Huawei declares of having an intelligent handset with an amazing camera quality, on the other hand, Samsung claims amazing performance plus having a revolutionary camera that adapts like the human eye, thus camera reimagine. Which smartphone with the photo quality and performance is for you?
| SPECS | Huawei Mate 10 | Samsung Galaxy S9 |
| Display | 5.9″ 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED (~499 ppi) | 5.8-inch QHD+ 18.5:9 Super AMOLED display, 568ppi |
| Dimensions & Features | 150.5 x 77.8 x 8.2 mm | 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5mm |
| Chip-set | Hisilicon Kirin 970 | Exynos 9810 Octa-core |
| CPU | Octa-core | Octa-core |
| GPU | Mali-G72 MP12 | Mali-G72-MP18 GPU |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM, 64 GB microSD, up to 256 GB hybrid sim tray | 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB UFS 2.1 internal storage |
| Connectivity | LTE, 802.11n, BT 4.2, GPS, 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector | LTE, 802.11n, BT 5.0, GPS, 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, 3.5mm audio jack |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh | Non-removable 3000mAh Li-Po battery |
| Price | PhP 32,990 | PhP 45,990 |
Both smartphones sport an all-screen display with the Mate 10 having a slightly wider and bolder build than the Galaxy S9. Also, the Mate 10 is heavier than the S9. Considering the large display of the Mate 10, it still has room for a capacitive home button on its chin which also serves as the fingerprint scanner and navigation keys through different series of taps.
Both phones also have a front and glass back cover with an aluminum frame both scratch proof although Mate 10 not being water resistant like the Galaxy S9, it’s still splash proof for that matter.
The fingerprint scanner on the S9 is located on the back portion of the phone. Fortunately, Samsung placed the fingerprint scanner below the cameras, and not beside it. Because that’s what they did to the past Galaxy phones. Both also have a type-c charging port, also the Mate 10 does not support wireless charging, unlike the Galaxy S9.
Although the Mate 10 is not on a Super AMOLED display like the S9, its 5.9” IPS LCD with a 1440 x 2560 p resolution is pretty decent. While the S9 has 5.8-inch QHD+ 18.5:9 Super AMOLED display. Cooler tones lean on to the Mate 10 while the S9 has a warmer feel to it, differences are apparent on videos and playing video games.
The Mate 10 packs a 12 MP dual-rear camera collaborated with Leica while the S9 packs a 12MP rear camera with OIS and 2x optical zoom.
Both photos look identical. If you look closely, color is the first noticeable difference on rear camera shots with the S9 leaning to a more cooler tone than the warmer tone of the Mate 10, sharpness in details are also seemingly at par which is hard to differentiate even on a closer inspection. Take a look for yourselves.
The Portrait mode on both phones looks amazing, not looking artificial at all. Though the Mate 10’s photo looks like it has been post-processed already, since the contrast seems a bit too high. The S9 shot, on the other hand, looks more faded and natural.
The night-lit assisted shot of both phones looks exactly alike. But if you look at the photos a little bit longer, you can see that the Mate 10’s shot looks a bit brighter.
Same as the previous shots, both photos look identical. But the Mate 10 shot looks a tiny bit brighter than the latter.
Both night shots look great, though a bit grainy of course. The S9 shot leans to a more cooler tone while the Mate 10 to a more warmer one. It’s really up for you to decide which you like most.
Selfies are almost incomparable on detail clarity but definitely differs in color with the S9 having a more realistic approach than the Mate 10. Making the color stay natural from face to neck.
Both also feature portrait mode on selfies, and good thing that both have natural looking result, not artificial looking bokeh effect shots. The Mate 10 makes the subject’s face brighter than the latter.
Even in low-li selfies, the brighter shot is the Mate 10’s while the more natural looking selfie is the S9’s. Take a look and judge for yourselves.
| Phone | Rear Camera | Front Camera | |
| Mate 10 | Dual: 12 MP (f/1.6, 27mm, OIS) +20 MP (f/1.6, 27mm), 2x lossless zoom, Leica optics, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flashVideo:
2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
8 MP, f/2.0 | |
| Galaxy S9 | 12MP f/1.5-f/2.4 dual pixel, OIS, 2x optical zoom, dual-tone, dual-LED flashVideo:
2160p@30fps video recording, Slow-mo 960fps @ 720p (0.2 secs) |
8 MP, f/1.7 |
Both phones can shoot 4K videos with 30 fps with decent stabilization and slight color differences.
The Mate 10 is powered by their latest in-house HiSilicon Kirin 970 with 4 GB of RAM while the S9 has an Exynos 9810 Octa-core with 4 GB of RAM. Both the Mate 10 and S9 runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. Using the following benchmarking tools, we received these results in the process:
| Device | AnTuTu | Geekbench (single-core) | Geekbench (multi-core) | – |
| Mate 10 | 178423 | 1902 | 6783 | – |
| Galaxy S9 | 239717 | 3709 | 8814 | – |
When it comes to gaming, the S9 has an overall smoother and consistent framerate than the Mate 10, but with still amazing performance. The Mate 10 heats up significantly faster than the latter. Colors are also noticeably different with the Mate 10 having a cooler bluish tint compared to the warmer on the S9 which are apparent not only in gaming.
Fingerprint scanners also work faster on the S9 compared to the Mate 10 which is delayed by a few milliseconds but both work instantaneously.
Through our ManilaShaker Battery Rating, we can confirm the following overall lifespan of both devices:
| Device | Battery | Battery Time | Charging-Time |
| Mate 10 | 4000 mAh | 42h 29m | (0-100) 1h 54m |
| Galaxy S9 | 3000 mAh | 38h 20m | (0-100) 1h 47m
(45m with Adaptive Fast Charger) |
Both features stereo speakers so both the S9 and the Mate 10 delivers loud audio. Though the S9 has a louder and clearer audio than the Mate 10 on our side. Hear for yourselves.
We also found this great looking case for the Samsung S9. Both smartphones are available in local and online stores with the Mate 10 retailing at $670 or ₱ 32,990 while the Galaxy S9 at ₱45,990 although prices will differ in countries after taxes. The Mate 10 or the S9? Which flagship spec is the phone of your choice? Comment down below what you think.
Watch the review here!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnY3ic_lmMo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
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