Can Samsung’s next phone beat the iPhone X?

SAMSUNG is Apple's biggest rival, but can the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone really beat the iPhone X? Here's what to expect.

We're now just weeks away from the possible launch of Samsung's next flagship smartphone – the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Samsung Galaxy S9 release date – when can you get it?

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is a long-rumoured successor to last year's hugely popular Galaxy S8. It's a flagship phone that's expected to arrive in early 2018, boasting blisteringly fast hardware.

Samsung is a creature of habit, so it's usually easy enough to guess when the phone will debut.

With the Galaxy S series of phones, Samsung typically takes advantage of Barcelona's annual Mobile World Congress conference – usually launching the phone a day or two before.

This year, MWC 2018 runs from February 26 and March 1, so the most likely Samsung Galaxy S8 reveal date would be Sunday, February 25.

The phone probably won't be available in stores immediately, however. Last year's Galaxy S8 didn't go on sale until three weeks after launch.

Samsung Galaxy S9 news and rumours – specs, features and design

Samsung's Galaxy S9 is going to be a top-tier phone, which means it generally features a slick design and bleeding-edge features.

For design, we're expecting to see similar styling to last year's Galaxy S8. That means an all-screen front with an even slimmer bezel – Samsung calls it the 'Infinity Display'.

Rumours from industry sources suggest that the same 5.8-inch Super AMOLED screen will be retained too, with its quirky 18.5:9 aspect ratio to boot.

The end result could be a slim, space-age phone with an incredible 90% screen-to-body ratio – up from 84% on the Galaxy S8.


Here's what we think we know so far...

- It will probably launch in February or March
- We expect a 5.8-inch screen and slim-bezel design
- It's probably powered by Qualcomm's hyper-fast Snapdragon 845 chip
- The fingerprint scanner could be embedded under the screen
- A new camera could shoot super slow-motion video
- It's probably going to cost between £649 and £699

Some experts believe that Samsung could use new technology from Qualcomm or Synaptics to place a fingerprint scanner underneath the screen.

This could satisfy fans who slammed Samsung's decision to move the sensor to the back of the phone with the last model.

The awkward positioning meant users often found themselves smudging the camera with their fingers.

The camera is also tipped for a major upgrade, with Korea's ET News reporting that Samsung is working on incredible slow-motion video capture.

Apparently, the South Korean tech giant is developing a camera that can shoot video at 1,000 frames per second, which would trump the competition.

For comparison, Apple's new iPhone X only shoots slow-mo video at 240 frames per second.

Performance is probably going to be great too. The phone is likely to use Samsung's own Exynos 9810 processor, or Qualcomm's similarly powerful Snapdragon 845 – also built by Samsung.

The Snapdragon 845 is an octa-core chip running at 2.8GHz, and is said to offer a 30% performance boost over its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs iPhone X – who will win?

We asked Dominic Sunnebo, mobile expert and Global Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, who will win in the battle of the titans: Galaxy S9 or iPhone X.

According to Sunnebo, the iPhone X was "playing catch up" to last year's Galaxy S8, but Samsung needs to stay ahead on the tech front to compete with Apple's powerful brand.

He said: "It's almost certain that the Galaxy S9 will feature a dual-lens camera, as well as the latest in-house Exynos processor to mirror the new Qualcomm 845's capabilities, which allows 50% battery charging in just 15 minutes."

Samsung Galaxy S9 price – how much will it cost you?

We won't know official pricing for a while, but it's fair to say that the Samsung Galaxy S9 will probably be very expensive.

Last year's Galaxy S8 started at a very lofty £689, which was a big leap upwards from the £569 price tag of the Galaxy S7.

However, Samsung's pricing is more in line with rivals – the iPhone 8 costs £699. But the high-end iPhone X is still far ahead at £999 for the base model.

Speaking to The Sun, expert Dominic Sunnebo revealed he expects even higher pricing: "The Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung's most premium offering to date, and is available in the UK at £869."

"The Galaxy S series releases typically come in just under the Note pricing level, so we should expect a launch price of around £829," he added.

Samsung hasn't officially confirmed Galaxy S9 details just yet however, so it's worth taking all leaks and rumours with a pinch of salt for now.