up to you because it all goes down to your own personal preferences. So let us know what you think by leaving a message in the comment section below.

 

 

Review by: RA

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