Huawei P20 Pro appears to be a polished flagship smartphone, but it has to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ to prove its worth.
Huawei has launched the P20 Pro in India, the company’s latest flagship smartphone. The phone has added many new features – a triple-lens camera system, Kirin 970 processor, and a premium design. Priced at Rs 64,999, Huawei P20 Pro belongs to be a super premium smartphone category, the segment where Samsung leads the market share with the Galaxy S9+. But can Huawei P20 Pro defeat the Samsung Galaxy S9+? To find out, we compared the two high-end phones on the basis of design, specifications, features and price.
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Huawei P20 Pro VS Galaxy S9+: Design and display
Huawei P20 Pro looks nothing like the company’s previous smartphones, and it clearly shows in its design language. As you might have observed by now, there’s a notch above the screen. It is, however, considerably smaller than the one seen on the iPhone X and can even be disabled via software. In addition to a notch, Huawei has added a fingerprint scanner beneath the screen, which in my view is lower in terms of placement.
The P20 Pro has a striking, glass-back design that adds a character of its own. We wish the Twilight colour option was available in India; unfortunately, Huawei has no plans to bring colour option to India at the moment. Though, the P20 Pro can be purchased in Midnight Blue colour — and it isn’t a bad looking option at all.
The P20 Pro has a striking, glass-back design that adds a character of its own.
With the Galaxy S9+, Samsung is not making a hue and cry about the device’s design. You will get the same Infinity Display as seen on the previous-generation Galaxy S8, with thin bezels at the top and bottom. The fingerprint sensor has been shifted to a new position and is now underneath the S9’s camera. However, it’s still quite tiny and small in my opinion. Samsung Galaxy S9+ is available in a number of cool colour options, and Lilac Purple is one of them.
The P20 Pro comes with IP67 waterproofing compared to IP68 on the Galaxy S9+. And the best part of the Galaxy S9+ is that it retains a 3.5mm headphone jack, while Huawei has ditched it. Not the best decision, in my opinion.
Samsung Galaxy S9+ is available in a number of cool colour options, and Lilac Purple is one of them.
Huawei P20 Pro is using a 6-inch OLED FHD+ display (18:7:9) with a 2240 x 1080 pixel resolution. The display quality is top-notch in my opinion, with deep blacks and wide colour gamut. But in comparison to the Galaxy S9 Plus’ 6.2-inch Super AMOLED QHD+ display (18:5:9), it is less bright and colorful.
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Huawei P20 Pro vs Galaxy S9+: Processor and battery
Huawei’s P20 Pro uses the Kirin 970 processor inside with 6GB RAM, 128GB of storage, but there’s no support for microSD. Meanwhile, Samsung is selling the Galaxy S9+ with the latest Exynos 9810 mobile processor with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage option for the base model. The Galaxy S9+, unlike the P20 Pro, does come with microSD support. Whether you settle for the P20 Pro or the S9+, the performance won’t be an issue. Apps, graphic-intensive games and, more importantly, the experience will be more or less the same in day-to-day use.
Samsung is selling the Galaxy S9+ with the latest Exynos 9810 mobile processor with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage option for the base model.
But the Huawei P20 Pro comes to the top with a 4000mAh battery while the Samsung Galaxy S9+ offers 3500mAh. In my own tests, the P20 Pro lasted for around 1-and-half-day on a single charge. I don’t see any high-end smartphone can last as such as Huawei’s flagship device.
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Huawei P20 Pro vs Galaxy S9+: Camera
Huawei P20 Pro has three cameras on the back and one camera on the front. The main sensor has a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor, and an 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom (or 5x hybrid zoom). There’s also a 24-MP one for selfies. These Leica-branded cameras are the star attraction of the P20 Pro.
The Galaxy S9+ doesn’t have a trio of rear-facing cameras though, it did manage to cram in dual-cameras. Both snappers are rated at 12MP though, the secondary camera is a telephoto lens. Also, the main sensor has a variable aperture, with the ability to switch between f/1.5 or f/2.4. On the front is an 8MP selfie camera.
Huawei P20 Pro has three cameras on the back and one camera on the front.
Both Samsung and Huawei have promised a lot on the camera front. We’ve independently tested both the phones, but I’m yet to put the P20 Pro and S9+ side-by-side to verify which device has the best camera on board.
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Huawei P20 Pro vs Galaxy S9+: Software and price
Both the P20 Pro and Galaxy S9+ run Google’s Android mobile OS. However, the P20 Pro is slightly better positioned because it is running on the latest Android 8.1 versus the S9+ which still offers Android 8.0 Oreo. Aside from that, there’s no major difference between the two devices. Both the companies have tweaked the user interface so that they can add more features on the top of Android. Huawei P20 Pro comes with EMUI 8.1, whereas the Galaxy S9+ gets Samsung’s Experience UI.
The biggest highlight of the Galaxy S9+ is Bixby – Samsung’s own virtual assistant. It is similar to the Google Assistant, but has got several new tricks. But, I still feel that Bixy is way behind the Assistant, Alexa, and Siri.
Huawei P20 Pro comes with EMUI 8.1, whereas the Galaxy S9+ gets Samsung’s Experience UI.
The P20 Pro and Galaxy S9+ can be connected to an external monitor to offer a familiar desktop experience. Though, Huawei’s implementation is far better than Samsung’s in my opinion. All you need a USB Type-C-to-HDMI cable to connect the P20 Pro to the external monitor and get the work done. Samsung, on the other hand, is asking users to shell out Rs 8290 for the company designed DeX dock.
No doubt, both the Huawei P20 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S9+ are top-tier smartphones and naturally, they will cost more than regular phones. The P20 Pro is priced at Rs 64,999 and will go on sale exclusively on Amazon India starting May 3. Samsung Galaxy S9+ is priced at Rs 64,900 (6GB RAM, 128GB) in the domestic market and can be purchased through both offline and online channels.