The area where Samsung dominates Apple

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (right) has a faster average download speed than Apple's iPhone X (left). Photo / AP

Samsung has the edge over Apple when it comes to mobile download speeds, according to new research.

The latest figures, analysed by American computer magazine PCMag, used Ookla's Speedtest data from March to May 2018 to examine how various Samsung and Apple smartphones perform in terms of data download speeds, according to The Sun.

Based on stats from across the United States, the Samsung Galaxy S9 download data at an average speed of 41.80Mbps, compared with Apple's iPhone X, which recorded an average speed of 31.18Mbps.

One reason for this is that high-end Samsung phones typically use newer modems, according to The Sun.

In particular, Samsung's Galaxy S9 uses the Snapdragon 845 processor, which comes fitted with Qualcomm's powerful X16 modem.

And while some of Apple's iPhone X devices also use the same modem as the Galaxy S9, a selection of them use less impressive Intel modems.

The iPhone X also doesn't have a technology called 4x4 MIMO or four-way carrier aggregation, which both boost download speeds.

Of course it's entirely possible that the iPhone users were living in areas with generally worse network coverage or were using networks that offer slower speeds.