Plan Showdown: iPhone 8 Vs Galaxy S8 Vs Galaxy Note8

For those with an affinity with Chinese numerology, this is definitely the year for a new smartphone. Between the iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8, there has never been a luckier line-up of smartphone to choose from.

Of course, the rest of us are in luck too; these are arguably some of the best phones we’ve seen yet. They are all packed to the gills with features, and are some of the year’s top performers (although we still need to wait a few days to see whether the new iPhone is prone to bending or blowing up, I guess).

There will be some people who picked sides in the iPhone vs Android debate years ago, so this one goes out to the OS agnostics and bargain hunters, looking to get the most phone for as little money as possible.

iPhone 8 64GB vs Galaxy S8 (with 10GB data)

As you can see, there is a bit of money to be saved by choosing the Galaxy S8 at this time of year, but not a great deal. You can save $8 per month on the Virgin Mobile $80, which is a good saving at $192 over 24 months, but otherwise it’s about $5 per month or less.

What you do get with the Galaxy S8 is the choice of Woolworth’s Mobile, with access to the Telstra network. The price is on par with the Optus network competitors, but a fair bit cheaper than Telstra itself.

You also get some of Samsung best hardware, rather than Apple’s second-tier tech. A 5.8-inch qHD resolution edge-to-edge screen over a 4.7-inch ‘Retina’ resolution display, 4GB RAM over 2GB RAM, and a headphone jack rather than the absence of one. Not that I’m picking sides, but still.

iPhone 8 Plus 256GB vs Galaxy Note8 (with 10GB data)

I’ve opted for the higher spec iPhone for this comparison because of how much closer its retail price is to the Note8, compared with the smaller storage variant, and because we know that these retail prices serve as a good guide to the contract prices.

Despite these phones costing almost exactly the same to buy outright, the plan prices tell a different story. In fact, you can save as much as $13 per month on an Optus plan and $11 per month with Virgin Mobile by choosing a Note8 over an iPhone. That’s $312 less, on the same plan for a phone that costs $20 more. Plus you get the nifty stylus, which is guaranteed to make you more attractive, just like a can of Lynx deodorant.

As always, the tables are a snapshot of what’s available, so click on the ‘View Full Results’ buttons to tweak the results however you like.


Joe Hanlon is Publisher at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website. He’s been writing about phones and plans for far too long.


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