Samsung and Apple are among the major smartphone industry players commanding a huge chunk of the market share, which is why their 2017 flagships are creating hype even before their respective launches.
But 2017 is not expected to be the usual year for flagship launches. Both iPhone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 are expected to make a transition in terms of flagship features on the companies’ phones in terms of design changes, software features and hardware.
iPhone 8 vs. Galaxy S8: Design Features
In terms of design, Samsung’s S-series phones and Apple’s iPhones are expected to ditch the physical home button which has been present on the flagships since their first iteration. While Apple ditched the 3.5mm audio jack with iPhone 7, Samsung is rumored to do the same with the Galaxy S8.
iPhone 8 vs. Galaxy S8: Battery Life
While Samsung has adapted built-in wireless charging capability since the Galaxy S6, Apple is expected do so with the iPhone 8, but in a different way — the device is expected to support long-range wireless charging without the need of charging mats commonly used to charge smartphones possessing the capability. Rather, the company is expected to use transmitters which would be able to charge multiple devices wirelessly at one go.
iPhone 8 vs. Galaxy S8: Internal Specs
Under the hood, both devices might come with 10nm processors which will offer better performance and consume less battery in comparison to 14nm processors on previous iterations. The devices are also expected to be IP68 certified waterproof.
iPhone 8 vs Galaxy S8: Siri vs. Bixby
In terms of software, an expected major feature upgrade for both devices is artificial intelligence enabled voice assistants. While Apple is expected to improve Siri’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, Samsung is expected to replace its S-Voice functionality with a Bixby voice assistant, which would integrated throughout the S8 interface, including individual apps.
The flagship devices are expected to come with desktop connectivity similar to Microsoft’s Continuum feature. The feature will let consumers use the phones as their desktops with docks and connected peripherals and let consumers switch freely between devices.
iPhone 8 vs Galaxy S8: Release Date
While the Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to launch either on March 29 or in April, Apple is expected to follow its regular schedule of launching iPhones in September/October.
iPhone 8 vs Galaxy S8: Expected Price
iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 are flagship devices which will command a good price for the features they offer. iPhone 8 is expected to have a 6GB RAM, a new chipset and an all-new design quite different from the current iPhone. While the iPhone 7 32GB currently sells for $649 in U.S., iPhone 8 is expected to cost around $899 for the same model.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 device too will be a big improvement over the previous and therefore is expected to command a premium price of around $900 for the 64GB version.
Verdict
Despite the iPhone 8 being Apple’s 10th-anniversary device, the Samsung Galaxy S8 seems the more exciting device among the two. From what we know about the device in terms of rumors and the information derived from Samsung’s patents and acquired/developed technologies such as 10nm processor technology, flexible displays and an AI-based voice assistant having additional Google Assistant support, Samsung seems to have the upper hand.
Apple’s differentiating factor has always been features that set its phones apart from other flagships such as 3D Touch for iPhone 7. But, the company will have to pull out a real cat-out-of-the-bag with the iPhone if it wants to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S8.