BEST ANDROID PHONE SO FAR
It’s a sad fact, but the only chance the Samsung Galaxy S9 had to stand out in an ocean of equally competent Android smartphones in 2018 was if its camera was the very, very best – better than all the rest. And, to a certain extent, Samsung has pulled that off with the Galaxy S9.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 SPECIFICATIONS
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
CategorySamsung Galaxy S9Samsung Galaxy S9+
Display5.8-inch AMOLED, 2960x1440 (18.5:9)6.2-inch AMOLED, 2960x1440 (18.5:9)
ProcessorSnapdragon 845 or 10nm 64-bit Samsung ExynosSnapdragon 845 or 10nm 64-bit Samsung Exynos
Storage64GB64GB
ExpandablemicroSD up to 400GBmicroSD up to 400GB
Cameras
Samsung trumpeted the "reimagined" cameras in the Galaxy S9 and S9+, leading up to the phones' launch, and it delivered. The main camera in the new phone is a 12-megapixel Super Speed Dual Pixel with a variable aperture that adjusts depending on conditions. (In low light, for example, you'd use the wide f/1.5 aperture.) The S9+ adds a second 12-MP telephoto lens, allowing the phone to offer a 2x optical zoom.
Both cameras offer a Super Slo-Mo feature, where you can slow video shot by the camera to 960 frames per second at 720p resolution. Even better, the phones can automatically sense motion and activate the feature on their own.
We've got a more detailed look at the major changes to the Galaxy S9's cameras.
CPU, RAM and Storage
Both phones feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor, which is 25 percent faster than the Snapdragon 835 chip in the Galaxy S8. It also offers several other advantages.
For one, the 845 processor boasts an improved image signal processor, which means the S9 and S9+ captures images more quickly, as well as shoot slow-motion video at 480 frames per second. The 845 chip also enables better HDR photos. The S9 is more competitive with the Pixel 2 than the S8 was in terms of photo quality, but Google's latest phones and the iPhone X sport better cameras than the S9+, even with Samsung's improvements.
When it comes to speed and performance, the iPhone X's A11 Bionic chip easily bested the S9+ in our testing, which included a Geekbench 4 test of overall system performance and a video-editing test where we exported a 2-minute 4K video file.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ offer 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You can use the microSD card slot to boost capacity to 400GB, which no iPhone offers.
Stereo Audio and Headphone Jack
Despite rumors that Samsung might be ditching the headphone jack for the Galaxy S9 and S9+, it's still there, thankfully. Another welcome addition is the arrival of stereo speakers for both the Galaxy S9 and S9+, powered by AKG. Samsung has trailed behind the likes of HTC when it comes to sound quality, so it's great to see the company step up its game here.
Battery Life
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ pack the same size batteries as their predecessors — a 3,000 mAh battery in the S9 and ta 3,500 mAh battery in the S9+. Qualcomm promised that the GPU in the Snapdragon 845 chip has 30 percent better power efficiency thanks to four dedicated A55 efficiency cores, but the S9+ lasted 10 hours and 59 minutes compared to the 11 hours and 4 minutes reached by the S8+.
Software
It's safe to say that the Bixby assistant on the Galaxy S8 didn't set the world on fire. In fact, many lobbied for Samsung to allow users to re-map the Bixby button to another function. However, Samsung made some improvements to Bixby, particularly with Bixby Vision, which can now provide real-time translation of signs and other text.
An AR Emoji feature turns your face into an animated character, a feature we found more creepy than delightful in our time with the S9+.
Comments