Samsung’s almost certainly got a new phablet flagship on the way and it’s likely to be a monster, with rumors of a 6.2-inch screen.
If true, the Samsung Galaxy plus 7could dwarf the 5.5-inch iPhone 7, but then again, the Galaxy's tiny bezels mean the size difference might not be as big in the hand, which would be hugely impressive.
Either way, a lot of other things will differ between these two plus-sized handsets, but exactly where? Based on our thorough sniffing through all the leaks and rumors we’ve attempted to answer that question.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus has been leaked so heavily in images and videos that we’re almost certain of how it will look, and what we’re expecting is a metal frame with a glass front and back, a lot like the Samsung Galaxy s7 edge , albeit with smaller bezels above and below the edge-to-edge screen.
The iPhone 7Plus on the other hand leans more heavily on metal, with a metal unibody and larger bezels above and below the screen, necessary in part to house the home button.
Those larger bezels mean the iPhone 7 Plus may be a similar size to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus overall: the 7 Plus comes in at 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3mm, while the Galaxy S8 Plus is rumored to be 159 x 74 x 8mm.
That would make the S8 Plus slightly thicker and longer, but not as wide, despite likely having a much larger screen (discussed below).
Both phones are clearly premium devices though. The lack of wasted space on the Samsung Galaxy S8 perhaps makes it appear slightly more premium and modern, but the glass back is also likely to make it more fragile.
Then again, it’s rumored to be IP68 certified – meaning it’s dust proof and water resistant to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes – while the iPhone 7 Plus is IP67 certified, meaning it’s ‘only’ water resistant to a depth of 1 meter.
Screen
Most sources reckon the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus has a 6.2-inch screen, which would make it bigger than most phablets and far taller than the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus – though, again, the overall handset size may actually not be much larger.
The display on the S8 Plus is thought to be 1,440 x 2,960, while the screen on the iPhone 7 Plus is just 1080 x 1920, so despite the extra size the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus will have a sharper screen.
That’s not the only thing working in its favor either, as the S8 Plus is also likely to support HDR video for more impressive contrast, which the iPhone 7 Plus doesn’t.
Other differences include the fact that the Galaxy S8 Plus will probably have a curved display, where the iPhone 7 Plus is flat, and that Samsung's model will almost certainly use Super AMOLED, for more vivid visuals than the LCD display on the iPhone 7 Plus.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is also likely to employ an 18.5:9 super widescreen aspect ratio, while the iPhone 7 Plus is a more normal 16:9.
Overall it sounds like the Galaxy S8 Plus will probably have the better screen, though its monstrous size may actually be off-putting to some even though the overall chassis isn't much bigger.
OS and power
As flagship phones the Galaxy S8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus are both very powerful. The iPhone 7 Plus uses an Apple A10 Fusion chipset and 3GB of RAM for almost perfectly smooth performance.
We don’t yet know for sure what will be powering the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, but it looks like it will probably use an Exynos 8895 chipset in most of the world and a Snapdragon 835 one in the US. Both of those are top of the range and brand new... so new, in fact, that they’re not used in any currently available phone.
And with likely 4GB of RAM too the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus will, if anything, probably be even more powerful than the iPhone 7 Plus, but the differences are likely to be barely noticeable.
What will be noticeable is the differences in their operating systems, as while the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus will almost certainly run Android Nougat, the iPhone 7 Plus uses iOS 10.
While their interfaces have become more and more similar over the years there are some key differences, with iOS forcing you to keep all of your apps on your home screen while Android gives you an app drawer for example.
Android is also more customizable, but Samsung’s TouchWiz-infused take on it isn’t quite as aesthetically appealing as iOS.
Camera
We’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus to launch with a 12MP camera, probably one that’s similar to the Samsung Galaxy 7which is no bad thing, as that phone has one of the very best smartphone snappers.
The iPhone 7 Plus also has a 12MP camera, but it’s a dual-lens one, while the S8 Plus will probably just be single-lens.
That extra lens on the iPhone can be used to create a bokeh effect, blurring the background around the subject of your shots. You can also use it for 2x optical zoom, letting you zoom in without losing image quality.
The Galaxy S8 Plus is unlikely to be able to match that, but the core snapper will probably be at least as capable and may have a few tricks of its own, with one rumor for example suggesting that it will be able to shoot slow motion video at 1,000fps (frames per second), where the iPhone 7 can only shoot it at 240fps.
Round the front there should be less difference, with the iPhone 7 Plus packing a 7MP sensor and the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus expected to have an 8MP one.
Battery
All the recent rumors point to there being a 3,500mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a 2,900mAh one.
That would make the battery in the S8 Plus a lot bigger then, but it’s also got a much bigger screen to keep lit up.
Comparing the actual life is tricky, but we expect the Galaxy S8 Plus would need a daily charge, and the iPhone 7 Plus does too, though it can comfortably last a full day.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus’s inevitable fast-charging tech will likely mean you can juice it up faster than the iPhone 7 Plus though, despite there being a bigger battery to fill - and Samsung has long been an advocate of wireless charging, so we'd expect that to still be present on the S8 Plus.
Price
Pricing rumors put the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus at $950/£780/AU$1,255, while the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769/£719/AU$1,269.
In the US and UK at least you might pay more for the S8 Plus, but then it is a newer phone and you might get more storage for your money.
The iPhone 7 Plus price gets you 'only' 32GB, while there’s talk that the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus may have 64GB of storage at the bottom end.
Takeaway
Although both these phones have phablet-sized dimensions, only the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus really has a phablet-sized screen, which gives it the edge if you want a big phone.
It’s also likely to have a bigger battery, slightly more water-resistance and potentially more power, but it probably only has a single-lens camera, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a dual-lens one, and it may actually be the cheaper phone.
The biggest difference, as always when choosing between Apple and Samsung, is whether you want iOS or Android. But that aside the S8 Plus will probably be a bigger and possibly slightly better phone – though only if the rumors are accurate, and it lives up to its specs in real world use, which we won’t know for sure until we’ve put it through a full review.
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