Should You Buy The Huawei P20 Pro Over Samsung Galaxy S9+ ?

Both Huawei P20 Pro & Samsung Galaxy S9 + are the newly launched flagship smartphone devices & they are also equipped with mind blowing features and specifications. Both the smartphones have great cameras & flagship grade processors which makes them one of the most desired members of the Android Flagship Smartphone right now.

However, after the arrival of the Huawei P20 Pro, this obvious question popped out. Should you get the Huawei P20 Pro instead of the Galaxy S9+ ? If you have this question in your mind as well, keep on reading.

SPECS COMPARISON: Galaxy S9+ vs. Huawei P20 Pro

	Galaxy S9+	Huawei P20 Pro
Display	6.2 inch, 2940×1440 Quad HD+ 18.5:9 sAMOLED	6.1 inch, 2244×1080 HD+ 19:9 OLED
CPU	10nm Snapdragon 845 (in the US) or Exynos 9810	10nm Kirin 970
RAM & Internal Storage	6GB LPDDR4X RAM & 64GB or 256GB Internal Memory	6GB LPDDR4X RAM & 128GB Internal Memory
Cameras	Rear : 12MP (f-1.5 & f-2.4) + 12MP f-2.4 Telephoto, OIS (on both lenses) Front: 8MP F1.7 with Autofocus	Rear : 40MP f-1.8 + 8MP f2.4 Telephoto + 20MP f-1.6 Monochrome Front: 24MP f-2.0
Wi-Fi & Bluetooh	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 Ghz+5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 Ghz+5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2
Security	Iris scanner, Fingerprint Scanner, Face Detection	Fingerprint Scanner, Face Detection
Battery	3500 mAh (USB Type-C, Fast Charging, Wireless Charging)	4000 mAh (USB Type-C, Fast Charging)
Weight	189 Grams	180 Grams

 

Design:

Talking about design, the P20 Pro & the S9+ are completely different in terms of form factors. Yes, they both have a Glass Sandwich construction but, the S9+ has that 3D Curved Display wrapping around the sides while the P20 Pro went for a more traditional & more symmetrical design.

The color scheme is one of the areas where Huawei geared up their game & almost everyone was impressed. We are talking about the Twilight Purple variant that Huawei added to the line up alongside the Black & Blue. The other color schemes look pretty common these days but, that gradient color shifting Twilight Purple variant is something that got my attention.

Now, the P20 Pro also has a Notch which is not there on the Galaxy S9+. I’m not a huge fan of a Notch in general but, I don’t mind it sitting up there either. Now, this is something what comes down to personal preference so, liking it or not liking it is completely upto you.

The Galaxy S9+ hasn’t changed much in terms of design compared to the S8+. However, the P20 Pro is a big step up compared to the P10 Plus from last year. Overall, I prefer the P20 Pro’s design over the S9+ but again, that’s just a personal preference thing.

Hardware:

Hardware on both the devices are pretty different from each other. The Displays are no exception. So, when it comes to smartphone Displays, generally no one can beat Samsung and the Display on the S9+ even spots a higher resolution Display alongside. Though both the devices are using AMOLED panels, for some reason Huawei opted for a 19:9 1080P Display & Samsung opted for a 18.5:9 1440P Display which they have been using since the days of the Galaxy S8. The P20 Pro also comes with a Notch which is definitely not there on the Galaxy S9+.

On the SOC side Samsung has two variants of the Galaxy S9+. In the US they have the Snapdragon 845 & in other parts of the world, they have their own Exynos 9810. In the P20 Pro, Huawei uses the same Kirin 970 that powers the Mate 10 Pro & Honor View 10. All these SOCs are build upon the 10nm Process Technology but, the Snapdragon 845 & Exynos 9810 actually use the 2nd Generation of 10nm while the Kirin 970 still uses the 1st gen 10nm process.

Both of the devices come with 6 Gigabytes of LPDDR4X RAM & 128GB of Internal Storage. However, with the S9+ there is also a 256GB variant available. However, the P20 Pro does come with a bigger 4000 mAh Battery compared to the 3500 mAh Battery on the Galaxy S9+.

Another thing is Bluetooth. Both the Snapdragon 845 & Exynos 9810 come with Bluetooth 5.0 so, no matter which variant of the Galaxy S9+ you choose, it will have Bluetooth 5.0 but, the Kirin 970 still ships with older Bluetooth 4.2 so, that’s what you’re getting with the P20 Pro.

Cameras

In terms of Cameras, both Samsung & Huawei have stepped up their games & they actually made two completely independent Camera systems that no one else is doing.

The Galaxy S9 & S9+ introduced variable Aperture in smartphones where the aperture can go from f-2.4 for broad daylight shots & then you move to low-light situations and the Camera will switch to f-1.5 which will let in a lot more light & pronounce better low-light images. Even in good lighting situations, using the f-1.5 aperture will help to produce shallower depth of field for things like portraits. Oh, and on the S9+ the secondary lens is a telephoto lens able to zoom upto 2 times. Both the sensors are of 12 Megapixels.

Huawei took a completely different approach & used three different Cameras on the Back. The main shooter is a 40 Megapixel Camera which has the largest sized smartphone sensor yet. The other two Cameras include a 20MP Monochrome & an 8MP Telephoto Camera that is capable of 3-times optical zoom. There is also an option to use a 5x Hybrid Zoom without losing much quality.

The Huawei P20 Pro is a Photography focused device and as the Kirin 970 comes with a dedicated NPU, Huawei has introduced a few AI features in their Camera like Scene & Object Recognition & AIS (AI Image Stabilization) which let’s the users shoot hand-held long exposure shots upto 6 seconds.

However in Video Recording, the things are kinda different. Both devices have OIS & upto 1080P the stabilization seems to be fine but, at 4K the P20 Pro seems to have no stabilization at all while the Galaxy S9+ seems to hold fine there. Also from the Front Facing Camera, Samsung let’s you record upto 1440P while Huawei only has 1080P after you turn the Beautification mode off.

Talking about selfies, The P20 Pro has a 24MP Selfie Shooter while the Galaxy S9+ has an 8MP Selfie Shooter.

Is The P20 Pro Better Than The S9+ ?

So, should you buy the P20 Pro instead of the Galaxy S9+ ? Well, that depends on why you’re buying a new smartphone. If it is only for photography purposes the, the P20 Pro seems to be a better option with a huge number of of Manual Options & AI advancements which literally gives a lot more control over your Cameras. Also, having that Monochrome sensor helps in b/w photography by producing natural looking b/w images without needing a digital filter. Low-light photography should also be pretty good with the P20 as long-exposures are not an issue here.

The Galaxy S9+ on the other hand seems to be a complete package & it is not focused on a specific category. Yeah, the Cameras are really good but, it’s not necessarily a Photography focused devices. However, it wins in terms of availability as you won’t be able to find the  P20 Pro in many countries. In the United States, the P20 Pro might not even get any Carrier support so, until you opt in for an unlocked device, the S9+ seems to be the Only option there.

However, if you record a lot of Videos with your Smartphone, the S9+ seems to be the better choice without a doubt.

Another parameter is the price. Depending on where you live, ff you get the P20 Pro at a significantly lower price than the S9+, you may want to settle down with the P20 Pro. However, if those Samsung features is something you can’t live without then, get the S9+ anyway.