Samsung’s newest ad takes a shot at Apple’s iPhone X.
The ad boasts about the Galaxy S9’s faster download speeds. It depicts a woman asking an Apple Store rep about the download speed of an iPhone X.
“I thought it was the smartphone of the future,” she says in a cheeky line Samsung fans will cheer.
The ad’s punchline is that the Apple rep doesn’t have a response went confronted about the “slow speeds” of the iPhone X. The thing is, these “slow speeds” aren’t that big of a deal.
Download speeds don’t count for much
Samsung is basing this off of an Ookla report that the S9 had the fastest download speeds of any phone. The test compared the S9, the Google Pixel 2 and the iPhone X.
The S9 had 17 percent faster download speeds than the Pixel 2 and 37 percent faster download speeds than the iPhone X.
However, download speeds, while important, aren’t necessarily the most important statistic when it comes to phones. The S9 has a CAT 18 LTE modem which is capable of theoretical speeds up to 1.2 gigabits per second (Gbps). However, just because it can hit those speeds doesn’t mean it always does.
In May, mobile analytics firm Tutela released statistics on which networks were the fastest in Canada.
Tutela measures speed differently than other apps like Ookla. For its speed tests, Tutela downloads a roughly 2MB file to gather speed data, unlike Ookla, which downloads larger files. Tutela says this better represents real-world usage as it tests how quickly networks ramp up to full speed. Given the larger files used in the Ookla test, the network has time to ramp up to full speed.
According to Tutela’s report, Bell had the fastest network in Canada with an average download speed of 16.53 megabits per second (Mbps).
That means the average Canadian user isn’t experiencing the fast data speeds these devices are capable of. We can’t say definitively that the S9 isn’t pulling that average up, or that the iPhone X is dragging it down.
Unless the network can handle it
Earlier this year, Bell announced its LTE-Advanced network reached gigabit-per-second speeds in testing. With certain devices containing capable modems, the LTE-A network could theoretically provide gigabit speeds. However in real-world use, users will see a bump in speed, but not full gigabit speed.
The Samsung S9, as well as the S8 before it, the Note 8 and HTC’s U11 could all achieve gigabit download speeds (in ideal environments), unlike the iPhone X.
The point is, the ad is right — the S9 can download things faster than the iPhone X. But that capability doesn’t completely translate into the real-world. On the right networks, the S9 will perform significantly better. On an average network, the S9 will still outperform the iPhone X. The question is whether the average consumer will even notice.
Ultimately, the ad fails to sell the phone. Not because the S9 isn’t faster, but because the ad insists on telling us instead of showing us.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that showing is much more valuable than telling. Instead of poking fun at Apple over a statistic some consumers might not notice, show viewers how that speed difference will benefit them.
Better yet, partner with a carrier like Bell that has network infrastructure your device can utilize. Show consumers just how fast the S9 is.
Source: Cult of Mac
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