Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9810) that was released on August 9, 2018, against the Huawei Mate 20, which is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 980 and came out 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- 35% higher pixel density (514 vs 381 PPI)
- Handles Qi/PMA wireless charging up to 15W
- Optical image stabilization
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Super AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- The front-facing camera can record video at 1440p
Reasons to consider the Huawei Mate 20
- 41% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (489K versus 348K)
- Shows 11% longer battery life (31:15 vs 28:10 hours)
- Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (778 against 653 nits)
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- More energy-efficient CPU – Kirin 980
- 9% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 894 and 821 points
- Has a built-in infrared port
Review
Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Huawei Mate 20 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Feature
Priority (Weight)
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.
Value for money
You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Display
Type Super AMOLED IPS LCD Size 6.4 inches 6.53 inches Resolution 1440 x 2960 pixels 1080 x 2244 pixels Aspect ratio 18.5:9 18.7:9 PPI 514 ppi 381 ppi Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz Adaptive refresh rate No No Max rated brightness 520 nits 820 nits HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10 Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Screen-to-body ratio 84.32% 88% Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3 Display tests RGB color space 144.6% 97.4% PWM 227 Hz 14880 Hz Response time 8 ms 16.6 ms Contrast ∞ Infinity 2172:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]
Design and build
Height 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) 158.2 mm (6.23 inches) Width 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) Thickness 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 188 g (6.63 oz) Waterproof IP68 IP53 Rear material Glass Glass Frame material Metal Metal Colors Black, Blue, Brown Black, Blue Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear Yes, rear
Performance
Tests of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Huawei Mate 20 in the benchmarks
SoC Chipset Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 HiSilicon Kirin 980 Max clock 2700 MHz 2600 MHz CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4) Architecture - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A76 Lithography process 10 nanometers 7 nanometers Graphics Mali-G72 MP18 Mali-G76 MP10 GPU shading units 324 360 GPU clock 572 MHz 720 MHz FLOPS ~370.6 GFLOPS ~518.4 GFLOPS
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
CPU 103622 152454 GPU 92125 121843 Memory 59823 98290 UX 92931 121127 Total score 348109 489379
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 48.7 °C 40.7 °C Stability 95% 47% Graphics test 13 FPS 14 FPS Graphics score 2333 2472 Web score 5071 6396 Video editing 5466 5744 Photo editing 9379 14155 Data manipulation 5812 7741 Writing score 6153 10812
Submit your AnTuTu result
Memory
RAM RAM size 6, 8 GB 6 GB Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X Memory clock 1794 MHz 2133 MHz Channels 2 2 Storage Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 128 GB Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 2.1 Memory card MicroSD Nano Memory Memory card max size Up to 512 GB Up to 256 GB
Software
Operating system Android 8.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) Android 9 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) ROM One UI 2.5 EMUI 10.1 OS size 19 GB 14.9 GB
Battery
Capacity 4000 mAh 4000 mAh Max charge power 15 W 22.5 W Battery type Li-Po Li-Po Replaceable No No Wireless charging Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) No Reverse charging No No Fast charging Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 35 min) Yes, SuperCharge 2.0 (58% in 30 min) Full charging time 1:40 hr 1:25 hr Battery life tests Web browsing 09:22 hr 12:52 hr Watching video 12:59 hr 12:27 hr Gaming 04:51 hr 05:32 hr Standby 93 hr 90 hr
Camera
Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000 Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 2x Flash Dual LED Dual LED Stabilization Optical Digital 8K video recording No No 4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS 1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p) Angle of widest lens - 120° Lenses 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 16 MP) Wide (main) lens - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.5 - 2.4 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 27 mm - Sensor: 1/2.3" (BSI CMOS) - Laser autofocus Telephoto lens - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4" (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 54 mm - Phase autofocus Ultra-wide lens - - 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 17 mm Camera features - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from DxOMark - Selfie camera Megapixels 8 megapixels 24 megapixels Image resolution 3264 x 2448 5632 x 4224 Aperture f/1.7 f/2 Focal length 25 mm 26 mm Pixel size 1.22 microns 0.9 microns Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS CMOS Sensor size 1/3.6" - Video resolution 1440p at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
DxOMark camera tests
Connectivity
Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi features - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot Bluetooth version 5 5 Bluetooth features PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C USB version 3.1 - USB features - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo NFC* Yes Yes Infrared port No Yes Network Number of SIM* 2 2 Type of SIM card Nano Nano Multi SIM mode Standby Standby eSIM support* No No Hybrid slot Yes Yes LTE Cat* 18 21 5G support No No
Sound
Speakers Stereo Stereo Headphone audio jack Yes Yes FM radio No Yes Dolby Atmos Yes No
Other
Category Flagship Flagship Announced August 2018 October 2018 Release date August 2018 November 2018 SAR (head) 0.381 W/kg 0.44 W/kg SAR (body) 1.509 W/kg 0.99 W/kg Sensors - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, connectivity, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. But if the performance and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Huawei Mate 20.