Galaxy S9(+) vs The Pixel 2 XL - Which one?

[SpeederT12]

So, here I am, standing in front of a really fucking hard choice: between the best of the best, the two very best android smartphones currently available: The S9 (+) and the Pixel 2 XL. They both have their pros and cons and I like both of them VERY much for different reasons. That's where you come in lads. Please, give me a clean, unbiased opinion or if you own one of these, why should I buy it. I tried asking on XDA, but the S9 forum is saying S9, and the Pixel forum.. Well, the Pixel. Here are my pros and cons for each device:

Galaxy S9 / S9 + (Exynos) :

Pros

Available locally, perhaps cheaper than importing the Pixel.

Amazing screen, though me being me I'm worried about the edge breaking from a drop

Brand spanking new hardware, including a better cpu, more ram (+), better screen and a really good camera (Pixel still beats it for me though)

A lot of features

A LOT of accessories 

Easily accessible cases and protectors 

(Headphone jack)*

Included earbuds I guess

Cons

A load of bloat pre-installed

Bixby...

Lackluster battery life on both the regular and + models

Bottom-firing speaker is worse than dual front fire

Isn't as impressive and WOW inducing due to it being really popular

Samsung Experience still at Oreo 8.0

Pixel 2 XL

Pros

That CAMERA.

Front firing stereo speakers

Great battery life

STOCK ANDROID WITH CONSTANT UPDATES

Unlimited storage until 2020

Decent, unknown by most people design

Rooting is under warranty (???)

Cons

Not available in Bulgaria, will have to import from Germany/The UK

NO SUPPORT IN MY COUNTRY

(No headphone jack)*

Bad screen (???)

Not many extras included

Not many accessories due to low popularity

(it has not-small bezels)* (still kinda important though)

Is in ANY case more expensive than both the S9 and the S9+

 

*not too important for me

 

 

So, looking at these facts, which one would you choose? The S9 is already accessible and wouldn't have to bother importing it like the Pixel. I also have never touched or seen a Pixel 2 (xl) yet. 

 

Is the Pixel 2 Xl screen THAT bad or is it good in most cases?

                                                                                                    - I am a power user. I use youtube A LOT on my phone, so battery life is not meaning-less. Screen being bad might not be much of an issue, though I will need you lads to                                                                                                                confirm that. These two question are the MOST IMPORTANT (maybe) for me.

Is the S9 / S9+ battery life THAT bad?

 

 

Thank you in advance!

Alex

 

[aries757]

S9+

 

seems easier to aquire and just better for the long run

[dizmo]

Those are two of the best, but I wouldn't say they're the only two.

 

S9 comments:

• Why do you think the battery life of the S series is lackluster? It's pretty good for the size of battery and screen.
• You don't have to use Bixby...
• No one cares what phone you have
• Is the bottom speaker weak? Because it's not always better to have front firing. The Nexus 5x I had was much worse off than the bottom firing Zenfone 3 Zoom I have now.

It doesn't really seem like you want to go for the Pixel. The only thing it really has over the S9 is perhaps camera, and that's really not going to be that noticeable outside of say a lab. They're both very similar. The S9+ gets significantly better battery life when it comes to media playback (at least in SD form, I assume Exynos will be the same ballpark). On top of all that, you have to import the Pixel which I imagine affects your ability to do any kind of warranty work should it be required; all that at a higher cost? Samsung seems to have it handily beaten in this instance.

 

Unrelated note: I always picture a woman named Sofia from Bulgaria being super cute.

[SpeederT12]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Those are two of the best, but I wouldn't say they're the only two.

 

S9 comments:

• Why do you think the battery life of the S series is lackluster? It's pretty good for the size of battery and screen.
• You don't have to use Bixby...
• No one cares what phone you have
• Is the bottom speaker weak? Because it's not always better to have front firing. The Nexus 5x I had was much worse off than the bottom firing Zenfone 3 Zoom I have now.

It doesn't really seem like you want to go for the Pixel. The only thing it really has over the S9 is perhaps camera, and that's really not going to be that noticeable outside of say a lab. They're both very similar. The S9+ gets significantly better battery life when it comes to media playback (at least in SD form, I assume Exynos will be the same ballpark). On top of all that, you have to import the Pixel which I imagine affects your ability to do any kind of warranty work should it be required; all that at a higher cost? Samsung seems to have it handily beaten in this instance.

 

Unrelated note: I always picture a woman named Sofia from Bulgaria being super cute.

I mean, these are the two I really like and want.

• If you just google S9 battery life you'll see that most review outlets give it bad credit for not-great battery life. 
• It would be convenient to have G assistant out of the box but I can probably easily remap it
• That... That is completely true
• Dunno. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and check a second hand Pixel out, just for the feel of it.

It's probably going to be the S9 just because of the enormous price difference.

 

On the unrelated note: Is this somehow related to our capital's name, Sofia?

 

[jtmoseley]

31 minutes ago, SpeederT12 said:

I mean, these are the two I really like and want.

• If you just google S9 battery life you'll see that most review outlets give it bad credit for not-great battery life. 
• It would be convenient to have G assistant out of the box but I can probably easily remap it
• That... That is completely true
• Dunno. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and check a second hand Pixel out, just for the feel of it.

It's probably going to be the S9 just because of the enormous price difference.

 

On the unrelated note: Is this somehow related to our capital's name, Sofia?

 

I have the original pixel and its great. I would just get the pixel honestly

[dizmo]

18 minutes ago, SpeederT12 said:

I mean, these are the two I really like and want.

• If you just google S9 battery life you'll see that most review outlets give it bad credit for not-great battery life. 
• It would be convenient to have G assistant out of the box but I can probably easily remap it
• That... That is completely true
• Dunno. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and check a second hand Pixel out, just for the feel of it.

It's probably going to be the S9 just because of the enormous price difference.

 

On the unrelated note: Is this somehow related to our capital's name, Sofia?

Eh, it's only really useful information if it's from a solid source. Take GSMArena for example, their tests are done in a lab, and they're the same across all devices; they're not going to be skewed by what the reviewer does that day with their phone. Their tests show that the S9+ gets more media playback.

 

Have you used it before? I don't find it overly useful.

 

Haha, that's the only correlation, yes.