Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Unique In Their Own Ways

The MWC 2019 is again an event which every smartphone makers use to showcase their latest and best offerings. Sony hasn’t had a good run in the smartphone market in the last couple of years, but the situation might change with the new Xperia 1. Meanwhile, the Nokia 9 PureView has been getting quite a lot of attention as it is the first phone to come with five rear cameras. Lastly, the latest affordable Samsung flagship, Galaxy S10e, is also pretty strong offering in its price range. So, let’s see how are the three latest flagship devices from three strong phone makers perform against each other.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Price

The Sony Xperia 1 is priced at £849 (around Rs. 78,000) for the option with 6GB RAM/128GB storage which is expandable up to 512GB via a microSD slot. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S10e single variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is offered at Rs. 55,900 in the Indian market. Lastly, the Nokia 9 PureView’s price starts from $699 (around Rs. 48,200) for the model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

It appears that the Xperia 1 will come with the highest price tag while the Nokia 9 PureView is offered at a more reasonable price. Besides price, there is no different in the memory configuration  as all of them is offered with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Design & Build

All of these three smartphones feature the flagship-level design and build. They feature a glass design on both front and back sides as well as a metal frame. All three phones are also covered with Gorilla Glass 5 or 6 and certified with IP68 or IP67.

While the Xperia 1 and Galaxy S10e both come with a physical fingerprint sensor, the Nokia 9 PureView comes with an on-screen fingerprint scanner. Sony still goes for a fingerprint scanner mounted on the rear, while Samsung equips one on the Galaxy S10e in its power button. All three phones don’t have a notch design with the Galaxy S10e has a punch-hole on top of the display to house a selfie camera.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Display

The Sony Xperia is very unique with its display. The handset is equipped with a CinemaWide 4K OLED panel with a tall 21:9 aspect ratio. Meanwhile, the other two have more conventional displays. Lastly, the Galaxy S10e packs a 5.8 Quad-HD+ Dynamic AMOLED panel with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and also significantly better screen-to-body ratio.

The Nokia 9 PureView sports a 5.99-inch Quad-HD+ P-OLED panel with an aspect ratio of 18:9.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Software & Performance

The offering from Sony packs the latest Snapdragon 855 SoC. Meanwhile, the Indian model of the Galaxy S10e will pack a Samsung’s Exynos 9820 SoC that is in the same tier with the Snapdragon 855 SoC. Lastly, HMD Global questionably goes for a Snapdragon 845 SoC on its Nokia 9 PureView which is quite behind compared to other flagship smartphones on the market.

As for software, they all unsurprisingly run the latest Android 9 Pie with the Galaxy S10 running Samsung's One UI on top.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Camera

It’s quite hard to say which phone is clearly winning in the camera department. The Nokia 9 PureView is highly famous for its penta rear camera setup. Interestingly, all of the five rear cameras have 12MP resolution, and three of them are monochrome while the other two are RB sensors. The setup is coupled with a Time-of-Flight camera. Up front, there is a 20MP sensor for taking selfies and video calling. However, its cameras don’t offer Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

The Xperia 1, on the other hand, comes with a triple camera setup which comprises of three 12MP sensors. One of the cameras is a standard one, and the other two are a 12MP ultra-wide angle camera and a 12MP camera with 2X zoom capabilities. The first two cameras on the rear setup have 5-axis OIS capability. Up front, there is an 8MP selfie camera.

Lastly, the Galaxy S10e features a dual camera system on the rear, including a 12MP main sensor with support for OIS, paired with a 16MP secondary sensor with an ultra-wide lens. On the front, it has a 10MP selfie camera which is located on a small cut-out. Additionally, the S10e is the first smartphone to have dual-pixel autofocus on its selfie camera.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Battery

All of the three handsets are charged via a USB-C port with support for fast charging and wireless charging as well. The battery capacity of three phones are not significantly different, with the S10e packing a 3,100 mAh battery, the Nokia handset coming with a 3,320 mAh cell, and the Xperia boasting a 3,330 mAh battery. The most significantly different in this aspect should be the reverse wireless charging feature on the Galaxy S10e.

Sony Xperia 1 vs. Nokia 9 PureView vs. Galaxy S10e: Final thought

After going through most of the aspects between the three phones, it can be seen that they have different functionalities and strengths. If you want a great all-round phone with a reasonable price tag, the Galaxy S10e should be an excellent choice for you. However, if you want to go all in on the camera quality, the Nokia 9 PureView may be slightly better with its penta rear cameras. However, if you are a person that consume media a lot, the Xperia 1’s display with a tall 21:9 aspect ratio may be the right one for you.