iPhone 8 Vs. Note 8 Specs: What Leaks Reveal About New Flagships

The smartphone competition is expected to get more intense in the coming months when Apple and Samsung officially launch their next flagship phones. So far, rumors and leaks have given the tech industry ideas as to how the iPhone 8 and the Galaxy Note 8 would look like. Ahead of the handsets’ official release, here’s a comparison review of their reported specs.

Apple’s 10th Anniversary iPhone Specs

Since late last year, there have been rumors claiming that the Cupertino giant is preparing a completely redesigned iPhone to celebrate its iOS-running smartphone’s 10th anniversary. The redesign of course will not stray away from things that are already familiar to Apple fans. For instance, Apple is going back to its iPhone 4 days by creating another all-glass body iPhone.

Schematics and leaked renders have shown that what the tech giant is preparing appears to have all-glass front and back panels that are locked in place by a stainless steel frame. A dummy unit spotted by Business Insider early this month suggests that the metal frame will be 7.24mm in width — slightly thicker than the iPhone 7’s 7.09mm and iPhone 7 Plus’ 7.14mm width. When the protrusion of the back camera is included, the iPhone 8 tops at 8.72mm, while the current flagship phone measures 8.84mm thick in total.

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The specs sheet for the iPhone 8 is also believed to indicate an elongated and enlarged 5.8-inch OLED screen that almost spans the entire front panel of the device. This suggests that Apple is getting rid of the chunky bezels its previous iPhones are known for. Leaked renders obtained by Forbes last week show that there will be a cutout on the top part of the display to make room for the front-facing camera and sensors that are currently presumed to carry out the rumored 3D facial recognition functionality of the flagship phone.

Rumors about a vertically aligned dual-lens camera module at the back of the iPhone 8 have been pretty consistent so far. So it does not come as a surprise that renders of the highly anticipated iPhone installment show two rear lenses arranged in a way that one is on top of the other with the LED flash placed in-between them. Such placement of the lenses have since sparked speculations that the rear camera module will come with AR software features.

Other specs that have been outed by leaked renders and schematics include the presence of the Lightning port and the absence of the headphone jack. Previously, there were murmurs that Apple was thinking of switching to USB Type-C. However, it is now being reported that the company is sticking with the Lightning port. On the other hand, the absence of the 3.5mm jack is expected given that the tech company started to do away with the dated technology when it launched the iPhone 7 last year.

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The biggest change that will start with the iPhone 8 is the removal of the iconic physical home button. Apple has apparently come into terms with the idea that it’s time to let go of the physical button. Renders show that while the home button is no longer present on the phone, a larger power key has been placed on the side of the device, as per Phone Arena. There are speculations saying that the power key could house the TouchID fingerprint sensor. There are also those claiming that Apple could either place the fingerprint reader at the back of the phone or embed it into the display.

Lastly, the iPhone 8 is rumored to come with an L-shaped battery. There’s been no information regarding the possible size of the battery, but its shape is said to play an important role in extending the battery life of the flagship phone. For comparison, the iPhone 8 is expected to last significantly longer than the iPhone 7, which only has a little over 6 hours of battery life when constantly in use, according to Trusted Reviews. In part, the shorter battery life of the iPhone 7 has to do with its A10 Fusion chip. The iPhone 8 is reportedly coming with the more efficient A11 chip, which explains why it could have a longer battery life than its predecessor.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 Successor Specs

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is also expected to come with a redesigned body. After tweaking the overall appearance of its Galaxy S series flagship through the addition of a curvy Infinity Display, Samsung is believed to be giving the same treatment to its Note-branded flagship phone. However, the company is making the Note 8’s appearance more distinct by using a less-curvy and a rather sharper Infinity Display.

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Design-wise, the Galaxy Note 8 will not stray from what the Galaxy S8 has to offer. It will have bezel-less sides and very minimal bezels at the top and the bottom. The top bezel will house the front-facing selfie camera, iris scanner, LED notification light and the speaker. On the other hand, the bottom bezel will be free from physical buttons. The absence of a physical home button on the front has pushed Samsung to place its fingerprint scanner at the back just beside the dual-lens camera, as pointed out by Forbes.

Just like the Galaxy S8, the Snapdragon 836-running Note 8 will have a tall aspect-ratio display. After all, the phone will be sporting a 6.3-inch display — one that is slightly longer than the 6.2-inch screen of the Galaxy S8+. This is the largest display that Samsung is using for a Note-branded device, and it is expected to make the handset stand out even more in the market. It’s display will not only be perfect for viewing video content, it will also provide users with more screen estate for their note-taking needs.

As the successor to the defunct Galaxy Note 7 and the continuation of the popular Note series, the upcoming phablet will also come with Samsung’s signature stylus. There’s no information yet if the stylus the Note 8 will come with is going to be different from the one that was made for the Note 7. There’s also no information regarding the new Note-specific software features that the Note 8 will launch with.

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Meanwhile, leaked renders of the Note 8 show that the smartphone will have physical buttons on the sides. Apart from the volume buttons and the power/sleep/wake button, the Galaxy Note 8 is also rumored to sport a Bixby dedicated physical button. This is of course in line with what the company did to the Galaxy S8, which also has its own Samsung Bixby button, according to Business Insider.

The latest news about the Note 8 comes from a Weibo tipster, who claims that Samsung is also preparing a high-end version of the phablet with 6GB RAM and 256GB of internal memory. If true, this is going to be a big step up for Samsung. The RAM alone would make the Note 8 a powerful rival to its competitors in the market, while the huge storage space would mean that it has entered Apple’s top-tier internal memory territory. Interestingly, the Note 8 will have an edge over Apple’s upcoming iPhones. The phablet is reportedly coming with microSDXC support, so it would most certainly surpass the iPhone’s memory capacity knowing that Apple’s phones have never had support for extra storage space since time immemorial, as per BGR.

Given all of the things about Apple’s iPhone 8 and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 that have been leaked so far, which do you think between the two will outshine the other? Tell us in the comments below.