It has been a whirlwind August for phone releases, and boy, have we been spoiled. We got new flagship phones from Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Sony, Google and plenty more.
If, like us, you’ve struggled to keep up with the sheer number of releases, you may want to find out what the best available phones are in 2018.
RELATED: The best Android phones you can buy right now
Well, we picked the two biggest, most expensive models from the year and put them head-to-head, to see just which phone comes out on top.
Meet the contenders: the Samsung Galaxy S9+ vs the iPhone XS Max.
First up, Samsung.
The Samsung Galaxy S9+ Overview
Straight off the bat, it is worth noting that this is widely accepted as the best Android smartphone available right now. It is the biggest, brightest and best phone for most of your needs outside of iOS, thanks to its giant 6.2-inch curved screen.
This screen is really impressive – a massive Quad HD+ Super AMOLED screen that is pretty great at showing off YouTube, Netflix or any other online content, no matter where you watch.
A lack of notch, an ultra-thin bezel and a vibrant screen will turn your videos and images into works of art, and the whole thing feels premium.
Which is understandable, given the price.
It costs £130 more than its baby brother, the Samsung Galaxy S9. For that, you get a slightly bigger screen (although in terms of actual size, the difference is barely noticeable) and double the amount of storage space – neither of which are groundbreaking.
But it’s the ability to take professional-looking photos that really sets the Samsung Galaxy S9+ apart.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5_-NKRVn7IQ
You still get great quality shots even in low light, but you also get Live Focus mode that allows you to take photos with the subject in focus and the background blurred, for a look that stands out.
Even better, you can adjust how blurred the background appears using the slider when you take the photo.
FaceID and fingerprint scanning capabilities make this a cutting-edge phone that is fairly future-proof.
Waterproof up to 1.5m for more than 30 mins and scratch and dust-resistance are also hallmark bonuses for those who use their phone out and about.
The best Samsung Galaxy S9+ deals?
The only downside to the Galaxy S9+, as with any other giant phone, is the price tag it comes with.
The Galaxy S9+ price is not insignificant: Samsung’s official website has it priced at £869 for the 128GB Hybrid SIM version.
However, there are a couple of tricks to help you get money off the cost and get that shiny new phone into your pocket.
The best deal is to go on Samsung’s website and buy it through them as you can get 0% finance and pay off the phone in small monthly instalments.
If that isn’t enough of a deal for you, you can also trade-in your old phone to get up to £250 off the cost, meaning you could be paying as little as £700 for the latest Samsung device. Read the full terms and conditions here.
If you want to buy the Samsung Galaxy S9+ with a contract, there are a huge number of options open to you. Check out our round-up of the best deals below.
FoneHouse – Get a 24-month contract with unlimited data, texts and calls for £79 upfront and £46 a month.
Or, get 30GB of data for no upfront cost and £43 a month. You even get £20 cashback.
Three – Get a 24-month contract with unlimited data for £79 upfront and £46 a month.
O2 – Get a 24-month contract with 15GB of data for £110 upfront and £34 a month.
EE – Get a 24-month contract with 20GB of data for £99 upfront and £38 a month.
Vodafone – Get a 24-month contract with 16GB of data for £79.99 upfront and £42 a month.
Samsung Galaxy S9+ specs
https://youtube.com/watch?v=8GdA4z9G4Qg
A super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen measuring at 6.2-inches punching out a resolution of 1440 x 2960. This screen supports HDR10 and 3D touch.
Powering this massive screen is the Exynos 9810 Octa (for Europe) or the Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 (USA, LATAM, China). Containing the latest Android 8.0 Oreo OS, the Galaxy S9+ is mega fast and incredibly powerful.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S9+
Comes available with 64/128/256GB internal storage and has a micro SD slot to boost memory to 512GB.
Two rear 12MP cameras (one wide, one Telephoto) are capable of taking videos at 2160p@60fps with full HDR support.
The front-facing 8MP camera features auto-HDR and can record at 1440p@30fps.
iPhone XS Max Overview
The biggest iPhone ever made is also arguably the best, and a true contender for Samsung’s S9+.
The giant iPhone does feature a top notch, but more than makes up for this with a beautiful 6.5-inch Super Retina OLED screen.
The resolution has been bumped up to 2688 x 1242 and makes every piece of content look gorgeous.
Underneath the hood, the XS Max has the super powerful A12 Bionic Processor, which is dizzyingly fast, boosting speed by more than 15% while consuming more than 40% less power.
Buy the iPhone XS Max
Also housing two cameras, the iPhone XS Max has two 12MP (wide and Telephoto) lenses on the rear of the phone, which are perfect for low light-level photography.
A 7MP front-facing camera also has a bunch of extra features to enjoy, including improved FaceID and special selfie-taking bonuses.
An active slider to choose how blurred you want your fore/background is a ton of fun too.
Smart HDR is a new camera feature that goes a step beyond the HDR mode. Here, multiple images are captured almost instantly, at the same time, and all at different exposures, shadow levels, and more. The software and new A12 Bionic chip merge them into one photo for the best results.
A bigger battery will not take your breath away, adding roughly 30 mins of extra juice per charge over the iPhone X, and is significantly less than the Samsung, but it is still an improvement.
The best iPhone XS Max deals
Fonehouse – Get a 24-month contract with 50GB of data for £125 upfront and £63 a month.
Carphone Warehouse – from £65 per month, with an upfront cost of £199.99 (100GB of data)
EE – from £78 per month with an upfront cost of £70 (10GB of data). You can also purchase the iPhone XS Max for £88 with an upfront cost of £10, which includes 100GB of data on their 4GEE Max Plan.
O2 – from £66.50 per month, with an upfront cost of £30 (50GB of data)
Vodafone – from £76 per month, with an upfront cost of £49 (26GB of data)
Three – from £54 per month, with an upfront cost of £99.
iPhone XS Max Specs
The massive 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display is allegedly capable of more than 16 million colours and is bright and very punchy.
Not quite as resistant to water or dust as the Samsung, the iPhone is still pretty damn pretty to look at.
The display supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, displaying a wide colour gamut and True Tone.
The powerful A12 Bionic processor keeps things ticking over at an incredible rate and makes your apps snappy and quick.
The iPhone only comes in 64/256/512GB memory and has no option to extend this.
Two 12MP rear cameras are capable of filming at 2160p@60fps and supports HDR.
The front-facing 7MP camera can also film at 1080p@60FPS and makes selfies pop with its cool blurring features.
The verdict – Which should you buy, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ or the iPhone XS Max?
This is truly the question of the century (so far), and one that we do not take lightly.
Samsung does edge the race based on pure stats alone, but this conversation is rarely based on the numbers.
Suffice to say that if you are an Apple fan and have an iPhone right now, the iPhone XS Max is the best phone they have ever produced and will be an excellent choice should you want to put the money down to buy it.
You can’t fault anything on it when comparing it to any other phone, as it truly is a spectacular piece of kit.
However, the Samsung is the best of the rest and is easily one of the best Android devices on the market. The capabilities of the camera and the massive, bright screen make using it a dream.
The only differing factor that may swing your vote is the price.
Samsung is considerably cheaper than the iPhone, and the current deals on offer make it a bit of a steal.
If money is the deciding factor, we would go for the Samsung Galaxy S9+.
If money is no object, and you want a great-looking phone to take you into the future, the iPhone XS Max is the one for you.
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