The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 enjoyed the limelight with its groundbreaking features like the iris scanner, facial recognition technology and Infinite Display. However, its position in the market was threatened by the unveiling of the iPhone X last week, boasting a wide range of premium features that are not present in any other modern smartphone. Is the iPhone X powerful enough to take down Samsung's top-end phablet?
As noted by PC Mag, the Cupertino-based tech giant has finally gone with the trend of introducing an almost-bezel-less display for their latest iPhone. It is also worth mentioning that Apple made use of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for the first time in the series.
The iPhone X has a screen-to-screen front appearance to optimize users' visual experience. However, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, being a tablet–handset crossover, still boasts a wider OLED display. The phablet is 6.3 inches, with a 2960 x 1440-pixel maximum resolution. All in all, this OLED screen setup, tagged as WQHD+, has 570 pixels per inch (ppi) distribution.
On the other hand, the OLED-powered iPhone X is 5.8 inches, with maximum 2436 x 1125-pixel resolution. This screen setup, called by Apple as Super Retina HD, has a total pixel distribution of 458 ppi.
Between the two handsets, the Galaxy Note 8 stands out with its impressive OLED display.
Samsung may have the advantage, as the South Korean tech giant is the source of the latest iPhone's OLED screens. However, Apple employed some tweaks to make the iPhone X's display stand out, that is by introducing a wider range of colors with 26 percent more color options than the previous True Tone display.
Another unique plus for the iPhone X's display is 3D Touch support, allowing users to perform different actions depending on the amount of force applied on the screen.
As for the biometric features of the two high-end devices, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 offers more options to identify the user. According to CNBC, the Samsung phablet makes use of fingerprint and iris scanning technologies. The iPhone X loses the Touch ID feature for fingerprint detection but it was replaced by something much better via Face ID. Comparing the facial scanners of the handsets, the iPhone X is proven to be more secure as it identifies the facial features of the user via 3D mapping which would yield more accurate results compared to the Galaxy Note 8's 2D facial mapping.
To summarize, the iPhone X is truly an innovative smartphone, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 still packs a punch with its killer Infinite Display feature. The 10th-anniversary iPhone has set the bar high for other smartphone makers to strive harder, especially when it comes to more reliable biometric features.
At the end of the day, the buyers have their own preferences in choosing what is best for them.
