Specs Comparison: Huawei Mate 10 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Comparing the Huawei Mate 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Which is the smartphone for you?

Huawei Mate 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8

This is a straight up specs comparison. This might not look fair considering the big disparity in price, but I just want to highlight what you can get relative to their prices. Again, this is not meant to show which is the better phone.

Let’s begin, shall we.

Display

The Mate 10 uses a 5.9-inch FullView IPS display with an aspect ratio of 16:9, topped with Gorilla Glass. The Note 8 has a bigger 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display, also protected with Gorilla Glass.

The latter has the bigger, sharper display, and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Samsung makes the best AMOLED displays, and the one on the Note 8 are great. It has the deepest blacks, as well as very saturated colors. It also boasts an edge-to-edge design.

Despite the former using an IPS display, I can confidently say that it’s one of the best at the moment. Sure, Samsung’s AMOLEDs run circles around it, but it’s still sharp and has great colors.

Processor, RAM, Internal Storage

Each phone is powered by their respective home grown SoC’s. The Mate 10 has an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The Note 8 has an octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895 processor with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

In AnTuTu Benchmark, both got remarkably high scores of over 174,000++ points. The phones are butter smooth (in case it wasn’t obvious), and can run all of the games in Google Play without any problems.

The Note 8 has a leg up in RAM with 6GB, allowing more apps in the background for better multitasking. But the Mate 10 has an ace up its sleeve — an AI-powered processor via a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU). It is designed to drastically reduce the phone’s performance degradation over time. It learns your behavior and adjusts resources according to how you use it.

Also Read: 

• Specs Comparison: Huawei Mate 10 and Samsung Galaxy S8
• Huawei Mate 10 Philippines Now Official: Price, Specs
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is Now Official; Philippine Pre-order Date, Specs, Price

Cameras

The Mate 10 boasts a Leica-branded dual 20MP + 20MP camera with f/1.6 lenses, OIS, 2x lossless zoom, PDAF, laser AF, and a dual LED flash. While the Galaxy Note 8 comes with a dual 12MP + 12MP camera, one with f/1.7 lens the other with f/2.4 lens, dual pixel AF, OIS, and dual LED flash.

Both cameras are considered among the best in mobile photography. They offer great image quality, and represent what’s to come in mobile photography. To compare using metrics, we once again turn to DXOMark for scores. The Mate 10 got a total of 97 points, with 100 for still photos and 91 for video. The Galaxy Note 8 got a total of 94 points, 100 for stills and 84 for video. Both achieved a perfect score in still photography. And despite the difference in video scores, I doubt most can tell which is the better of the two. Whatever the results though, you won’t go wrong with either.

If you want more in-depth details about the DXOMark scores, you can check here for the Mate 10, and here for the Note 8.

Battery

The Mate 10 comes with a 4,000 mAh battery, while the Note 8 packs 3,300 mAh. Both have fast charging. Huawei and Samsung has done well in optimizing their software for performance and battery efficiency. The phones can last a whole workday. The Mate 10 lasts a few hours more into the next day. With the Note 8, chances are you’ll be charging come nighttime.

OS, Other Specs

The Galaxy Note 8 runs on the newly minted Samsung Experience. It is without a doubt Samsung’s best iteration of their Android-based OS. The company has worked hard to make it what it is today, giving it a beautiful design, a well-thought menu structure, and a rich feature set. The only knock against it is that at the time of writing, it is still based on Android Nougat.

The Mate 10, on the other hand, runs on EMUI 8.0. It is based on Android Oreo, with a look reminiscent of iOS. The menu structure is also as good, but the design (still good but not as beautiful) could use an update.

Other noteworthy specs of the Note 8, include the dual edge display, the S Pen, and IP68 water and dust resistance. The Mate 10 should have had the same dust and water resistance, but instead has IP53 splash resistance.

You can also use the Note 8 with Samsung DeX, a dock accessory that connects the phone to a monitor, giving users a desktop experience powered by the device. You have to spend an extra Php7,599 for that though.

The Mate 10 has a similar function, but it would be through a USB Type-C to HDMI/ VGA/ DVI port. Again, you need to buy the dongle.

Final Thoughts

Both the Huawei Mate 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are great flagships, each with something good to offer. The price between the two are far apart, with the former retailing for Php32,990, and the latter at Php49,990.

Although the Note 8 is more expensive, you do get a prettier and more mature OS, more RAM, water and dust resistance, a great dual rear camera, the S Pen, and a large AMOLED display. The 32K Mate 10, on the other hand, offers a great display, an AI-powered processor, and Leica-branded dual rear cameras.

Choosing between the two will depend on what you want, and how much you’re willing to pay for it.

	Huawei Mate 10	Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Display	5.9-inch FullView IPS Display (2560 x 1440, 499 ppi) 16:9 Aspect Ratio, Gorilla Glass	6.3-inch QuadHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display (2960 x 1440; 552 ppi) 18.5:9 Aspect Ratio
Processor	Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 970	Octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895
GPU	Mali-G72 MP12	Mali-G71 MP20
RAM	4GB RAM	6GB RAM
Storage	64GB Storage +microSD up to 256GB	64GB Storage +microSD up to 256GB
Front Camera	8MP Front Camera f/2.0, Screen Flash	8MP Front Camera w/ f1.7, Autofocus
Rear Camera	Dual 20MP + 12MP Rear Camera Leica Optics, f/1.6 OIS, 2x Lossless Zoom, PDAF Laser AF, Dual LED Flash	Dual 12MP (f/1.7) + 12MP (f/2.4) Rear Camera Dual Pixel AF OIS, Dual LED Flash
Connectivity	Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Dual Band Bluetooth v4.2, aptX HD GPS, NFC	Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac Bluetooth v5.0, aptX GPS, NFC
Security	Fingerprint Scanner (Front Mounted)	Fingerprint Scanner (Rear Mounted)
Others	USB Type-C Audio Jack IP53 Splash Resistance	USB Type-C Audio Jack IP68 Water and Dust Resistance Wireless Charging S-Pen
Battery	4,000 mAh fast charging	3,300 mAh fast charging
OS	EMUI 8.0, Android 8.0 Oreo	Samsung Experience UI, Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Price	Php32,990	Php49,990

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