Huawei P20 Pro vs Apple iPhone X vs Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S vs Samsung S9 Plus: 2018 flagships fight it out for the crown

With each progressing month, more companies are launching updated, 2018 versions of their flagship devices. Xiaomi and Huawei, two major Chinese smartphone makers launched their flagships, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s and the Huawei P20 Pro in the market yesterday. Both the devices now join the existing Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus to compete for the throne of the best smartphone in the market.

Talking about the latest flagship devices in the market, Huawei P20 Pro comes with a 6.1-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2240p and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. It also gets Huawei's Hisilicon Kirin 970 chipset along with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage along with a 4,000 mAh battery.

The company has focused heavily on the camera when it comes to P20 Pro as it now comes with a triple rear camera setup, which includes a 40 MP f/1.7 primary sensor, a 20 MP secondary and an 8 MP sensor. The camera optics on the phone have also been made in collaboration by Leica so its gets the 'Leica' branding on the back. The Pro also gets a 24 MP f/2.0 front-facing camera for selfies and it will also be available in four colours — Midnight Blue, Graphite Black, Pink Gold and Twilight.

The Huawei P20 Pro. Huawei

Moving to the entry by Xiaomi, the company has packed a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with an octa-core CPU clocked at up to 2.8 GHz and Adreno 630 GPU for graphics-intensive tasks. The phone will come in three variants with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. It comes with a 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ resolution with a pixel density of 403 PPI. The company has thankfully not opted for a display design with a notch unlike the iPhone X and other Android devices such as the recently launched Vivo V9 and the Oppo F7.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s. Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi has packed a dual camera setup on the back of the device in a vertical setup on the top left of the device, similar to the arrangement of the iPhone X. The dual camera setup will come with 12 MP camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture and another 12 MP camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The sensor on the Mi Mix 2S' camera is a 1.4-micron pixel Sony IMX 363 sensor and will have dual-pixel autofocus technology along phase detection system. The front of the device will be equipped with an 8 MP camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S will come with 'multi-frame noise reduction' where the camera uses the software as well as hardware to reduce the noise. The company has added OIS to the camera this time.

With the launch of two flagships in just about a matter of hours, it seems like a ripe time to bring them to the comparison table and see how these devices stack against each other and against the competition. Unlike the last comparison of flagship devices, most of the devices in the list are updated flagships giving us a comprehensive picture of the comparison.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. Image: Tech2/Rehan Hooda

So, we selected Apple iPhone X, and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus to be compared against the Huawei P20 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s. The reason for selecting the iPhone X is because most of the companies including Huawei and Xiaomi compared their flagships against the X. The reason we selected these smartphones is that almost all of the devices are flagship devices sold as the best a particular company can sell. These devices also pack similar (or the custom-made equivalents) of the top-of-the-line hardware.

Bear in mind that we're still not done testing some of these smartphones, so we're currently comparing them going only by their specifications on paper.

Smartphone	Huawei P20 Pro	Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s	Samsung S9+	iPhone X
Display Size (inch)	6.1	5.99	6.2	5.8
Resolution (pixels)	1,080 x 2,244	1,080 x 2,160	1,440 x 2,960	2436 x 1125
Pixel Density (PPI)	408	403	529	458
Display Type	AMOLED	IPS LCD	Super AMOLED	OLED Super Retina HDR
Dimensions(mm)	155 x 73.9 x 7.8	150.9 x 74.9 x 8.1	158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5	143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7
Weight (gm)	180	191	189	174
Dual SIM	Yes	Yes	Yes (Variant)	No
Connectivity Types	Nano-SIM	Nano-SIM	GSM / HSPA / LTE	LTE, SCDMA, CDMA EV-DO Rev. A, UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA, GSM/EDGE
Processor	Hisilicon Kirin 970	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Exynos 9810	A11 Bionic chip with 64-bit architecture
CPU Cores	Octa-core	Octa-core	Octa-core, Octa-core	Hexa-core
CPU Clock Speed (GHz)	4x Cortex-A73 @ 2.4 GHz & 4x Cortex-A53 @1.8 GHz	4x Kryo 385 Gold @ 2.7 & 4x Kryo 385 Silver @ 1.8	4x Kryo 385 Gold @ 2.7 & 4x Kryo 385 Silver @ 1.7 and 4x Mongoose M3 @ 2.8 & 4x Cortex A55 @ 1.7	Hexa-core 4 x efficiency cores + 2 Performance cores
GPU	Mali-G72 MP12	Adreno 540	Adreno 630, Mali G72 MP18	-
RAM	6 GB	6, 8 GB	6 GB	3GB
Ruggedness	–	–	IP68	IP67 under IEC standard 60529
On-Board Memory	128 GB	64,128, 256 GB	64, 128, 256 GB	64, 256 GB
Expandable Memory	Yes, up to 256 GB	No	Yes, up to 256GB	No
Sensors	Fingerprint Reader, Gravity Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass	Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass	Iris scanner, fingerprint, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass, Barometer, Heart-rate, SpO2	Face ID, Barometer, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor
Primary Camera	40 MP f/1.8, 20 MP f/1.6 and 8 MP f/2.4	12 MP, f/1.8, 12 MP, f/2.4	12MP, f/1.5-2.4, 12 MP f/2.4 52 mm	12 MP wide-angle ƒ/1.8 aperture, telephoto ƒ/2.4 aperture
Optical Image Stabilization	Yes (for 40 MP)	Yes, 4-Axis	Yes	Yes
Camera Array	Triple Camera	Dual Camera	Dual Camera	Dual Camera
Autofocus System	Phase detection and laser autofocus	Dual pixel phase detection	Phase detection	Autofocus with Focus Pixels
Secondary Camera	24 MP, f/2.0	5 MP f/2.0	8MP, f/1.7	7 MP, f/2.2
Video Capture	4K (30fps)	4K (30fps)	4K 60 fps, 720p 960 fps, HDR	4K up to 60 fps
Flash	dual-LED	Dual-LED	LED	Quad-LED
OS Version	Android 8.1 Oreo-based EMUI 8.1	Android 8.0 Oreo-based MIUI	Android 8.0 Oreo	iOS 11
AI (Smart Assistant)	Google Assistant	Google Assistant	Yes, Bixby	Siri
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz + 5GHz, Wi-Fi hotspot	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	802.11ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO
Bluetooth	v4.2, A2DP, LE, EDR, aptX HD	v5.0, A2DP, LE	v5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX	v 5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fingerprint Scanner	Yes, Home button	Yes, Rear button	Yes, Rear button	No
3.5mm jack	No	No	Yes	No
USB Type	Type-C reversible	Type-C Reversible connector	Type-C Reversible connector	Reversible connector
USB Standard	USB v3.1	USB v2.0	USB 3.1	Lightning
Battery (mAh)	4,000	3,400	3,500	2,716
Quick charge	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Colors	Twilight, Black, Midnight Blue, Pink Gold	Black	Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple	Space Grey, Silver
Prices in India	TBA	TBA	Rs 64,900 onwards	Rs 89,000 onwards

Conclusion

There is intense competition when it comes to the on-paper hardware specifications of the devices. But on close inspection, it feels like the Huawei P20 Pro along with the three camera setup on the back of the device seems to be the winner in terms of the camera hardware. The top end variants of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s seem to be upping the P20 Pro in terms of RAM, the design and the Bluetooth technology in the device. The pricing of the Mi Mix 2S and the P20 Pro in the Indian market is not available at the moment so we can't comment on that. But we will reserve our verdict till we actually test the new flagships. Till then, the Huawei P20 Pro and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s are evenly matched in a fierce competition.