Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Design
The new Samsung flagships come with a rather familiar design on the front but the back is where it differs slightly. Samsung seems to have pushed the camera lens unit along with the fingerprint scanner downwards. Perhaps this was a move to solve the reachability issues of the fingerprint sensor on its predecessor as it was placed on the right side of the camera and also to accommodate the extra camera lens that comes with the dual camera unit. The Bixby button remains unchanged and unlike its competitors, Samsung still retains the 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung has introduced new stereo speakers on the S9. The company claims that the new speakers will produce a sound that is 40-percent louder. All said and done the familiarity of the design is pronounced and that makes the Galaxy S9 and the S9+ quintessentially Samsung.
Display and Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S9 features a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display that offers a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels with a pixel density of 569ppi. Meanwhile, the larger Galaxy S9+ offers a 6.2-inch display. Both the devices come with an 18:9 aspect ratio and are FullView in nature. Samsung Galaxy S9 and the S9+ come powered by an octa-core Exynos 9810 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. The Samsung Galaxy S9 comes with a 4GB of RAM while the larger S9+ is offered with 6GB of RAM. On the storage front, both the devices offer 64GB of internal memory along with an expandable microSD card slot that can accommodate up to 256GB.
Camera Features
The camera is one of the biggest changes to the Samsung Galaxy flagship lineup. The S9 comes with a 12-Megapixel camera sensor with dual-pixel autofocus technology and is capable of recording slow-motion at frame rates of 460 per second. In the Galaxy S9+ aperture of the camera can be adjusted mechanically and this should ideally help avoid situations like overexposure in bright conditions. However, its worth noting that aperture can be switched between f/1.5 and f/2.4 but cannot be set to values in between them. The Super Slo-Mo feature on the Galaxy S9+ allows frame rates of up to 960fps. Samsung has also made some changes to the camera app which now lets users quickly switch between the modes. Moving on, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ comes with a dual rear camera unit. The second lens (telephoto in nature) misses out on the variable aperture feature, however, it still manages to offer 2X of zoom as opposed to a typical wide-angle camera and also offers portrait mode blurring. Nothing much has changed as far as secondary/selfie cameras are concerned. Both the S9 and the S9+ borrow the same 8-Megapixel f/1.7 camera unit from its predecessor.
AR Emoji
Yet another new feature is the Samsung’s AR Emoji. The new Galaxy smartphones come with an AR Emoji feature that works in line with the Animoji feature on the iPhone X. The AR Emoji scans up to 100 points and lets you create characters that can be used on various third-party apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messengers. The Bixby app has also undergone some changes and now it offers a way for users to calculate calories by simply pointing at the food. As far as VR compatibility is concerned both the Galaxy S9 and the S9+ is compatible with Gear VR and Google’s Daydream View headset. Additionally, the devices will also support the Samsung Dex Pad. In conclusion, Samsung has played safe with the Galaxy S9 and the S9+. They have retained the essentials (including the IP68) and improved as required. The design language is identical to the S8 and so is the overall set of features.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Availability
The Galaxy S9 and the S9 Plus will be available in black, purple, blue and a grey color options. The Samsung Galaxy S9 is priced at $719 while the S9+ is priced at $839, both the devices will be available from March 16 and the prebookings are already open.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Features and Specifications
5.8-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla 5 Octa Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with Adreno 630/Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9810 with Male G72MP18, 4GB RAM Internal storage 64GB/128GB/256GB with expandable microSD card slot 12-Megapixel Dual Pixel Rear camera with LED flash and Super slo-mo feature 8-Megapixel secondary/selfie camera with wide-angle lens Android 8.0 Fingerprint Sensor, Face Unlock, IRIS unlock, Heart Rate sensor and IP68 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 5, USB 3.1 and NFC 3000mAh Battery with fast charging
Samsung Galaxy S9+ Features and Specifications
6.2-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla 5 Octa Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with Adreno 630/Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9810 with Male G72MP18, 4GB RAM Internal storage 64GB/128GB/256GB with expandable microSD card slot 12-Megapixel Rear dual camera with variable aperture LED flash and Super slo-mo feature up to 960 fps. 12-Megapixel secondary rear camera with fixed f/2.4 8-Megapixel secondary/selfie camera with wide-angle lens Android 8.0 Fingerprint Sensor, Face Unlock, IRIS unlock, Heart Rate sensor and IP68 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 5, USB 3.1 and NFC 3500mAh Battery with fast charging
