S9 plus vs Mate 10 Pro vs P20 pro vs Pixel 2 XL

[DND]

So hey guys I think, I'm about to get a new phone cause my provider plans contract is about to end in a month or so and I'm planning to renew my contract. So I'm in dire need of enlightenment on which phone to get on my new plan. I currently have the Samsung s7 edge and I'm quite happy on how it performs but sadly the battery life has degraded severely overtime but I sometimes tend to use it below 20% battery so I think that's the cause of the battery degrading severely overtime since I am using too much battery charging cycle every time I charge it. So as of now my top choices is the S9+, Mate 10 pro, P20 pro and the Pixel 2XL but the catch here is that the P20 pro and Pixel 2XL is not available on my provider yet especially the Pixel 2XL since there is no local manufacturer of Pixel phones here in the Philippines. The P20 pro is not yet offered on my provider but maybe it will be available but I think it would be available but maybe a few months later more. 

 

So if I ever think of getting the P20 pro or the Pixel 2XL, my plan is I renew my plan then get the S9+ and maybe sell it(PPS: I don't know if this is allowed in other countries, but i think its allowed in the PH. PPS: If you think this is a d*ck move please don't bash me).

[D13H4RD]

Here’s my pick.

 

Dont bother with the Pixel 2 XL if you can’t get it at MSRP because imported prices tend to be higher.

 

The S9+ is a solid option, alongside the Mate10 Pro and P20 Pro. It comes down to this, really.

 

Pick the P20 Pro if you want something different, with better battery life and a killer camera setup. But if you want more features, then S9+. Mate10 Pro if you want a P20 Pro but a little cheaper with a little less camera.

[DND]

1 minute ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Here’s my pick.

 

Dont bother with the Pixel 2 XL if you can’t get it at MSRP because imported prices tend to be higher.

 

The S9+ is a solid option, alongside the Mate10 Pro and P20 Pro. It comes down to this, really.

 

Pick the P20 Pro if you want something different, with better battery life and a killer camera setup. But if you want more features, then S9+. Mate10 Pro if you want a P20 Pro but a little cheaper with a little less camera.

Well I can get the Pixel 2 XL at somewhat srp price at around 849-870$ price range depending on the store I would get it, but I'm quite cautious cause these stores are somewhat third party resellers which can only offer store warranty and no manufacturer warranty because they only import it from the states then just resell it here.

 

Well I don't mind the features but if somewhat It would be good if I would get the S9+ since the software and ui would be familiar since I already had the samsung s7 edge.

 

So all in all I want to get the phone with solid specs, good battery life, at least good-awesome camera, good built quality and somewhat different. People here in the PH tend to get the mainstream like samsung and apple product so somewhat I wanted to be different (a rather childish mindset).

[D13H4RD]

12 minutes ago, DND said:

Well I can get the Pixel 2 XL at somewhat srp price at around 849-870$ price range depending on the store I would get it, but I'm quite cautious cause these stores are somewhat third party resellers which can only offer store warranty and no manufacturer warranty because they only import it from the states then just resell it here.

 

Well I don't mind the features but if somewhat It would be good if I would get the S9+ since the software and ui would be familiar since I already had the samsung s7 edge.

 

So all in all I want to get the phone with solid specs, good battery life, at least good-awesome camera, good built quality and somewhat different. People here in the PH tend to get the mainstream like samsung and apple product so somewhat I wanted to be different (a rather childish mindset).

Well, you can try the P20 Pro if you want to be different.

 

I would like a P2 XL, but I wouldn’t get it from anywhere other than Google since they give you a standard 2 years warranty

[Streetguru]

27 minutes ago, DND said:

 

S9 for the snapdragon 845.

[dizmo]

If you're still a month or so away from needing to renew, wait.

See what the Mate 20, Pixel 3 XL, and maybe the ZTE Axon 9 have to offer.

[DND]

3 hours ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Well, you can try the P20 Pro if you want to be different.

 

I would like a P2 XL, but I wouldn’t get it from anywhere other than Google since they give you a standard 2 years warranty

I see, I've already contacted my provider if they will carry the p20 pro but as of now they don't have a clear date when will they have it.

3 hours ago, huilun02 said:

First of all, if the Pixel 2XL and P20 pro are not available, leave them out of the discussion. Get back to us later when they are available to decide if you want to swap. With this amount of money you are spending, you do not want gamble it without a warranty that you can use in a reasonable fashion.

 

As for the two remaining candidate, you most certainly want the bigger battery if you are going to run it into the ground. The Mate 10 Pro has it at 4000mAh and its OLED screen is 1080p which will take less power to keep on, and less GPU power to render the comparatively lower resolution. However the lack of built-in 3.5mm jack will be a problem if you listen to music. An adapter is provided though.

 

Also if you deviate from the mainstream WITH GOOD REASON, you are being smart and objective, not childish.

Because more often then not, the 'mainstream' exists out of people's incapability to realize or decide what they want in their device. Most people buy phones that Apple and Samsung's marketing team entice them to buy, instead of being driven by their personal needs.

Yes I really don't want to gamble, so I'm kinda reluctant on getting the Pixel 2XL so as of now my best choice is either the Mate 10 pro or the S9 plus. As of now I'm leaning on the Mate 10 Pro due to the bigger battery capacity. I'm not really familiar on phone specs if I may ask specs and camera wise which is better on your opinion? The no headphone jack thing is somewhat and not so big of a deal breaker cause most of the time I travel to school driving a car but sometimes when my class will coincide on the number coding scheme wherein certain plates ending on a certain number are not allowed to travel, I just travel by commuting so that will somewhat play a bigger role but I'm also willing to get a bluetooth headphones that are somewhat on a budget since I don't need anything hardcore for a headphones just need something to get me by the day of commuting. I always tend to break my wired headphones so bluetooth headphones are my go to headphones.

 

Yes I really think sometimes going mainstream is not good, especially here in the Philippines where the mainstream or bigger companies tend to markup or hype the price since the people here tend to buy their products and also if I go for the Mate 10 Pro my bill would be much lesser. 

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

If you're still a month or so away from needing to renew, wait.

See what the Mate 20, Pixel 3 XL, and maybe the ZTE Axon 9 have to offer.

My contracts ending next month so by that time I need to really have a choice so I can renew and get a new phone. I also can go to an option of early recontracting this month.

1 hour ago, huilun02 said:

Its ok if the Pixel 2 XL isn't available yet. Wait for the Pixel 3 XL 

Unfortunately Pixel phones tend to take forever to get to our markets :(.

[DND]

11 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

The S9+ has the better camera, but to bother with the difference between such high end devices is just nitpicking unless you need the photos for professional work (using a phone for professional photos? LOL) If your heaphones are breaking at the 3.5mm connector due to lateral force, using the port adapter will take the damage in place of the 3.5mm plug. Although Bluetooth headphones will avoid that altogether. The cost savings from not going with the S9+ could go toward an audio upgrade, sounds like a good plan.

Well I'm not really that into photography ( Well I might dive into but not that deep), I just want to have at least a good-great camera when I need to take photos like in getting pictures when I watch a e-sports tournament, taking a picture of the love of my life (if I even get one LOLS) along those lines dang even if I get into my artsy side like taking of a picture of the sunset. Yep I tend to tug on them unknowingly when I'm commuting so my headphones tend to break. Never really thought of what to get with the money that will be saved but, Yep I think if i get the Mate 10 Pro I would just go to a good bluetooth headset that is good. BTW if you would rate the S9+ and the Mate 10 Pro from 1-10 how would you rate it? 

[DND]

36 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

I won't rate them because this is the most useless and misleading way to make a purchasing decision. Given they are both flagship phones they have their pros and cons. An S9+ that is acceptable for $10,000 to someone else may be completely worthless to me. I can compare the phones at the component level but not 1-10 because there are no controls to determine the top and bottom end of the scale.

 

From a personal standpoint which phone would I like to have? The Snapdragon variant of the S9+ and only that variant because I require all my phones to take custom roms. That by itself throws all Huawei devices out of consideration. As a matter of fact I would not buy the S9+ because it is barely any different from the S8+.

I see thanks for your honest opinion. Still on a dilemma in which to get though. 

[DND]

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

What other flagship phones are available there? Maybe there are special features you would like to have, or cannot afford to lose? Do you use your phone in any particular way that could benefit from better hardware? Anything that can help you tip the scale

Hmm the only thing available here that can compete with the S9+ and Mate 10 Pro is from LG but the latest they have is the G6 and Apple they have all the variants but I'm not really a fan of IOS. Hmmm as of now I'm not really looking for something in particular. As of now I'm not doing much on my phone I just tend to use mobile data all of the time when there is no available Wi-Fi where I'm at. I do some light gaming something like Mobile Legends, Watching youtube/twitch on the phone, listening to music that's almost all of that I do when I'm using my phone.

 

 

EDIT: BTW does the Mate 10 Pro have expandable storage for sd cards? Forgot to check it up.

[Guest The Viking]

7 hours ago, DND said:

EDIT: BTW does the Mate 10 Pro have expandable storage for sd cards? Forgot to check it up.

no, no expandable storage, Huawei ditched that  but the mate 10 pro comes with 128gb of internal storage.

 

From what I've read of what you are looking for, I think the Mate 10 Pro is the better option for you, mainly due to the camera. Sure, the S9+ camera is better (how much, eh, not that much really), BUT what the S9+ doesn't have is the AI helping adjust the settings for the pictures. You said you want to take a wide variety of pictures, such as sunset, esport & "love of my life" (to quote you). With the AI feature, at least the person and the sunset are automatically recognized and settings are adjusted to take the best possible pic. Currently, Mate 10 Pro has 13 automatic settings, such as sunset, people, cat, dog, food, environment, but we should be getting the extra modes released with the P20/Pro, bringing it to 19 situations the AI can recognize.

 

All the rest, Mate 10 Pro. 2 days battery, 50% charge in 30 minutes, 128gb internal storage, 6gb ram, rear fingerprint, dual rear camera from Leica with AI, kirin 970, which isn't the best soc out there but is more than enough, in theory 2 sim cards if you need (depends on country), IP67 so you can drop it in water by mistake (don't shower with it though), the build quality is very, very good (fragile glass back though... don't drop it, but Huawei includes a free silicon case), and, well, EMUI is a mixed bag, depends on who you talk to, I personnally love EMUI but others hate it. It's easy to use though, most of the settings are just 3 steps away.

 

P20 Pro is out though? I'm getting one just to play around with it, reviewers have already said it's the best device released this year so far. The usual ones are divided by the camera and the design, but hey, whatever.

[DND]

15 hours ago, huilun02 said:

So just high screen-on time I guess. The Mate 10 Pro is the better phone in that regard as explained earlier.

Yep something like that, I really appreciate it bro. I think I'm slightly leaning into the Mate 10 Pro now because of the battery and not really going into those mainstream brands here that you can always see people have.

8 hours ago, The Viking said:

no, no expandable storage, Huawei ditched that  but the mate 10 pro comes with 128gb of internal storage.

 

From what I've read of what you are looking for, I think the Mate 10 Pro is the better option for you, mainly due to the camera. Sure, the S9+ camera is better (how much, eh, not that much really), BUT what the S9+ doesn't have is the AI helping adjust the settings for the pictures. You said you want to take a wide variety of pictures, such as sunset, esport & "love of my life" (to quote you). With the AI feature, at least the person and the sunset are automatically recognized and settings are adjusted to take the best possible pic. Currently, Mate 10 Pro has 13 automatic settings, such as sunset, people, cat, dog, food, environment, but we should be getting the extra modes released with the P20/Pro, bringing it to 19 situations the AI can recognize.

 

All the rest, Mate 10 Pro. 2 days battery, 50% charge in 30 minutes, 128gb internal storage, 6gb ram, rear fingerprint, dual rear camera from Leica with AI, kirin 970, which isn't the best soc out there but is more than enough, in theory 2 sim cards if you need (depends on country), IP67 so you can drop it in water by mistake (don't shower with it though), the build quality is very, very good (fragile glass back though... don't drop it, but Huawei includes a free silicon case), and, well, EMUI is a mixed bag, depends on who you talk to, I personnally love EMUI but others hate it. It's easy to use though, most of the settings are just 3 steps away.

 

P20 Pro is out though? I'm getting one just to play around with it, reviewers have already said it's the best device released this year so far. The usual ones are divided by the camera and the design, but hey, whatever.

Thanks for you in depth explanation bro, I'm also really looking into the P20 Pro but as of now it's not yet offered by my telco provider and it's only still available for pre-order here in the PH. Honestly I can't really afford to dish out a chunk amount of money onto a single purchase so I really want to get it through a postpaid plan. Hopefully by next month it will be offered. I will just gonna wait next month since even if I go for early recontracting I still need to pay the next month's bill so I still have a leeway to way and hope that the P20 Pro would be offered by then.

 

[D13H4RD]

On 4/15/2018 at 6:06 PM, huilun02 said:

From a personal standpoint which phone would I like to have? The Snapdragon variant of the S9+ and only that variant because I require all my phones to take custom roms. That by itself throws all Huawei devices out of consideration. As a matter of fact I would not buy the S9+ because it is barely any different from the S8+.

That's actually not a good variant for custom development because SD models come with a severely locked down bootloader. 

 

Ironically, the Exynos is better because it has an easily unlockable bootloader and already has quite a number of stable AOSP firmware due to Treble support. 

 

Funnily enough, the Huawei phones running Oreo already have a couple of stable AOSP firmware due to Treble support. They don't need to wait for the source code due to how Treble works.