Apple launched its iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus smartphones on Tuesday just few hours after Samsung officially launched its Galaxy Note 8 smartphone in India. Considering this is the battle of the flagships, we thought you might like to see the comparison between the top-end smartphones from the leading smartphone-makers on the planet before you decide on your next handset.
While we are talking about the high-end price range for all the smartphones under consideration, let's see how the Indian pricing of these models stacks up against each other. The iPhone 8 price in India for the 64GB variant will be Rs. 64,000, while the 256GB model will cost Rs. 77,000. Similarly, the iPhone 8 Plus price in India has been set as Rs. 73,000 for the base 64GB storage variant, while the model with 256GB storage will set you back by Rs. 86,000. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has been priced by the South Korean company at Rs. 67,900 in India, with an additional Rs. 4,000 cashback for purchases made via HDFC Bank credit card.
While the iPhone 8 models will be launched in India on September 29, the customers who pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will receive the smartphone starting September 21.
First talking about the Apple handsets, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus retain the same form factor and design as last year's models but are being offered in new colour options - Silver, Space Gray, and Gold Finish. Apart from the new colour variants, the handsets are said to pack an improved display, 25 percent louder speakers, and come with glass front and back. Thanks to glass backs, both the new iPhone models support Qi wireless inductive charging, allowing people charge the iPhone without having to plug in a cable, as pointed out in the Cupertino-based company's keynote.
In terms of optics, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also claimed to come with improved cameras, and the company says that the photos now have better detail and texture as well. Notably, both iPhone 8 models are capable of capturing 4K videos at 60 frames per second. However, as it happened with last year models, the iPhone 8 comes with a single camera sensor at the back while the iPhone 8 Plus features dual rear cameras.
Coming to the latest flagship handset from Samsung, the Galaxy Note 8 comes with highlight features including a dual rear camera setup, S Pen stylus, Infinity Display, and IP68-certification for dust and water resistance. The near bezel-less display at front of the smartphone comes with taller-than-usual aspect ratio of 18.5:9 but the narrow frame makes the Galaxy Note 8 easy to hold despite its large display size.
Considering that the iPhone 8 models feature same design from last year's models, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 seems much more of a futuristic smartphone in terms of just design. However, as mentioned above, the new iPhone models carry some really useful nifty features as well.
While we might have to wait for the teardown of the iPhone models by iFixit to get to know the specific details in terms of specifications on the iPhone 8 models, there are some things that we already know. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus respectively pack 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina HD True Tone displays. Both the smartphones are powered by the company's new A11 Bionic SoC six-core processors and improved GPU, which has been claimed to be 30 percent more efficient than the GPUs in last year's models.
In camera department, the iPhone 8 comes with a 12-megapixel rear sensor while the iPhone 8 Plus packs two 12-megapixel sensors at the back. At front, both smartphones come with a 7-megapixel shooter to click selfies.
Moving to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, the dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) smartphone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box. It sports a 6.3-inch QHD+ (1440x2960 pixels) Super AMOLED display, and is powered by a Samsung Exynos octa-core SoC, coupled with 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM.
The Galaxy Note 8's dual rear camera setup has dual OIS, with one 12-megapixel wide-angle lens camera and another 12-megapixel sensor telephoto lens camera. It has an 8-megapixel autofocus camera, and was launched in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB inbuilt storage variants. Storage is expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB). It is powered by a 3300mAh battery.
As these smartphones run on different platforms, the hardware specifications might be the second most important thing behind the choice of platform. In Android smartphones, Galaxy Note 8 offers you one of the most complete and powerful package while the same thing can be said about the iPhone models in the case of iOS.
It might ultimately come down to the choice of platform but considering that iPhone models have carried the same design from last year, Samsung Galaxy Note 8's aesthetics might pull some of the loyalists towards the Android side. However, the optimisation offered by iOS puts forward an equally compelling argument in the favour of the iPhone models. Between the two iPhone models, you might want to consider the display size that suits you better and how important a dual camera setup is to you. Let us know in comments down below if you are more excited about the Galaxy Note 8 or the new iPhone 8 models.
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