Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs Note 8
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9810) that was released on August 9, 2018, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which is powered by Exynos 9 Octa 8895 and came out 12 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- Shows 31% longer battery life (28:11 vs 21:29 hours)
- Comes with 700 mAh larger battery capacity: 4000 vs 3300 mAh
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- 25% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (372K versus 297K)
- Stereo speakers
- Delivers 23% higher peak brightness (656 against 533 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 10 versus 9
- The phone is 1-year newer
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2960 pixels | 1440 x 2960 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18.5:9 | 18.5:9 |
| PPI | 514 ppi | 522 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 520 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.32% | 83.14% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 144.6% | - |
| PWM | 227 Hz | 257 Hz |
| Response time | 8 ms | 4.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) | 162.5 mm (6.4 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, rear |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 8895 |
| Max. clock | 2700 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 |
- 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Exynos M2 |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 10 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G72MP18 | Mali-G71 MP20 |
| GPU clock | 572 MHz | 546 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~658 GFLOPS | ~349 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 105536 | 82412 |
| GPU | 129628 | 103071 |
| Memory | 61034 | 45749 |
| UX | 78954 | 66915 |
| Total score | 372001 | 297931 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 95% | - |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 2333 | - |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 6194 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 1794 MHz | 1794 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max. size | Up to 512 GB | Up to 256 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 8.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) | Android 7.1.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 9.0) |
| ROM | One UI 2.5 | One UI |
| OS size | 19 GB | 13 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 3300 mAh |
| Charge power | 15 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) | Yes, Qi/PMA (10 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 35 min) | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (42% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:40 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:22 hr | 06:42 hr |
| Watching video | 12:59 hr | 10:42 hr |
| Gaming | 04:53 hr | 04:24 hr |
| Standby | 93 hr | 68 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Lenses | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.5 - 2.4 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4" (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 25 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 1440p at 30 FPS | 1440p at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 16 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2018 | August 2017 |
| Release date | August 2018 | September 2017 |
| SAR (head) | 0.381 W/kg | 0.173 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.509 W/kg | 1.29 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 220