Samsung has finally launched this year’s flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in India. The Galaxy S8 comes with price tag of Rs 57,900, while Galaxy S8+ is priced at Rs 64,900.With this, the fight to be the best in the premium segment is on. On one hand, both the devices are equipped with some top-of-the-line specs and features, not to forget Bixby and a Dex station, which makes it a wannabe. But, on the other hand, the competition is pretty strong out here.
We have many smartphones including Apple iPhones, Motorola, LG and OnePlus, which have some tough contenders in its arsenal and most of them have tested on different parameters and have proved their mettle in almost all the departments. So, will the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be able to outlast the competitors to regain the top position in this segment? In order to give you a fair idea, we pit both the devices against the competition. So, without further ado, here are the top 5 competitors of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ available in India right now.
Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
It is well-known fact that Samsung and Apple are sworn enemies when it comes to the smartphone industry. We have seen the bitter fight between the two tech titans in the past and same would reflect with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. As of know the biggest competition Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will face is from Apple’s flagship devices. The Cupertino-based giant has recently released a new red colour variant for both the devices, making it tough for Samsung to surpass the iPhones demands in India.
The competition goes neck-on-neck when it comes to sheer specifications. The iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch touchscreen while the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display with 1334×750 pixels and 1920×1080 pixel resolution. Both are LED backlit IPS screens and have 625 cd/M2 max brightness. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ sports a 5.8-inch Quad HD (2960 x 1440 pixels) Infinity display which is curved on both sides while the Galaxy S8+ comes with a 6.2-inch Quad-HD display.
Apple devices offer A10Fusion CPU, which is claimed to be the best ever CPU to feature in a smartphone. Built on the 64-bit architecture, the CPU comes with four cores, two for conserving battery power and two for high performance. They have a separate motion co-processor while Apple says that their graphics processor is 50 percent Exynos 8895 Chipset which is an Octa-Core processor clocked at 2.3 GHz. This is because Samsung sells the Qualcomm variant of its flagship in select regions only. Apart from this, the device packs 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 256GB via microSD card. faster than that of previous A9 SoC.
On the camera front, the iPhone 7 Plus has a dual camera set up. The iPhone 7 Plus has a primary 12-megapixel camera as the iPhone 7. But the bigger iPhone has a secondary camera, which is dubbed as ‘telephoto’ camera. The secondary camera in the iPhone 7 Plus is meant to create depth effect in images and helps users to get 2x zoom without any assistance from software. Post 2x, the camera takes help of software as is usually happens in smartphones.
The primary 12-megapixel camera of both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have a f/1.8 aperture, Optical Image Stabilisation, six element lens, Live Photo feature with stabilisation, Sapphire crystal lens cover, Backside illumination sensor, Hybrid IR filter, Auto HDR, Burst mode, timer mode, panorama and geo tagging features. There is Quad LED True tone flashlight on the back panel of both the phones. The 12-megapixel cameras can record 4K videos, slow motion full HD videos at 120 FPS and HD videos at 240 fps.
Both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have a 7-megapixel front camera with f/2.2 aperture. Called as FaceTime HD camera, these can record full HD videos, and have BSI sensor, Auto HDR, Auto Image Stabilisation, Burst mode and Timer mode.
Talking about the camera in Samsung flagships, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are equipped with a 12-megapixel rear camera with Dual Pixel technology and Aperture f/1.7 and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with smart Autofocus and aperture f/1.7.MP F1.7 Smart autofocus front camera. Apple has the advantage of dual-camera setup in the Plus variant, while Samsung still relies on the tested camera found in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.
The LTE-enabled iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have WiFi (ac), WiFi with MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with GLONASS and NFC. They have fingerprint sensor that is integrated into the home button. Moreover, the iPhones 7 and 7 Plus comes with revamped Siri that allows users sending messages, set reminders and do more through voice. Samsung has introduced Bixby, which Samsung’s answer to Siri and it would be interesting to see how well does it perform.
Google Pixel and Pixel XL
Another important competitor of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are the ones from Google. The Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL have an EDGE when it comes to timely updates and not to forget that the camera on the Pixel device has received a rating of 89 from DXO Mark which is highest on any smartphone, which makes it tough competitors of the both Samsung devices.
The Google Pixel smartphone comes in 32GB variant priced at Rs 57,000, while the 128GB Pixel variant is priced at Rs 66,000. On the other hand, the Google Pixel XL 32GB variant will be available at Rs 67,000 and 128GB variant will cost Rs 76,000. For photography, both the devices come with 12.3 MP rear facing the camera with 1.55-micron pixels size and f/2.0 aperture. Google boasted quite a few features in the device and one of them was the camera. The rear facing shooter also comes with features like HDR+ and improved stabilisation. Of course, the Pixel device runs on Android 7.1 Nougat and has the famous Pixel launcher that has round icons.
Briefing about the specifications, the Pixel comes with an aluminium unibody and a glass plate (Corning Gorilla Glass 4) at the back. Up front. The Pixel sports a 5-inch 1080p display and has high-definition AMOLED Display panel. On the inside, there is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset with 2 cores clocked at 2.15GHz and 2 cores clocked at 1.6GHz. The device has a 4GB LPDDR4 RAM. Regarding the battery, it is 2770 mAh on Pixel smartphone. The device also houses a Pixel imprint fingerprint sensor at the back which is surrounded by a glass plate. And yes, it has a 3.5mm Headphone jack in addition to USB Type-C with Quick Charge support. Though it runs a dated processor, but still both the devices from Google will give a fierce competition to the Samsung flagships.
OnePlus 3T
OnePlus 3T has proved its mettle when it comes to proving its worth in the mid-premium segment and that is the main reason, it will give a tough competition to the Samsung flagship devices. The smartphone still carries one of the best specs available in the market coupled with a premium design. The smartphone has more ticks than crosses in most of the departments and can be considered as one of the value for money device at Rs 29,999.
Looking at the sheer specs sheet, the OnePlus 3T boasts a features a 5.5 inches Full HD Optic-AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset clocked at 2.35GHz, along with Adreno 530 GPU. Both the 64GB and 128 GB variants have 6GB RAM. The device runs on Oxygen OS based on Android Marshmallow, which is upgradable to Android Nougat.
On the camera front, the OnePlus 3T sports the 16-megapixel sensor on its back as well as on its front panel. The OnePlus 3T also comes with a fingerprint scanner and Type C port as well. The smartphone is backed up by a 3400 mAh non-removable battery with Dash Charge support. On the connectivity front, the smartphone offers Dual SM, 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, and GPS/Glonass. The handset measures 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm and weighs 158 grams. Though both the Samsung devices sports a higher display, more compact design and latest specs, but OnePlus 3T has more RAM, better battery and almost similar storage option, making it a tough competitor indeed.
Motorola Moto Z
Motorola Moto Z is all together in a different league as it has given a new twist to the modular aspect. It has 16 pins on its back panel using which you can attach three types of modules – a JBL module for better sound output, a battery module or a projector called as Moto Instant-Share Projecto. There are also Style Shells made of premium materials like real wood and leather, or a patterned fabric. The smartphone still boasts some interesting specifications as well, which makes it a good alternative of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.
The Moto Z is made of military aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless steel. This 5.2 mm thin has a 5.5-inch screen that has Quad HD (2560×1440 pixels) resolution. It is powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor and 4 GB RAM. A 2600 mAh battery and a 13-megapixel rear camera that has an F1.8 aperture, optical image stabilisation and laser auto focus.
The phone has been launched in 32 GB and 64 GB internal storage versions and it also offers a 2 TB micro SD card slot. The Moto Z has a water-repelling coating. Besides, it has NFC and fingerprint sensor. A 5-megapixel camera is in its front with wide angle lens. A flashlight is also in the front for low-light selfies. The Moto Z also comes with Turbo Power technology that claims to offer 8 hours of back up in just 15 minutes of charging and overall 30 hours of battery backup with a full charge.
LG G6
LG G6 is again a major competitor to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, though it is not launched in India, but we might expect its launch pretty soon. The latest flagship device from LG comes with minimal bezels and a flat display. The LG G6 comes with a screen size of 5.7-inch Quad HD+ FullVision display which gives a screen aspect ratio of 18:9 along with a screen Resolution of 2880 x 1440 pixels. The company justified the unusual aspect ratio by adding that G6 comes with a zoom functionality that helps view traditional 16:9 ration content on the smartphone. Not only this, taking the advantage of this unusual aspect ratio, LG G6 comes with Dolby Vision and HDR 10 technology, which you normally find on a television. This would be interesting as both the devices sport Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display, with almost similar aspect ratio.
The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor along with 4GB of RAM and two storage variants of 32GB and 64GB which can be further expanded up to 2TB via MicroSD card. The device comes loaded with a dual-camera setup at the back which consists of a 13-megapixel wide angle lens with aperture f/2.4 and 125-degree view and a 13-megapixel standard camera with f/1.8 and standard optical Image stabilisation (OIS). For the front, there is a 5-megapixel camera with a wide viewing angle of 100 degrees and an aperture of f/2.2. The smartphone runs on latest LG UX 6.0 which provides various modes for shooting which include a snapshot, match shot, guide shot, grid shot and 360-degree panorama.The smartphone runs on latest Android 7.0 Nougat.
Coming to the battery department, LG has taken a leaf from Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco and has made sure that its battery is safe. For this, the company has installed heat pipes, which is made from the thermal conductor for transferring heat away from the processor. The company also added that they have kept some space between the LCD driver and battery and has added some air gap, which will give some breathing space for the battery, hence making it less prone to exploding. The company has added a 3300mAh of removable battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 for fast charging.
The smartphone is durable as it comes with IP68 water and dust resistance that makes it safe to be immersed in up to 1.5 meters of water for as long as 30 minutes and is also equipped with Hi-Fi Quad DAC for some exceptional music listening experience. The smartphone measures 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm and weighs 163 grams. On the connectivity front, the device support, Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, Bluetooth 4.2 BLE, NFC, and USB Type-C 2.0.