The rivalry between Apple and Samsung has defined the smartphone industry, delivering cutting-edge innovations year after year. While the iPhone X may have grabbed headlines, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus remain formidable contenders with their blazing-fast A11 Bionic chip, upgraded cameras, and the long-awaited addition of wireless charging. On the other hand, Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ bring their own edge-to-edge allure with Infinity Displays, a robust Bixby assistant, and top-notch cameras. It’s not just about iOS versus Android—it’s Apple versus Samsung, and these flagships continue to dominate the market. So, how do they stack up? Let’s dive into the iPhone 8 vs. Galaxy S8 showdown to crown a winner.
Battery Life
These phones hold up well for battery endurance, no matter which one you pick. In the Tom’s Guide battery test—web browsing nonstop on 4G LTE with screen brightness at 150 nits—the iPhone 8 lasted 9 hours, and 54 minutes. The iPhone 8 Plus kept going for 11 hours and 16 minutes. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S8 reached 10 hours, 39 minutes, and its bigger sibling, the S8+, managed 11 hours, 4 minutes. Clearly, the smaller Galaxy S8 outlasts the iPhone 8, but in the larger models, Apple wins by a hair.
Fast charging? The iPhone 8’s ahead, but you’ll need extra gear. Pair a 29-watt charger with a USB-C-to-Lightning cable, and you’ll get 49% in half an hour. At the same time, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ only reached 37% and 38%. Apple’s efficiency here is hard to ignore.
We call it a draw between the two phones.
Value
Expensive? Yes, all four phones. Still, the iPhone 8 starts lower: $699 versus Samsung’s $725 minimum. Go bigger, and the Plus costs $799, compared to Samsung’s $850. Apple lets you upgrade storage to 256GB for $150. With Samsung, you can grab a 256GB microSD card for around $130 instead. Expandable storage is an edge, but Apple’s pricing feels simpler.
Therefore, when it comes to value, we vote for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Durability
Apple’s durability has improved, but Galaxy S8 beats it underwater. With an IP68 rating, Samsung can handle depths of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. The iPhone 8, with IP67, only survives 1 meter. Both phones are fragile, though—the iPhone’s glass shell and Galaxy’s curved edges make drops dangerous.
Samsung’s water resistance and display stand out here, giving it an edge over its rivals.
iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 – The Preliminaries
While it’s almost an unwritten rule and a norm to kick off such comparisons with aesthetics (superficial right? Not everything is about the looks), we are going to adopt a different approach for the preliminaries and take a peek at what’s under the hood:
|
GPU | |
|
iPhone 8 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
| Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) | Octa-core (4×2.35 GHz Kryo & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo) |
|
RAM | |
|
2GB |
4GB |
|
Architecture | |
|
64 Bit |
64 Bit |
|
Storage | |
|
64 /256 |
64 GB |
|
Expandable Memory | |
|
No |
Up to 256 GB |
Anyone familiar with mobile technology or basic comparisons can see that Samsung holds an edge over the iPhone 8 in terms of processing power. But Apple has an ace up its sleeve in the form of its proprietary A11 Bionic processor. The little “Speedy Gonzales” of a chip has proved time and again during various benchmark tests that it’s capable of rendering voracious graphics and apps faster than its arch-rival. On the other hand, Samsung is dependent on its Exynos 9 series (proprietary).
Samsung’s chipset incorporates state-of-the-art innovations like the 10nm FinFET process and a second-generation custom CPU core but still falls slightly short of the powerful A11 Bionic processor. Samsung enthusiasts might point out the 2GB RAM advantage, but Apple’s inclusion of the M11 co-processor compensates for this difference, a feature absent in the Galaxy S8. The only silver lining for Samsung in this preliminary round is the expandable memory slot, which is absent in the iPhone. So, the iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 preliminary round goes to the iPhone 8.
iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 – Aesthetics
So, yeah, looks aren’t that important, but ultimately they have to be taken into consideration. You wouldn’t want an all-powerful but visually unappealing phone, would you?
|
Length | |
|
iPhone 8 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
|
138.4 mm |
148.9 mm |
|
Weight | |
|
148 grams |
155 grams |
|
Build Material | |
|
Case: AluminiumBack: Mineral Glass |
Case: MetalBack: Metal |
|
Colors Available | |
|
Gold, Silver, Space Grey |
Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic Silver, Maple Gold |
In terms of aesthetics, Samsung emerges as the clear frontrunner. With Galaxy S8, Samsung has mixed things up with the end product much prettier than iPhone 8. Apple’s rationale for keeping the same albeit “iconic” look might induce a nostalgic feeling, but after the eight generations, it just became tales. Both the phones flaunt a glass back to accommodate the wireless charging feature. While iPhone users may view this as a novel innovation, Samsung implemented wireless charging two generations earlier.
|
Display | |
|
iPhone 8 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
|
IPS LCD |
Super Amoled |
|
Display Screen | |
|
4.7 inches (~65.4% screen-to-body ratio) |
5.8 inches (~83.6% screen-to-body ratio) |
|
Resolution | |
|
750 x 1334 pixels (~326 ppi pixel density) |
1440 x 2960 pixels (~570 ppi pixel density) |
|
Pixel Density | |
|
326 ppi |
570 ppi |
|
Touch Screen | |
|
3D Touch Touchscreen, Multi-touch |
Capacitive Touchscreen, Multi-touch |
Samsung clearly takes the lead in the display and resolution department with the new infinity display. It is the easiest-to-grip big screen phone with a taller and slimmer body. Other than that, the specs speak for themselves. Samsung’s Super AMOLED display is bigger, better and offers greater pixel depth compared to the IPS LCD on the iPhone 8.
iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 – The Headphone Jack Controversy
This is not a controversy in the strictest sense, as Apple omitted the headphone jack in the previous generation as well. But this gives Samsung a distinct advantage over its arch-rival, as users don’t have to cough up extra money to purchase an adapter to connect their headphones. Another slight disadvantage of iPhone 8 is that (which surprises me) Apple still hasn’t picked up on the dual sim functionality. The iPhone 8 can only accommodate a single sized nano sim, whereas the Galaxy S8 can accommodate two. The Galaxy S8 also features a larger 3000 mAh battery compared to the iPhone 8’s 1822 mAh, resulting in longer talk time—14 hours for the iPhone 8 versus approximately 20 hours for the Galaxy S8.
iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 – OS Comparison
The Samsung Galaxy S8 runs on Android 8.0 Oreo, although some bugs were found in the S8 and the S8 Plus after updating the devices to android Oreo, to an extent that it caused some of the phones to fall into a boot loop, due to which Samsung stopped the update which is definitely Samsung’s failure. Now they have again resumed the update after fixing some of the major issues and till now, the latest update android 8.0 is available for German users only.
Albeit the Oreo issue, Android’s customization coupled with deal sweeteners like Samsung Connect and Game Launcher gives it the distinction of being among the most feature-packed smartphones in the market nowadays. As for the iPhone 8, it comes pre-configured with iOS 11, which is so far the most streamlined and fluid of the iOS iterations. Apple has wisely decided to address several drawbacks of the previous OS like the inability to organize home screens and apps. The control center has also gone for overhaul making it more concise/ precise without sacrificing any of its capabilities.
Sadly, the local file manipulation is still unavailable on the iPhone 8 despite all the tweaks and upgrades. What’s even more frustrating is that iPhone users can manipulate data on cloud servers through the files app, but local files remain inaccessible to them. On a positive note, Siri has undergone a minor tweak making her sound less machine-like.
iPhone 8 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 – Camera
The camera has become an integral part of smartphones nowadays, as we need powerful daily-shooters as companions. So, let’s see how both the Titans fare in this department:
|
Camera | |
|
iPhone 8 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
|
12 MP, f/1.8, 28mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, quad-LED (dual tone) flash |
12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash |
|
Video | |
|
2160p@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps |
2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, HDR, dual-video rec. |
|
Secondary | |
|
7 MP, f/2.2, 1080p@30fps, 720p@240fps, face detection, HDR, panorama |
2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, HDR, dual-video rec. |
Both smartphones have relatively similar specifications, leaving limited room for comparison. The iPhone 8 performs better in brighter lighting conditions. Side-by-side comparisons of photos taken with the S8 and iPhone 8 reveal noticeable differences. Moreover, the iPhone 8+ has a dual camera, and 2x optical zoom without losing quality. But if you want the dual camera in Samsung you have to switch to the expensive Note 8. This round goes to the iPhone 8 having the slightest edge.
Security
Samsung has introduced an extraordinary feature i.e. Iris Scanner to keep your security foolproof. You just need to see in the two circles on the screen and the phone will unlock after scanning your irises. It’s a unique feature as the pattern of your iris is as unique as your fingerprints and it cannot be replicated, so it gives added security with precision and swiftness. Using it makes you feel like a protagonist character in some Science fictional plot. You will also find finger scanners and face recognition in S8, whereas in iPhone 8; only the traditional fingerprint scanner is present. So, this security round goes to S8 with its added security features.
Fast Charging & USB Connectivity:
Both these phones have glass backs to support Qi’s fast wireless charging. Wireless charging is two generations old feature for Samsung but for iPhone, it is introduced for the first time in the iPhone 8. The Samsung Galaxy S8 uses type C USB for fast charging, but for iPhone 8 you need to pay extra for a 29-watt charger and a USB type-C to lightning cable to take advantage of the wired fast charging feature.
Verdict
Both of these phones are considered to be powerhouses and are proudly being called the speediest smartphones that emerged in 2017. Although some time has passed since their launch, these phones continue to attract attention from those seeking affordable yet high-performing devices.
When it comes to displaying, Samsung and Apple take opposite directions. Samsung Galaxy S8 offers a brilliant 5.7-inch AMOLED infinity display that stretches edge to edge same as iPhone X- perfect for those who love to enjoy the bigger screen-to-body ratio. It comes with stunning curved edges and back, whereas the iPhone 8 comes with the familiar design but with a glass back. Although both are water resistant, only S8 has the headphone jack, a feature which is welcomed by its users.
As far as specs are concerned, both are flagship phones with top-rated specs- the S8 runs with a Snapdragon 835 CPU whereas the iPhone 8 is featured with an A11 chip, made by Apple. There is no doubt that on both sides, there are fans who would never think of other smartphones as acceptable, especially after the presence of these top-notch smartphones in the market.
This article aims to provide an objective and impartial comparison between Apple’s iPhone 8 and Samsung’s Galaxy S8. It’s up to personal preferences and the inclination of each individual toward the iOS or Android to make the final call.