Samsung Galaxy Note9 performance compared to Galaxy S9+ and Note8

Now that we’ve got our hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note9, we’re able to make some comparisons between the Note8 and Galaxy S9+ in terms of performance.

We’ve got some numbers from an international dualSIM variant of the Galaxy Note9, so this one is powered by the Exynos 9810 CPU. We’re comparing it to both variants of the Galaxy S9+.

Starting with graphics performance, the Exynos-powered Note9 wasn’t at the top of any of the benchmark tests. The Galaxy S9+ with its Snapdragon 845 was able to get the best frame rates out of the graphic-focused GFX Bench tests.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  61
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  47
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  45
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  43
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  42

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  34
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  24
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  23
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  20

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  35
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  28
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  25

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  20
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  14
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  13
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  13

The Note9 sees scores about 25% higher numbers than the Note8. Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 845-powered Galaxy S9+ still lies ahead, surpassing the Galaxy Note9 by about 6%.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  264044
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  248823
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  246660
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  201065

In GeekBench, the Note9 did better, though wasn't very far off from the Galaxy S9+'s score. In fact, GeekBench's scores favor the Exynos versions while Antutu favored the Snapdragon variants.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  9026
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  8883
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  8349
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  6784
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  6590

Single-core scores are far better on the Exynos 9810 than the Galaxy S9+'s Snapdragon 845. The difference in single-core scores has a much larger gap between the 9810 and the 845 than between the Exynos 8895 and the Snapdragon 835.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  3771
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  3642
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  2199
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  1987
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  1862

We tested a 128GB version of the Note9, which comes with 6GB of RAM. We wonder if the 512GB version of the phone with 8GB of RAM would perform any differently.

Samsung’s Water Carbon Cooling should make for better performance under extended periods of gaming or intensive use. Less heat means less CPU throttling and better performance for playing hours of Fortnite.