Object equality is non-trivial matter and subjective. Java delegates the consideration of object equality to Object.equals(), intended to be implemented by yourself as required.
That PHP chooses not to try and provide a means of determining object equality is not a poor choice. Using the === operator to test whether two variables are references to the same object is then also not a poor choice.
That PHP chooses not to try and provide a means of determining object equality is not a poor choice. Using the === operator to test whether two variables are references to the same object is then also not a poor choice.