February seems to be the most important month of the year for Xiaomi, Samsung and LG. The most important flagships of the second half of 2019 from these three companies were officially announced a few days ago. Xiaomi released an affordable flagship: the Mi 9, while LG and Samsung opted for different variants of their latest flagship phones, including more affordable ones. In this article, we focused on affordable variants of Samsung and LG flagships in order to give you a perfect comparison with the new Xiaomi Mi 9 and let you find out if you should really choose the Mi 9 or Samsung Galaxy S10e and LG G8 ThinQ represent better choices.
Xiaomi Mi 9 vs LG G8 ThinQ vs Samsung Galaxy S10e
| Xiaomi Mi 9 | LG G8 ThinQ | Samsung Galaxy S10e | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 157.5 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm, 173 g | 151.9 x 71.8 x 8.4 mm, 167 g | 157.8 x 72.3 x 8.6 mm, 189 g |
| DISPLAY | 6.39 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), Super AMOLED | 6.1 inches, 1440 x 3120p (Quad HD+), AMOLED | 6.39 inches, 1440 x 3120p (Quad HD+), AMOLED |
| PROCESSOR | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, octa-core 2.84 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, octa-core 2.84 GHz | Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980, octa-core 2.6 GHz |
| MEMORY | 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB | 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot | 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – nano memory card slot |
| SOFTWARE | Android 9 Pie, MIUI | Android 9 Pie | Android 9 Pie, EMUI 9.0 |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS |
| CAMERA | Triple 48 + 16 + 12 MP, f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.2 20 MP f/2.0 front camera |
Triple 12 + 16 + 12 MP, f/1.5, f/1.9 and f/2.4 Dual 8 MP + TOF sensor f/1.7 front camera |
Triple 40 + 20 + 8 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/2.4, OIS, Laser AF 24 MP f/2.0 front camera |
| BATTERY | 3300 mAh, fast charging with Quick Charge 4+, wireless charging | 3500 mAh, fast charging and wireless charging | 4200 mAh, fast charging 40W, wireless charging 15W |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | Dual SIM slot | Dual SIM slot, MIL-STD-810G, waterproof | Dual SIM slot, waterproof (IP68), reverse wireless charging |
Design
While I do not like the standard design of the LG G8 ThinQ so much, it is a very hard battle between Samsung Galaxy S10e and Xiaomi Mi 9. I will choose the Galaxy S10e because of its Infinity-O Display that embeds the front camera, as well as its attractive canary yellow color variant and its more compact design. But someone may like the Xiaomi Mi 9 due to its stunning glass back available in gradient hues changing colors depending on the light and the viewing angle. Instead, LG G8 ThinQ has the best build quality and it should be the most resistant phone. It has both the military certification and it is also waterproof. Samsung Galaxy S10e is waterproof, while Xiaomi Mi 9 does not offer any kind of water resistance.
Display
Despite having the biggest notch, LG G8 ThinQ has the most advanced display. It is the only Quad HD+ panel of the trio. It has 100 percent of DCI-P3 coverage and it supports the HDR10 and Dolby Vision standards for perfect color reproduction. Samsung Galaxy S10e should come right after with its Dynamic AMOLED screen and the HDR10 technology, but note that it has a smaller 5.8-inch display.
Hardware/Software
In each case, you get a flagship-class hardware department. So, there will be marginal differences between the performances of these devices. All come with the Snapdragon 855 chipset excluding the European version of the Galaxy S10e, and they have up to 8 GB of RAM except LG G8 that only comes with 6 GB RAM. But Samsung Galaxy S10e goes up to 256 GB, while the others stop at 128 GB. Further, Xiaomi Mi 9 has no expandable storage, while Galaxy S10e and LG G8 ThinQ have a micro SD slot.
Camera
On the paper, Xiaomi Mi 9 looks like the phone with the most outstanding cameras. However, we still had no chance to test each of these devices’ cameras, so we can not give you a final verdict about them. By the way, all of them are outstanding camera phones. LG G8 ThinQ and Xiaomi Mi 9 are equipped with triple cameras including an ultrawide and a telephoto lens, while Galaxy S10e lacks the telephoto lens but comes with a variable aperture on the primary sensor, so it should shoot stunning photos even in low light conditions.
Battery
LG G8 ThinQ has the biggest battery, but we are not sure that it will provide the longest battery life. Indeed, it has a display with a higher resolution and we did not always like how LG optimized the batteries of its phones. Samsung Galaxy S10e has a much smaller battery, so it should not be the winner of this comparison as well. Xiaomi Mi 9 sits in the middle, but with its Full HD+ display, if it has a good software optimization, it may result as the winner of the battery comparison.
Price
Samsung Galaxy S10e will cost €779/$749, while Xiaomi Mi 9 is already on pre-order in the global market for just €450/$512. We still do not know the price of the LG G8 ThinQ, but if it will cost more than €550/$626, then Xiaomi Mi 9 wins this comparison because of its higher value for money.
Xiaomi Mi 9 vs LG G8 ThinQ vs Samsung Galaxy S10e: PRO and CONS
LG G8 ThinQ
PROS
- Best build quality
- Great display
- Bigger battery
- Fast and wireless charging
CONS
- Uglier design
Xiaomi Mi 9
PROS
- Wireless charging
- Great build quality
- Amazing cameras
- Affordable price
CONS
- No micro SD
Samsung Galaxy S10e
PROS
- Compact
- Good hardware
- Great audio
- Fast, wireless and reverse charging
CONS
- Smaller battery
