Huawei P20 vs Samsung Galaxy S9: the weigh-in
Can Huawei's iPhone X-like stunner take down the reigning champ?
GET READY TO RUMBLE
Samsung already notched the year’s biggest smartphone debut to date with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, but there’s something oddly familiar about both. Oh, right: they’re exactly like the Galaxy S8 models before them. Now the Huawei P20 has debuted, and you might recognise its aesthetic from another high-profile phone. That’s right: Apple’s iPhone X, camera notch and all. Even so, there’s plenty to be excited about with Huawei’s new core flagship, including that screen-heavy front, dazzling design, and plenty of power. The Galaxy S9 is our current pick for the world’s best phone, but will Huawei’s new handset disrupt Samsung’s rule? Here’s how the comparison shakes out, now that we’ve been hands-on with the P20.
DESIGN: BOTH BEAUTIES
With its minimal bezels, curved glass and aluminium, the Galaxy S9 is almost indistinguishable from the S8, but that’s not bad thing. The only visible difference is the repositioned fingerprint sensor on the back (which is definitely an upgrade). As for the Huawei P20? It really does look a lot like the iPhone X, albeit with a smaller notch on the front and a lip below the screen to hold the fingerprint sensor. But it’s a very sleek-looking phone, especially with the amazing Twilight gradient colour. If you’re getting a P20, get that one. Ultimately it’ll probably come down to personal preference – and whether you’re bothered by the notch. Just like the S9 vs the iPhone X, then.
SCREEN: DUAL DAZZLERS
It’s a battle of bold and beautiful OLED panels here again. The Galaxy S9 sticks with an extra-tall 5.8in display like last year’s, albeit a bit brighter now. At Quad HD resolution, it’s still the best screen we’ve ever seen on a phone. Really dazzling stuff. As for the P20, our first impression is very strong: it has the same punchiness and stunning contrast as the Galaxy S9, and this 18.7:9 5.8in display is slightly taller, albeit with the notch in the middle. There’s another key difference, too: it’s lower resolution at 1080p. We expect that Samsung will have a slight edge when they’re put side by side, but the P20 screen looks plenty fine all the same.
CAMERA: LOOKING GOOD
Unlike the Pro, the standard P20 only has two cameras on the back: a 12MP RGB lens and 20MP monochromatic one. Even so, our early test shots packed in plenty of colour and detail. As for the Galaxy S9, we already know that it offers one of the best smartphone cameras – and it only has the one lens on the back. It has a 12MP camera with dual-pixel autofocus and optical image stabilisation, and it adds variable aperture into the mix as well. It’ll pop between f/1.5 and f/2.4 settings on the fly, opening up for lower-light scenarios and then tightening up when you have plenty of light to work with. That ensures that you almost always get pretty fabulous shots, and while we think the Pixel 2 is just a bit better overall, the Galaxy S9 hardly disappoints.
PERFORMANCE: NO WEAKLINGS HERE
You can’t go wrong here either way. The Galaxy S9 packs in Samsung’s newest Exynos 8910 chip in the UK, or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 in the States – those are the two newest, heavy-hitter Android chips, and they’re incredibly fast. You’ll have no issues running any kind of game, app, or media either way. The Huawei P20, on the other hand, uses the same Kirin 970 chip from last year’s Mate 10 Pro, but it’s still pretty recent and super swift overall. Both have 4GB RAM onboard, and while benchmark tests might show some slight differences, we doubt it’ll be noticeable when it comes to common day-to-day usage. They’re both powerhouses.
BATTERY AND PERKS: KEY DIFFERENCES
The Galaxy S9’s 3000mAh battery typically lasts a full day with moderate usage – but we wish it could be pushed a bit harder before needing a top-up. Maybe the P20’s 3400mAh cell will fare better, then. Not only is it larger, but it’s powering a lower-resolution screen to boot. However, the Galaxy S9 offers wireless charging, which the P20 lacks. The Galaxy S9 ships with 64GB of internal storage, but offers a microSD slot for expandable storage. However, the Huawei P20 sadly kills the microSD support this time around, yet they give you 128GB storage to work with. Your call on whether that’s a fair trade-off.
INITIAL VERDICT: S9 OR P20?
The Huawei P20 feels like it’s built to split the difference between the Galaxy S9 and the iPhone X, and while that’s not the most ambitious or original approach, the early results look great: this is a slick-looking, powerful handset that can seemingly hang with the flagship elite. Can it usurp the Galaxy S9 as the world’s must-have smartphone? We’ll reserve final judgement until we’ve spent more time with it but we’re not sure it has enough to shake up the rankings – although the P20 Pro just might…
