Motorola Moto Z3 Play vs. Samsung Galaxy Note9

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Motorola Moto Z3 Play and Samsung Galaxy Note9. Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory, and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right phone for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the phone that will best fit your needs.

Phone Specifications Comparison

Motorola Moto Z3 Play vs. Samsung Galaxy Note9 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Manufacturer Model Number - SM-N960F/DS
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 156.5 mm 161.9 mm Samsung Galaxy Note9 has greater height than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Width 76.5 mm 76.4 mm Motorola Moto Z3 Play has greater width than Samsung Galaxy Note9.
Depth 6.75 mm 8.8 mm Motorola Moto Z3 Play is narrower than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Weight 156 g 201 g Motorola Moto Z3 Play is lighter than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Body Colour Deep Indigo Cobalt blue | Metallic copper | Deep black | Ocean blue | Midnight black | Lavender purple
Body Material Gorilla glass, 6000 Series aluminium alloy -
Protection P2i (liquid repellent coating) Dustproof, splashproof, waterproof
Waterproof (Water-resistant) Yes Yes Both phones are waterproof.
IP rating - IP68
SAR Value 1.436 W/kg (body), 0.564 W/kg (head) 1.509 W/kg (body), 0.381 W/kg (head), 2.24 W/kg (limb)
Integrated Components FM radio Heart rate sensor
Connector Type USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Moto Mods
USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM
SIM Card Qty Dual-SIM Dual-SIM
SIM Card Configuration Details Nano SIM + nano SIM/microSD Nano SIM + nano SIM/microSD
DISPLAY Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Display Type OLED display OLED display
Display Technology Super AMOLED Quad HD+ Super AMOLED
Screen Size (Display Size) 6.01" 6.4" Samsung Galaxy Note9 has larger screen size than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 2160 x 1080 pixels 2960 x 1440 pixels Samsung Galaxy Note9 has better screen resolution than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Display Format Full HD+ QHD+
Pixel Density 401 ppi 516 ppi Samsung Galaxy Note9 has better pixel density than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Aspect Ratio 18:9 -
Colour Depth 16.7 million colours 16.7 million colours Both phones have the same color depth.
Display Features Max Vision display Always-on display, Edge Screen, Infinity Display, Edge-to-Edge screen
Display Protection (Screen Protector) Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (scratch resistant glass) -
PROCESSOR Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Samsung Exynos 9
Processor Number - 9810
Clock Speed 1.8 GHz 2.7 GHz Samsung Galaxy Note9 has higher clock speed than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Processor Core Qty 8-core 8-core Both phones have the same number of phone cores.
64-bit Architecture Yes Yes Both phones have 64-bit architecture.
Graphics System (GPU) Qualcomm ADRENO 509 Mali-G72 MP18
MEMORY Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
RAM 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM - 6 GB Samsung Galaxy Note9 has more RAM than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 64 GB 128 GB Samsung Galaxy Note9 has more internal memory than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
User Memory - 108.9 GB
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 2 TB microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 512 GB
CAMERA Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 2 2
Sensor Resolution 12 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Both phones have the same camera resolution.
Sensor Size - 1/2.55"
Lens Type - Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture F/1.7 F/1.5 & f/2.4 Samsung Galaxy Note9 has better lens aperture than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - Dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) Samsung Galaxy Note9 has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Optical Zoom - 2x
Digital Zoom - 10x
Special Effects - HDR, Bokeh effect, Grid Line
Camera Modes - Panorama, Pro mode, Timer mode, HYPERLAPSE, Auto mode, Food mode, Super Slow-mo, AR Emoji, Portraits, Flowers, Indoor scenes, Animals, Landscapes, Greenery, Trees, Sky, Mountains, Beaches, Sunrises and sunsets, Watersides, Street scenes, Night scenes, Waterfalls, Snow, Birds, Backlit, Text, Disney AR Emoji
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Face detection Samsung Galaxy Note9 has face detection.
Light Source Dual LED flash LED flash
Video Resolutions 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 60 fps, 1280 x 720 (720p) at 30 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 60 fps, Super slow motion video 1280 x 720 (720p) at 960 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 240 fps, 2560 x 1440 (QHD) at 30 fps
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF) Quick Launch, Playback zoom, Motion photo, VDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilisation), Live Focus, Dual Capture, High CRI LED flash, Tracking AF, Video location tags, Stamps, location tags, Continuous autofocus video, Hyperlapse video support 1080p, Live focus with bokeh filters, Super Speed Dual Pixel, background blur, Scene Optimiser, Eye blink, Motion blur, Lens smudge, Backlit, Full view, Flaw detection, 9.1MP still photos recording 4K video
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) 5 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Samsung Galaxy Note9 has better second camera resolution than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Sensor Size (2nd Camera) - 1/3.4"
Lens Type (2nd Camera) - Telephoto lens
Lens Aperture (2nd Camera) - F/2.4
Camera Functions (2nd Camera) Capture depth information -
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 8 Megapixel Both phones have the same front camera resolution.
Sensor Size (Front) - 1/3.6"
Lens Type (Front) Wide-angle lens Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture (Front) F/2.0 F/1.7 Samsung Galaxy Note9 has better front lens aperture than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Focus Adjustment - Automatic
Special Effects (Front) - HDR, Grid Line
Camera Modes (Front) - Timer mode, wide selfie mode, selfie mode, AR Emoji, selfie focus
Camera Features (Front) - Quick launch, Motion photo, Stamps, location tags, VDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilization), Full view, Flaw detection
BATTERY AND CHARGING Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 3000 mAh 4000 mAh Samsung Galaxy Note9 has larger battery capacity than Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
Fast Charging Technology TurboPower technology - Motorola Moto Z3 Play has fast charging technology.
Wireless Charging - Yes Samsung Galaxy Note9 can be charged wirelessly.
Wireless Charging Standards - WPC, PMA
Talk Time - 1740 minutes
Run Time Details - Talk (3G): up to 1740 min
Active online usage (3G): up to 14 hrs
Active online usage (4G): up to 16 hrs
Active online usage (Wi-Fi): up to 17 hrs
Playback (audio): up to 59 hrs
Playback (audio (Always On Display Off)): up to 95 hrs
Playback (video): up to 20 hrs
Battery Technology Lithium Ion -
CELLULAR Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM TD-SCDMA / WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 4G Both phones have the same mobile network generation.
Operating System Android 8.1 Oreo Android 8.1 Oreo
Intelligent Assistant - Bixby
Payment Technology - Samsung Pay
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
COMMUNICATIONS Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
3G UMTS Band - Band 1, Band 2, Band 4, Band 5, Band 8
3G UMTS Frequency - 2100, 1900, 1700, 850, 900
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 26, Band 28, Band 38, Band 40, Band 41 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 13, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 25, Band 26, Band 28, Band 32, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40, Band 41, Band 66
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, TDD 2600, TDD 2300, TDD 2500 FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700c, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 1900+, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, FDD 1500 L, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, ANT+/ANT
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0 Bluetooth 5.0 LE
NFC Yes Yes Both phones have an NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS SMS, MMS
MEDIA Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Supported Digital Audio Standards - WAV, WMA, AAC, PCM, AMR, MP3, FLAC, XMF, OGG, MIDI, APE (Monkey's Audio), M4A, apt-X, DSF, DSD, MXMF, OGA, 3GA, AWB, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DFF, MID, DSD64, DSD128
Supported Digital Video Standards - MKV, FLV, AVI, MPEG-4, WMV, ASF, 3GP, M4V, WebM, 3G2
Sound Enhancements Dolby Audio Dolby Digital Plus sound, Dolby Atmos sound technology, Acoustic Overload Point, stereo speakers tuned by AKG, Dolby Digital sound
FEATURES Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Phone Functions Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert
Sensors Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, magnetometer, gyro sensor, ultrasonic distance sensor Accelerometer, proximity sensor, barometer, gyro sensor, hall sensor, RGB sensor, pressure sensor, geomagnetic sensor
Security Devices Face recognition, fingerprint reader Face recognition, fingerprint reader, eye scan
Additional Phone Features Four microphones S Pen multi-input, Face Unlock, Wi-Fi Miracast, Screen Write, Smart Select, MU-MIMO technology, Fast Charging, Samsung KNOX, Face recognition, High AOP Mic, Smart View, Live message, Screen off memo, Samsung DeX support, Bixby Vision, Smart Performance Adjuster, Dual Audio, water-carbon cooling system, S Pen remote function
OTHERS Motorola Moto Z3 Play Samsung Galaxy Note9
Included Accessories Power adapter, USB-C to 3.5 jack adapter Power adapter, tweezer, SIM card removal tool, USB connector, USB-C cable, S Pen, Pen nibs, headset (tuned by AKG)
Compliant Standards - IP68
Max Depth of Water Resistance - 1.5 m
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