Smartphone World Cup: Round of 16, part 2

Peter, 24 June 2018

Here are the other four matches of the Round of 16. The winners of each match will move forward to the quarter finals next week and the losers - well, thanks for playing.

Samsung Galaxy S9+ vs. Asus ROG phone

Samsung has an upgrade-refine cadence and the Galaxy S9+ is the refine step of that - it keeps the Infinity Display and overall design from the S8 and has an improved version of the Note8 camera. Specifically, the ability to switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 and higher frame rates for video. Plus, Samsung finally pulled the trigger on stereo speakers.

Samsung Galaxy S9+ • Asus ROG Phone

Newcomer Asus ROG focuses on gaming and multimedia more than photography. Its OLED display has a 90 Hz refresh rate (something the Galaxy only enables in VR mode), HDR support but also a very wide color gamut - 108.6% of DCI-P3. And the Snapdragon 845 chipset has been overclocked by 200 MHz for improved performance (with extra cooling to match).

Samsung Galaxy S9+ vs. Asus ROG phone

Huawei Honor 10 vs. Nokia 7 plus

These two are mid-ranger with near flagship aspirations. The Huawei Honor 10 has the Kirin 970 chipset of the P20 phones, a tall notched screen and even a gradient back similar to the Twilight options. No Leica camera here, but the dual 16 + 24 MP shooter on the back is fairly capable (the second sensor is B&W) and there's a 24 MP selfie shooter.

Huawei Honor 10 • Nokia 7 plus

The Nokia 7 plus was HMD's first tall screened phone and at 6" 18:9 it offers more surface area than the Honor. The dual camera here (and the selfie cam) do have a brand name on them - Zeiss lenses. The 7 plus also boasts a larger battery (3,800 vs. 3,400 mAh) and a microSD card slot, plus timely updates to the unmodded Android One.

Huawei Honor 10 vs. Nokia 7 plus

OnePlus 6 vs. LG V30S ThinQ

Both the OnePlus 6 and its opponent have tall OLED screens, glass backs and dual cameras. The OnePlus has a larger screen (made by Samsung) and newer Snapdragon 845 chipset to run the near stock Oxygen OS (based on 8.1 Oreo, Android P is already in beta). The dual camera offers higher frame rate modes for video, but the secondary cam goes largely unused. Battery capacities are equal, except the OnePlus 6 charges faster thanks to Dash. That said, it lacks wireless charging.

OnePlus 6 • LG V30S ThinQ

The LG-made P-OLED screen on the LG V30S ThinQ supports extra features: HDR10 and Dolby Vision plus Always On mode. The dual camera offers a useful wide-angle lens and while 2160p video is capped at 30 fps, there's rare HDR support. The phone is waterproof (IP68) and rugged (MIL-STD-810G) while the OnePlus has only basic splash resistance. Also, there may not be an 8 GB RAM option, but the microSD slot is appreciated.

OnePlus 6 vs. LG V30S ThinQ

Google Pixel 2 XL vs. Apple iPhone 8 Plus

The mobile field is a battle between Google and Android - certainly in terms of OS, but this match puts the two giants head to head. The Google Pixel 2 XL is the second generation in-house phone (with the Nexus, Google and the maker got shared billing) and it's the company's first with a tall screen - with Always on mode and 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Despite having a single camera, the HDR+ mode enabled by the custom Pixel image processing chip makes for stellar quality.

Google Pixel 2 XL • Apple iPhone 8 Plus

The Apple iPhone 8 Plus has a lot in common with its opponent - like stereo speakers and IP67 water resistance. Apple stuck with an old fashioned 16:9 LCD, however, and there's no AOD mode. The A11 Bionic chipset is faster than the older Snapdragon 835 hands down and the iPhone supports wireless charging (which the Pixel lacks, despite Google being an early adopter of the tech). Memory is something that Apple and Google agree on - you don't need a ton of RAM and you're not getting a microSD slot.

Google Pixel 2 XL vs. Apple iPhone 8 Plus