The Galaxy S9 is Samsung's first attempt at toppling its biggest rival, the iPhone X. With a release date speculated for the first quarter of 2018, the Galaxy S9 is poised to enter the market as the most formidable Android smartphone in the industry. Unfortunately for Samsung, however, recent benchmark tests seem to suggest that Apple might have set the bar a little bit too high for the South Korean tech giant to catch up.

According to a recent report from the International Business Times, a device with model number SM-G960F was spotted testing on Geekbench. While the benchmarked device did not carry an officially given name, speculations over the past few months have suggested that the SM-G960 model number is designated for the Samsung Galaxy S9. Thus, if rumors are to be believed, there is a pretty good chance that the mysterious smartphone recently tested on Geekbench was indeed the Galaxy S9.

In a lot of ways, the Galaxy S9 performed just as well as one would expect from an upcoming flagship Android smartphone. According to the results of the benchmark test, the Galaxy S9 earned a 2680 single-core score and a 7787 multi-core score. That's pretty impressive, and it is one of the best scores earned by an Android device to date.

Unfortunately for the upcoming 2018 flagship, however, Samsung's next Android monster is still no match for the iPhone X in terms of raw processing power. Inasmuch as the scores of the Galaxy S9 are impressive, they still pale in comparison to the iPhone X's score, which earned a 4199 in single-core tests and a whopping 10061 in multi-core tests.

What's more is the fact that the Galaxy S9 device spotted in Geekbench was likely utilizing an Exynos processor, a variant of the smartphone that is saved for the South Korean market. Over the past few years, the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S-series have proven to be the most powerful variants of the device. Despite this, however, the recent benchmark scores suggest that the iPhone X's A11 Bionic chip still far outclassed Samsung's homegrown mobile processor.

Despite the lower capabilities of its SoC, however, the Samsung Galaxy S9 is still expected to be a formidable mobile device. Currently, speculations suggest that the smartphone would be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or an Exynos Series 9 9810 processor. The powerful processor is rumored to be paired with a modest 4GB of RAM, dual camera sensors, and a stunning Super AMOLED Infinity Display.

Samsung is yet to announce a release date for the Galaxy S9, though speculations are high that the flagship mobile device would be unveiled sometime during the first quarter of 2018. Pricing for the upcoming smartphone is expected to be comparable to its direct predecessors, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

[Featured Image by Karlis Dambrans/Shutterstock]