Samsung Galaxy S8 Active vs. Apple iPhone XS

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Side by side comparison and review of Samsung Galaxy S8 Active and Apple iPhone XS. Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory capacities and other key specifications and features to simplify the choice of your perfect phone. Our goal is to make it easier for you to decide on the phone that will best meet your expectations by revealing the main differences between the products.

Phone Specifications Comparison

Samsung Galaxy S8 Active vs. Apple iPhone XS Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Manufacturer Model Number SM-G892A A2097
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 152 mm 143.6 mm Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has greater height than Apple iPhone XS.
Width 74.9 mm 70.9 mm Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has greater width than Apple iPhone XS.
Depth 9.9 mm 7.7 mm Apple iPhone XS is narrower than Samsung Galaxy S8 Active.
Weight 208 g 177 g Apple iPhone XS is lighter than Samsung Galaxy S8 Active.
Body Colour Meteor grey | Titanium gold Space grey | Silver | Gold
Body Material - Glass, surgical‑grade stainless steel
Protection Shockproof, dustproof, water-resistant Dustproof, splashproof, waterproof
Waterproof (Water-resistant) Yes Yes Both phones are waterproof.
IP rating - IEC 60529 IP68
SAR Value 0.8 W/kg (body), 0.25 W/kg (head) 0.99 W/kg (body), 0.99 W/kg (head)
Integrated Components Heart rate sensor -
Connector Type Micro-USB - 5 pin Micro-USB Type B
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
Lightning
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM, Electronic SIM card (e-SIM)
SIM Card Qty Single-SIM Dual-SIM
DISPLAY Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Display Type OLED display OLED display
Display Technology Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Super Retina HD
Screen Size (Display Size) 5.8" 5.8" Both phones have the same screen size.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 2960 x 1440 pixels 2436 x 1125 pixels Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has better screen resolution than Apple iPhone XS.
Pixel Density - 458 ppi
Max Brightness - 625 cd/m²
Colour Depth 16.7 million colours -
Contrast Ratio - 1000000:1
HDR - Yes Apple iPhone XS has HDR.
HDR Technology - HDR10
Display Enhancement Technology - Dolby Vision
Display Refresh Rate - 120 Hz
Display Features Always-on display True Tone display, Wide colour display (P3)
Display Protection (Screen Protector) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (scratch resistant glass) Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
PROCESSOR Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Apple A12 Bionic
Clock Speed 2.35 GHz -
Processor Core Qty 8-core 6-core Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has higher processor core quantity than Apple iPhone XS.
64-bit Architecture Yes Yes Both phones have 64-bit architecture.
MEMORY Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
RAM LPDDR4 SDRAM - 4 GB -
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 64 GB 64 GB Both phones have the same internal memory capacity.
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 256 GB -
CAMERA Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 2
Sensor Resolution 12 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Both phones have the same camera resolution.
Sensor Type - BSI
Lens Type - Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture - F/1.8
Lens Construction - 6-element
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) Both phones have optical image stabilization.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Optical Zoom - 2x
Digital Zoom 8x 10x Apple iPhone XS has better digital zoom than Samsung Galaxy S8 Active.
Special Effects - Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono
HDR Mode - Smart HDR
Camera Modes Panorama, Slow motion mode, Pro mode, wide selfie mode, Virtual Shot, HYPERLAPSE, Food mode Burst mode, Panorama, Timer mode, low-light shots, tap to focus, Live Photos, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting, wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Body and face detection Apple iPhone XS has face detection.
Light Source LED light True Tone quad LED flash
Video Resolutions - 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 60 fps, 1280 x 720 (720p) at 30 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 120 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 60 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 24 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 240 fps
Camera Features (Functions) - Sapphire crystal lens cover, Cinematic video stabilisation, Focus Pixels, Cinematic video stabilisation, Playback zoom, Hybrid IR filter, Exposure control, geotagging, LTM (Local Tone Mapping), Stereo Recording, Continuous autofocus video, 8MP still photos recording 4K video, Time‑lapse video with stabilisation, Slow Sync, Advanced red-eye correction, Optical image stabilization for video, Extended dynamic range for video
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) - 12 Megapixel
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 2
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 7 Megapixel Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has better front camera resolution than Apple iPhone XS.
Sensor Type (Front) - BSI
Lens Aperture (Front) F/1.7 F/2.2 Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has better front lens aperture than Samsung Galaxy S8 Active.
Focus Adjustment Automatic -
Special Effects (Front) - Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono
HDR Mode (Front) - Smart HDR
Camera Modes (Front) Slow motion video, Virtual Shot Burst mode, Timer mode, Live Photos, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting
Face Recognition (Face ID) - Body and face detection, face recognition Apple iPhone XS has face detection.
Light Source (Front) - Retina Flash
Video Resolutions (Front) - 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 60 fps
Camera Features (Front) - FaceTime HD camera, Exposure control, Auto image stabilisation, Animoji, Memoji, TrueDepth camera, Extended dynamic range for video, Cinematic video stabilisation
SECOND FRONT CAMERA
Camera Functions (2nd Front) - Infrared camera for Face ID
Camera Features (2nd Front) - Flood Illuminator, Dot Projector
BATTERY AND CHARGING Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 4000 mAh -
Fast Charging Technology - Apple fast charging technology Apple iPhone XS has fast charging technology.
Wireless Charging Yes Yes Both phones can be charged wirelessly.
Wireless Charging Standards - Qi
Standby Time 120 hours -
Talk Time 1920 minutes 1200 minutes Samsung Galaxy S8 Active has longer battery life when making calls than Apple iPhone XS.
Run Time Details Talk: up to 1920 min
Standby: up to 120 hrs
Playback (audio (via speakers)): up to 113 hrs
Talk: up to 1200 min
Active online usage: up to 12 hrs
Playback (wireless video): up to 14 hrs
Playback (wireless audio): up to 60 hrs
Battery Technology - Lithium Ion
CELLULAR Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 4G Both phones have the same mobile network generation.
Operating System Android 7.0 Nougat iOS 12
Intelligent Assistant Bixby Siri
Payment Technology Samsung Pay Apple Pay
Navigation GPS A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
COMMUNICATIONS Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE, DC-HSDPA, LTE Advanced, VoLTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, VoWiFi, Gigabit LTE
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 20, Band 28, Band 29, Band 30, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40, Band 41, Band 66 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 13, Band 14, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 25, Band 26, Band 28, Band 29, Band 30, Band 32, Band 34, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40, Band 41, Band 46, Band 66
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 800 DD, FDD 700 APT, FDD 700d, FDD 2300 WCS, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3 FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700c, FDD 700 PS, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 1900+, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, FDD 700d, FDD 2300 WCS, FDD 1500 L, TDD 2000, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, TDD 5150, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac IEEE 802.11ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.1 LE EDR Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth Profiles A2DP -
NFC - Yes Apple iPhone XS has NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS SMS, MMS
MEDIA Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Supported Digital Audio Standards WAV, WMA, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, XMF, OGG, apt-X, MP4 Audible, MP3, FLAC, Apple Lossless, AC-3, AAC-LC, LPCM, HE-AAC, Audible AAX, Audible AAX+, protected AAC, EAC3, HE-AAC v2
Supported Digital Video Standards MKV, FLV, AVI, 3GP M-JPEG, H.264, HEVC, MPEG-4 Part 2, HEIF
Sound Enhancements - Dolby Digital Plus sound, Dolby Digital sound
FEATURES Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
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, digital compass, gyro sensor, hall sensor, heart rate Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, 3-axis gyro sensor, digital compass, barometer
Security Devices Fingerprint reader, eye scan Face recognition
Security Technology - Face ID
Additional Phone Features TTY compatible, HD Voice TTY compatible, FaceTime, MIMO technology, Wi-Fi Calling, iBeacon microlocation, QuickType keyboard, Apple TV support (2nd or later), Neural Engine, AirPlay Mirroring
OTHERS Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Apple iPhone XS
Included Accessories USB cable, power adapter Power adapter, Apple EarPods with Lightning Connector, Lightning to USB cable
Compliant Standards HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible) IEC 60529 IP68, HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible)
Max Depth of Water Resistance - 2 m
Max Operating Temperature - 35 °C
Min Operating Temperature - 0 °C
Humidity Range Operating - 5 - 95% (non-condensing)
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