Comparing Samsung’s Galaxy S8 With Apple’s iPhone 7

The market for high-end devices, which has been dominated by Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus over the past several months, has a new high-end competitor that is attracting a lot of attention. Samsung on March 29 unveiled the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, handsets that come with a high-end processor, big screens and a virtual personal assistant in Bixby that could give smartphone buyers a new reason to go with Samsung’s Android handset as an alternative to entrenched Apple Siri.  While the Galaxy S8 is an appealing handset, it’ll be facing off with a deep-rooted and powerful competitor in the iPhone 7. Cutting into Apple’s market dominance won’t be easy. This slide show will compare the Galaxy S8 models and Apple’s iPhone 7 to see how they measure up to each other. Read on for more.

Apple and Samsung have different smartphone designs. Apple’s iPhone 7 has a big screen and bezel all around its display, as well as a physical home button. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has a curved screen and thin bezels that favored a virtual home button. Apple may have a similar design planned for the iPhone 8.

On screen size, Samsung wins out—for those who want big displays. The iPhone 7 features a 4.7-inch screen and the iPhone 7 Plus offers a 5.5-inch display. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch screen and the Galaxy S8+’s screen is a whopping 6.2 inches.

Apple’s iPhone 7 was the most powerful smartphone available, but has been supplanted by the Galaxy S8, according to recent benchmark testing. Samsung uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, which has been called the most powerful in the world, while the iPhone 7 runs Apple’s A10 chip.

The software experience of the devices is a big differentiator. Samsung Galaxy S8 runs on Android Nougat and uses a Samsung skin to deliver additional apps. Apple iPhone 7 runs on iOS 10. While both have their virtues, users will need to pick which operating system best fits their needs.

Samsung upped the ante with Bixby, its virtual personal assistant that can make shopping recommendations, offer on-the-fly language translation and deliver location-based contextual information. Apple’s Siri, meanwhile, can search the web and integrates with third-party apps.

Apple and Samsung again have diverged with their cameras. The iPhone 7 Plus has a dual-lens design, allowing users to instantly zoom in on the image and create different effects in the picture. The Galaxy S8 camera is a dual-pixel design, which Samsung says delivers appealing focus effects.

Apple’s iPhone 7’s key security feature is Touch ID, a fingerprint sensor that can unlock the handset and verify purchases through mobile payment platform Apple Pay. The Galaxy S8 comes with a fingerprint sensor, as well as iris scanning and facial recognition. But beware that a picture of the owner can fool the facial-recognition scanner, making it easy to hack.

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 comes with a 3,000mAh battery and the Galaxy S8+ delivers a 3,500mAh battery. The Galaxy S8 can last more than 33 hours on a single charge, while the Galaxy S8+ can deliver about 40 hours. In comparison, Apple promises 14 hours and 21 hours of talk time on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, respectively.

Both Apple and Samsung bundle their software in their respective handsets. Apple offers Apple Music, the App Store, Apple Maps and iMessage. Samsung offers Bixby, Samsung Connect, Samsung Pay and others. Interestingly, Samsung has a deal with Microsoft to bundle certain apps, including Office, with the Galaxy S8.

Neither the Galaxy S8 models nor the iPhone 7 handsets are cheap. Off-contract pricing on the Galaxy S8 starts at $720 on Verizon’s network and $750 everywhere else. The Galaxy S8+ costs $840 at Verizon and $850 elsewhere. The iPhone 7 starts at $649 unlocked and the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769 unlocked. Apple’s iPhone 7 is available now, and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is slated to launch April 21.