Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ go official with new hardware, old looks

[Proudpakistaniguy]

Samsung has just unpacked the new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship duo in Barcelona. The new devices are helming Samsung's 2018 smartphone portfolio with new hardware but old looks.

Both S9 and S9+ retain the familiar glass-sandwich design with water-proofing, aluminum frame, curved Gorilla glasses, and everything. Samsung has trimmed the screen bezels a bit and thus both phones have insignificantly smaller footprints than their respective predecessors.

The minor changes in the design include a well-hidden iris scanner, a properly placed fingerprint reader, and a changed grille for the bottom speaker.

The Infinity Super AMOLED screens are here to stay, both with Quad HD resolution. The Galaxy S9 has a 5.8" big screen, while the Galaxy S9+ opts for a 6.2" unit - just like last year. Samsung promises even deeper blacks than before, whatever that means for an OLED screen.

Both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will run on the latest Exynos 9810 everywhere but North America and China. The new SoC has an octa-core processor with a pair of third-gen Mongoose core at 2.8GHz and a quartet of Cortex0A55 at 1.7GHz. There is an 18-core Mali-G72 GPU and 4GB (S9) or 6GB (S9+) of RAM.

The latest Qualcomm chipset - Snapdragon 845 - will power the duo in North America in China. It has an octa-core Kryo 385 processor, Adreno 630 GPU, and the same RAM - 4 gigs for the S9 and 6 gigs on the S9+.

The camera is where the new Galaxies have seen the biggest lift. The 12MP main camera on both phones is now capable of variable aperture - you can choose between f/1.5 and f/2.4. There is optical stabilization, and dual-pixel phase-detect autofocus. Unfortunately, the LED flash is staying single for another year.

The selfie shooter is borrowed straight from the S8 - an 8MP one with f/1.7 lens and autofocus.

The Galaxy S9+ is exclusively getting a secondary telephoto camera - the same as on the Note8. It's a 12MP sensor with f/2.4 lens, OIS, and dual-pixel AF.

Both smartphones support 4K at 60fps capturing in the new HEVC format, as well as 720p slow-mo recording at 960 fps - just like the most recent Sonys. One major difference between the Xperias and the Galaxy S9 smartphones is the automatic event detection - no more hit and misses of those precious moments. The slow-mo has lesser cool time, too, now it's just 2s. And finally, Samsung offers easy editing of those clips, including one-click gif export.

Finally, both Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with a premium AKG by Harman stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. Samsung says those are 40% louder over the S8's speaker.

The S9 duo runs on Android Oreo with the latest Grace UX. There is new support of AR Emojis, improved KNOX, and Intelligent Scan security making use of the iris scanner and face unlock at the same time.

The batteries of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are the same as on the S8 and S8+, no updates here.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will launch next month in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple. Pricing, promotions, and exact availability is yet to be announced.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ at a glance

• Body: Polished aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front and back; IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple color schemes.
• Display: 5.8"/6.2" Super AMOLED Infinity, 2,960x1440px resolution, 18.5:9 (2.06:1) aspect ratio, 568/531ppi; HDR 10 compliant.
• Rear camera: S9 and S9+: 12MP, f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture, dual pixel phase detection autofocus, OIS; multi-shot image stacking; multi-frame noise reduction; 2160p/30fps video recording; 1080p/240fps; 960fps super slow-mo with automatic motion detection. S9+ only: Secondary telephoto 12MP, Type 1/3.4" sensor, OIS and Dual Pixel PDAF, f/2.4 aperture, 52mm equiv. focal length
• Front camera: 8MP, f/1.7 aperture, autofocus; 1440p/30fps video recording.
• OS/Software: Android 8.0 Oreo; Samsung Grace UX; Bixby virtual assistant with Bixby Vision; KNOX with Intelligent Scan
• Chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4x2.7 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver), Adreno 630 GPU. Exynos 9810: octa-core CPU (4x2.8 GHz 3rd-gen Mongoose + 4x1.7GHz Cortex-A55), Mali-G72 MP18 GPU.
• Memory: S9: 4GB of RAM; S9+: 6GB of RAM; 64GB / 128GB / 256GB storage; microSD slot for cards up to 256GB, UFS cards support.
• Battery: 3,000mAh/3,500mAh Li-Po (sealed); Adaptive Fast Charging; WPC&PMA wireless charging.
• Connectivity: Single-SIM, Dual-SIM available in certain markets; LTE-A, 4-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.18 downlink; USB Type-C (v3.1); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS, Beidou, Galileo; NFC; Bluetooth 5.0.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader; iris recognition/face recognition; AKG by Harman Stereo Speakers with Dolby Atmos; 3.5mm jack; bundled AKG headphones.

 

[waz]

Yep I love Samsung products, I have a top of the line TV and their latest tablet. Everything is slick and user friendly. I prefer Apple for my phone though.

 

[Jinn Baba]

What's the release date?

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

Yep I love Samsung products, I have a top of the line TV and their latest tablet. Everything is slick and user friendly. I prefer Apple for my phone though.

Apple software is unbeatable except probably stock android which come closer ..samsung mobiles offering best hardware (display, camera , raw processing power, water proofing etc ) except touchwiz skin which is bit laggy

 

[UKBengali]

I am trying to figure out how Samsung is asking 739 UK pounds but only 719.99 US dollars for the Galaxy S9?
Even with 20% VAT, Samsung are massively profiteering. The right price would be around the 600 UK pounds mark.

 

[Mr.pathologist]

Except augmented reality tweaks there is nothing new in this product it looks same like s8 just camera looks different.

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

What's the release date?

Next month. Pre-orders start on March 2, and the handsets will be released on March 16
I think people should buy s8 plus now which will be reduced after release of s9/s9 plus

S8 still offer great stuffs except probably stereo speaker which will be missing

 

[Mr.pathologist]

Samsung s9 note would be much better than this s series new flagship by Samsung

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

Except augmented reality tweaks there is nothing new in this product it looks same like s8 just camera looks different.

stereo speaker , camera is also different ..its first time dual camera appeared in s series and also variable aperture

 

[UKBengali]

Yep I love Samsung products, I have a top of the line TV and their latest tablet. Everything is slick and user friendly. I prefer Apple for my phone though.

I have a Tab S2 8.0 which I brought back in November 2015 for a reduced price of 220 pounds.
It has an excellent screen and battery life is very good if you are watching video(8-9 hours) - around
6-7 hours in mixed use(video and web browsing).
Really pleased as still getting Android security updates although still 7.0(Nougat)

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

I am trying to figure out how Samsung is asking 739 UK pounds but only 719.99 US dollars for the Galaxy S9?
Even with 20% VAT, Samsung are massively profiteering. The right price would be around the 600 UK pounds mark.

Its same with others devices

apple devices are cheaper in US and expensive in UK

 

[Path-Finder]

I have the S8+, S9+ hmmmn

 

[UKBengali]

Its same with others devices

apple devices are cheaper in US and expensive in UK

Apple products used to have a fair price in UK before the pound devalued after Brexit vote.
For example the 499 US dollar(excluding VAT) iPad used to sell for 400 pound(20% VAT included) in the UK.
Now for some reason they are asking 999 pounds for a 999 dollar iphone when the Pound/Dollar
exchange rate is nearly the same as it was before Brexit vote!

Problem in the UK is that people are willing to pay inflated prices and that is why Apple/Samsung can charge
rip-off prices.

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

Apple products used to have a fair price in UK before the pound devalued after Brexit vote.
For example the 499 US dollar(excluding VAT) iPad used to sell for 400 pound(20% VAT included) in the UK.
Now for some reason they are asking 999 pounds for a 999 dollar iphone when the Pound/Dollar
exchange rate is nearly the same as it was before Brexit vote!

Problem in the UK is that people are willing to pay inflated prices and that is why Apple/Samsung can charge
rip-off prices.

Mate pound/dollar exchange rate never been the same so there is no way you can translate 1000 dollars into 1000 pounds when Iphone X, 8 or 8 plus released

 

[waz]

I have a Tab S2 8.0 which I brought back in November 2015 for a reduced price of 220 pounds.
It has an excellent screen and battery life is very good if you are watching video(8-9 hours) - around
6-7 hours in mixed use(video and web browsing).
Really pleased as still getting Android security updates although still 7.0(Nougat)

I use my S3 for viewing films, surfing and shopping. It's OLED screen is unbeatable and it runs very smoothly. It's on par with the latest IPAD according to independent testers Which. I have the 8 plus as my phone.