The Galaxy S9 is just as aesthetically pleasing as the S8 that is because there’s not much of a difference… But of course, (and as always) Samsung tried and succeeded on upgrading its major competitor for a fair rundown with smartphones like the iPhone X and the Pixel 2, as well as the Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 10 Pro. But what exactly has changed since last year’s king of beauty?

There’s no discussion when it comes to design, the Galaxy S9 takes his predecessor form and beauty. In my opinion, Samsung has always made pretty smartphones, even in the low budget market and last year’s revelation, the S8 really surprised everyone at a worldwide level as such smartphone with such thin bezels and rounded corners was not expected. As so, the Galaxy S9 is still made of glass and extremely prone to fingerprints and of course scratching… I suggest you use a case and a screen protector. On the back the S9 has only one centred camera and the S9+ has two vertical centred cameras and this time, thank god, the fingerprint scanner is under them and not on the side. It’s better placed, obviously, but I always feel like I’m touching the lenses and not the sensor which is still too small, It’s clear as a bell that there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Simplest backs are the best but I approve of the Samsung logo on the back.

The smartphone is as slippery as any other glass-made smartphone but the rounded corners introduced with the S6 Edge in April 2015 make it easier to hold. The infinity screen on the front is only surrounded by a thin bezel on the top and another on the bottom which are not as small as the iPhone’s but it is preferable over the notch, in my opinion… On the top, there’s a dual SIM card slot or a SIM card and an SD card slot and on the bottom, there’s a 3.5mm Headphone jack right beside the USB Type-C port. I’m so glad that Samsung didn’t ditch some main features… On the left side, the Bixby button is still under the volume keys and you can now disable it but not give it another functionality (…disappointment…).

There’s now facial recognition on board that works with the Iris scanner (??)… not so sure about how it actually functions. Early testings of this system make me think that Samsung should have optimized the program before releasing it…

Another key feature worth mentioning is the IP68 certification and the wireless charging capabilities of the smartphone, but they’re not new. The  devices come in 4 colours or less depending on your location, they are lilac purple, midnight black, titanium grey and coral blue

New are the stereo speakers calibrated by AKG, which support, amongst other technologies, Dolby Atmos. I still prefer the Pixel 2’s level but they're still awesome for the ultimate cinematic experience.

Talking about cinema, have you already seen Avenger’s Infinity War? Well, I suggest you hurry and buy a ticket for the next session, but if you prefer to wait for it to be available online and are looking for an amazing smartphone to watch it on Samsung still is the leading company when it comes to screens, in my opinion. The 5’8-inch Super AMOLED panel on the S9 and the 6’2-inch one of the S9+ come with a max resolution of 1440x2960 (Quad HD+) but the default resolution (which can be changed in the settings) is only Full HD+. I don’t get it, it only makes me feel that if I maximise the screen resolution the smartphone might explode as the Note 7 (we never forget Samsung… well, maybe we will).

 Both screens are extremely vibrant with deep blacks and unnatural colours that make content watching something of another world. Of course, in direct sunlight, it will not be that good but the screen is more than bright enough. I have to say, I still haven’t quite adapted to the rounded edges, they’re aesthetically pleasing, sure and they have some functionality, but are they really needed?

Anyway…

Powering the smartphone is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or the Exynos 9810 which combined with 4GB on the S9 or 6GB on the S9+ of RAM score something around 255.000 points on ANTUTU. Also on board is an octa-core CPU with a maximum speed of 2.8GHz and the Adreno 630 Graphics Processing Unit. There’s not much to talk about whats going on under the hood, It’s the same we’ve seen and will probably see in Android smartphones this year.

Powering the hardware is a nowadays normal battery cell of 3000mAh (S9) or 3500mAh (S9+) which is nothing impressive and the exact same as last year’s S8 and S8* respectively, but this year we have the new  Android 8.1 Oreo... The battery life is just average which is not good for a giant-screen-like device which has many features that drain a lot of power! Honestly Samsung, if you want to improve something, think about the most important piece of an electronic device: the battery that powers it!!

Leaving the best to last we’re talking about the camera, now this is the topic that is really going to define whether or not this smartphone is a worthy upgrade compared to the last year’s S8/S8+ and other devices.

“The camera. Reimagined” is the slogan that Samsung presented with the S9. As so I was expecting an amazing camera quality and professional results just by using the manual mode. But they’re not! In an early stage of my use of the device, I wasn’t all that surprised. Before I dive in any further let's talk first about the back cameras. On the S9 there’s only one 12MP lens with a physically variable aperture which can change between f/1.5 and f/2.4. The S9+ has an additional 12MP f/2.4 lens for zooming and background blur.  But this one has already been seen on the Note 8 so let's get back to the main topic: the variable aperture lens.

It works just like the human eye, it contracts or dilates the mechanism in order to let more light in. We can actually see improvements in low light performance but it’s not just the hardware that needs to be improved. Any Samsung owner can notice a warm tint in shots taken with any Samsung device. Whether you like it or not comes down to personal preference: smartphones like the P20 Pro or the iPhone take photographs usually cooler and more true to life but the S9’s shots are Instagram ready as soon as they are taken.

They’re sharp and full of colour but not very consistent, I still prefer the Pixel 2 or the P20 Pro over any other device any time. Samsung’s hardware is excellent but when talking about software we can’t say the same. Let’s talk about portrait mode for example… let’s just say it’s almost just as good as my 275€ daily driver, the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 and clearly worst than smartphones at the same price point.

When it comes to video recording, the smartphone as excellent stabilization, whether it’s recording in 4k60FPS or 1080P. On top of all the recording modes, Samsung introduced it’s new Super Slow-Motion technology which captures video at 720P 960FPS and can be shot in two ways: manually record something for 0.2 seconds or you can use the Motion Detection which starts video recording when it captures movement in an area captured by the camera. Both options are terrible and almost never work as you wish… They also need a lot of light. Video recording is better than the P20 Pro and as good as seen on Google’s and Apple’s top devices.

On the front, both versions have the same 8MP camera as last year with a f/1.7 aperture but now there’s portrait mode which has a lot to improve and you can see that Samsung was only interested in showing that they have that feature. Overall, the selfies are a pure meh, the exposure is good but the face tends to be smoothed thanks to software processing.

 The camera is improved, yes and the variable aperture is definitely an innovation in the smartphone business but if you want to choose between the S9 or the S9+, the camera is not worth the money. If you are looking for a smartphone with a great camera you’re n the right blog but not the right review!

	S9	S9+
Software	Android 8 Oreo
Screen	Super AMOLED 5.8” QuadHD+	Super AMOLED 6.2” QuadHD+
RAM/ Storage	4GB/ 64GB-128GB-256GB	6GB/ 64GB-128GB-256GB
Back Camera(s)	12MP (f/1.5-f/2.4)	12MP (f/1.5-f/2.4) +12MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera(s)	8MP f/1.7
Battery	3.000mAh	3.500mAh
Size/ Weight	147,7x68,7x8.5mm 163g	158,1x73,8x8,5mm 189g
	869€	969€

  

For 900€ or 1000€ please search more. The Samsung Galaxy S9 has a beautiful screen perfect for anything. Excellent performance and great multitasking. In terms of design, it’s nothing new but beautiful anyways. The battery is not enough for the device and the cameras are not that great for the price. The software is not that great either, I don’t like and at the same time don’t dislike Samsung’s skin (mixed feelings) but the whole device can be a lot better if they focus on software!!

Considering all I have said and its price I consider it a solid 4.5/5.0!

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