SAMSUNG UNVEILED THE GALAXY S9
AND GALAXY S9+ AT THE GALAXY UNPACKED 2018 EVENT IN BARCELONA ON SUNDAY,
GRABBING HEADLINES A DAY BEFORE THE MOBILE
WORLD CONGRESS (MWC) KICKS OFF.
WHILE THE SMARTPHONES LOOK VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL TO THEIR PREDECESSORS, THEY DO
PACK IN SOME SIGNIFICANT UPGRADES IN THE CAMERA DEPARTMENT. WE MANAGED TO SPEND
SOME TIME WITH THE GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+ AHEAD OF THE LAUNCH EVENT AND HERE
ARE SOME THINGS THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE.
IF IT’S
NOT BROKE, DON’T FIX IT - THAT CLEARLY SEEMS TO THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND SAMSUNG’S
DESIGN DECISIONS FOR ITS NEWEST FLAGSHIPS. FROM THE FRONT, THE GALAXY
S9 AND GALAXY
S9+ LOOK NO DIFFERENT THAN THE GALAXY
S8AND GALAXY
S8+, THOUGH SAMSUNG CLAIMS TO HAVE FURTHER REDUCED THE SIZE OF
THE BEZELS AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM. WE REALLY LIKED WHAT SAMSUNG HAD DONE WITH
THE PREVIOUS GALAXY S FLAGSHIPS IN TERMS OF DESIGN, AND SAMSUNG HAS GONE AND FIXED THE ONE COMPLAINT WE HAD WITH THEM
IN TERMS OF DESIGN/ ERGONOMICS - THE PLACEMENT OF THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER.
THE
QUEST FOR EDGE-TO-EDGE DISPLAYS HAS RELEGATED THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER TO THE
BACK OF MANY SMARTPHONES, BUT INSTEAD OF PLACING IT BELOW THE CAMERA MODULE
NEAR THE MIDDLE WHERE IT’S EASILY REACHABLE, SAMSUNG MADE THE STRANGE DECISION
OF PUTTING IT BESIDES THE REAR CAMERA MODULE AND FLASH ON ITS PREVIOUS
GENERATION FLAGSHIPS. THIS MADE THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER MUCH HARDER TO REACH
FOR MOST PEOPLE AND, OFTEN, INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE CAMERA MODULE SINCE YOU
ARE REACHING FOR IT BLIND. WITH THE GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+, THE FINGERPRINT
SCANNER IS BACK WHERE IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ALL ALONG.
WITH NO
REAL UPGRADES IN TERMS OF THE LOOKS, SAMSUNG DESIGNED TO MIX THINGS UP BY
INTRODUCING A BRAND NEW COLOUR WITH THE GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+ - LILAC
PURPLE. THE COLOUR WILL CERTAINLY GRAB ATTENTION AND OUR INITIAL IMPRESSION IS
THAT SAMSUNG HAS DONE A DECENT JOB EXECUTING A FINISH THAT WILL GRAB EYEBALLS
WITHOUT FEELING OVER THE TOP. THE SMARTPHONES WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE IN
MIDNIGHT BLACK, CORAL BLUE, AND TITANIUM GREY COLOURS, THOUGH AT LAUNCH, NOT
ALL COLOURS MAY BE AVAILABLE IN ALL MARKETS.
ANOTHER
SMALL BUT POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IS THE ADDITION OF STEREO SPEAKERS. IN
ADDITION TO THE DOWNWARDS-FIRING SPEAKER, THE EARPIECE WILL NOW DOUBLE UP AS AN
ADDITIONAL CHANNEL TO OFFER YOU STEREO EXPERIENCE WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC,
WATCHING MOVIES, OR LISTENING TO YOUR
FAVOURITE PODCASTS. WHAT’S MORE,
SAMSUNG HAS THROWN IN DOLBY ATMOS ON THE NEW GALAXY S9 AS WELL AS GALAXY S9+
AND IN THE LIMITED TIME THAT WE SPENT WITH THE DEVICES, IT SEEMED THEY WERE
ABLE TO DO A DECENT JOB OF REPLICATING THE SURROUND EFFECT, GIVEN THE OBVIOUS
LIMITATIONS OF A SMARTPHONE. OF COURSE THIS WAS AS PART OF A CONTROLLED DEMO,
SO WE WILL RESERVE FURTHER JUDGEMENT ON THE FEATURE UNTIL WE HAVE A
CHANCE TO TEST OUT THE SMARTPHONES IN DETAIL AS PART OF OUR REVIEW PROCESS.
LIKE WE
SAID EARLIER, POTENTIALLY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT UPGRADES THE GALAXY S9 AND
GALAXY S9+ BRING ARE IN THE CAMERA DEPARTMENT - SUPER-SLOW MO RECORDING AT
960FPS, DUAL APERTURE CAPABILITY ON THE REAR CAMERA SENSOR, WHICH IS CAPABLE OF
SHOOTING AT F/2.4 WHEN THERE’S PLENTY OF LIGHT, BUT CAN SWITCH TO F/1.5 WHEN
THE PHONE DETECTS LOW-LIGHT CONDITIONS. THIS IS SUPPLEMENTED BY A SECONDARY
12-MEGAPIXEL SENSOR ON THE GALAXY S9+ FOR A DUAL REAR CAMERA SETUP. NEEDLESS TO
SAY, THE TIME WE SPENT WITH THE GALAXY S9 DUO ON SUNDAY WASN’T ENOUGH TO MAKE
ANY DEFINITE COMMENTS ON THEIR CAMERA CAPABILITY, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO
TESTING THEM OUT IN DETAIL SOON.
SAMSUNG
GALAXY S9+ SMARTPHONE WAS LAUNCHED IN FEBRUARY 2018. THE PHONE COMES WITH A
6.20-INCH TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY WITH A RESOLUTION OF 1440 PIXELS BY 2960 PIXELS
AT A PPI OF 531 PIXELS PER INCH.
THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ IS POWERED BY 1.7GHZ OCTA-CORE SAMSUNG EXYNOS 9810 PROCESSOR AND IT COMES WITH 6GB OF RAM. THE PHONE PACKS 64GB OF INTERNAL STORAGE THAT CAN BE EXPANDED UP TO 400GB VIA A MICROSD CARD. AS FAR AS THE CAMERAS ARE CONCERNED, THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ PACKS A 12-MEGAPIXEL PRIMARY CAMERA ON THE REAR AND A 8-MEGAPIXEL FRONT SHOOTER FOR SELFIES.
THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ RUNS ANDROID 8.0 AND IS POWERED BY A 3500MAH NON REMOVABLE BATTERY. IT MEASURES 158.10 X 73.80 X 8.50 (HEIGHT X WIDTH X THICKNESS) AND WEIGH 189.00 GRAMS.
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS INCLUDE WI-FI, GPS, BLUETOOTH, NFC AND USB OTG. SENSORS ON THE PHONE INCLUDE COMPASS MAGNETOMETER, PROXIMITY SENSOR, ACCELEROMETER, AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR, GYROSCOPE AND BAROMETER.
THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ IS POWERED BY 1.7GHZ OCTA-CORE SAMSUNG EXYNOS 9810 PROCESSOR AND IT COMES WITH 6GB OF RAM. THE PHONE PACKS 64GB OF INTERNAL STORAGE THAT CAN BE EXPANDED UP TO 400GB VIA A MICROSD CARD. AS FAR AS THE CAMERAS ARE CONCERNED, THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ PACKS A 12-MEGAPIXEL PRIMARY CAMERA ON THE REAR AND A 8-MEGAPIXEL FRONT SHOOTER FOR SELFIES.
THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ RUNS ANDROID 8.0 AND IS POWERED BY A 3500MAH NON REMOVABLE BATTERY. IT MEASURES 158.10 X 73.80 X 8.50 (HEIGHT X WIDTH X THICKNESS) AND WEIGH 189.00 GRAMS.
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS INCLUDE WI-FI, GPS, BLUETOOTH, NFC AND USB OTG. SENSORS ON THE PHONE INCLUDE COMPASS MAGNETOMETER, PROXIMITY SENSOR, ACCELEROMETER, AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR, GYROSCOPE AND BAROMETER.
MANUFACTURER
SAMSUNG
MODEL
GALAXY S9
LAUNCH DATE (GLOBAL)
26-02-2018
OPERATING SYSTEM
ANDROID
OS VERSION
8
TYPE
SMARTPHONE
STATUS
ANNOUNCED
COLORS
·
MIDNIGHT BLACK
·
CORAL BLUE
·
TITANIUM GRAY
·
LILAC PURPLE
PRODUCT NAME
SAMSUNG GALAXY S9
DISPLAY
SCREEN SIZE (IN INCHES)
5.8
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
SUPER AMOLED CAPACITIVE
WITH MULTITOUCH
SCREEN RESOLUTION (IN
PIXELS)
1440 X 2960
DISPLAY FEATURES
CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN
PIXEL DENSITY (PPI)
570
SCRATCH RESISTANT GLASS
CORNING GORILLA GLASS V5
CAMERA
FRONT CAMERA MEGAPIXEL
8
FRONT FACING CAMERA
YES
LED FLASH
YES
VIDEO RECORDING
YES
DIGITAL ZOOM
YES
AUTOFOCUS
YES
TOUCH FOCUS
YES
FACE DETECTION
YES
HDR
YES
PANORAMA MODE
YES
OIS
YES
PHASE DETECTION
YES
REAR CAMERA MEGAPIXEL
12
BATTERY
BATTERY CAPACITY (MAH)
3000
REMOVAL BATTERY (YES/NO)
NO
SENSORS AND FEATURES
KEYPAD TYPE
TOUCHSCREEN
MULTI TOUCH
YES
LIGHT SENSOR
YES
PROXIMITY SENSOR
YES
G (GRAVITY) SENSOR
YES
FINGER PRINT SENSOR
YES
ACCELEROMETER
YES
COMPASS
YES
BAROMETER
YES
GYROSCOPE
YES
DUST PROOF AND WATER
RESISTANT
YES
CONNECTIVITY
WIFI CAPABILITY
YES
WIFI HOTSPOT
YES
BLUETOOTH
YES
NFC
YES
GPS
YES
SIM
DUAL
3G CAPABILITY
YES
4G CAPABILITY
YES
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
CPU
SAMSUNG EXYNOS 9
CPU SPEED
2.3 GHZ
PROCESSOR CORES
OCTA
RAM
4 GB
GPU
MALI G71
STORAGE
64 GB
REMOVABLE STORAGE (YES OR
NO)
YES