The N9 does not beat it in brightness and If the N9 was 16bit it will not beat it in colour. It beats it in things like black levels. I believe the N9 is 24bit anyway according to its specs sheet so it's the same as the iPhone in that respect. The memory requirements do increase but not to unacceptable levels since the resolution isn't that high. for 16bit it will be 0.781MB, 24bit is 1.17MB. Edit: just saw your edit. yep N9 is 24bit.