When Samsung announced the Galaxy s8 last year, we knew it would be one of the top phones of 2017 and one of the best products Samsung ever made. As the saying goes, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it — that’s what Samsung has done with this year’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, which will be available for pre-order on March 2nd and on sale by 16th March.
In fact, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are so similar to their predecessors that on passing glance, they look and feel exactly the same. They both keep S8’s slick, attractive and efficient design, with extra tall 18.5:9 screens, curved sides, and glass front and backs. The smaller on is 5.8-inch (S9) and 6.2-inch (S9 Plus) screens both equipped with the same Super AMOLED panels (2960 x 1440 pixel resolutions), though Samsung says they are slightly brighter this year. But you won’t be able to use the same case as last year’s flagship even of they look similar.
Samsung has moved the fingerprint scanner from the right of the camera to below it, which should make it much easier to use, especially on the larger S9 Plus. The button layout (including the dreaded Bixby button) and other hardware features, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack, remain the same as before. You won’t see the difference with the S9’s new speakers, which now produce stereo sound and are 40 percent louder, according to Samsung, but you’ll sure be able to hear them.
All the greatness you had in the s8 and more
When it comes to the internals he S9 runs Samsung’s latest Exynos processor and has either 4GB (S9) or 6GB (S9 Plus) of RAM; comes with 64GB of storage and support for microSD cards; has a 3,000mAh (S9) or 3,500mAh (S9 Plus) battery; is IP68 dust and water resistant; and supports both fast wired and fast wireless charging.
This year Samsung wants to stun its users with a better camera and the S9’s new camera system, comes as a single lens and a dual camera on the S9 Plus. The new camera is Samsung’s first with a mechanically adjustable aperture , which can switch between a very bright f/1.5 to a smaller f/2.4 depending on exposure conditions. The bright aperture lets in 28 percent more light than the S8’s f/1.7 lens, and the f/2.4 aperture is said to help prevent overexposure in bright scenes, such as a sunny outdoor day. The camera app is able to switch between the apertures as necessary, or you can manually control them using the pro mode in the app. Of note: the aperture can switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4, but cannot be set to values in between. Still, two aperture options are basically twice as many as you get with any other phone.
In addition to the new adjustable aperture, the S9’s 12-megapixel camera sensor includes second-generation dual-pixel auto-focus tech for faster and more reliable focusing, improved multi-frame noise reduction for a claimed 30 percent better low-light performance, and the ability to record slow-motion video at up to 960 frames per second (at 720p resolution). The camera app has also been redesigned with quicker access to its various modes by swiping between them, much like how the iPhone’s camera app works. Copycat or not, it’s an improvement over the old app.
Camera AI and iPhone X like emojis
The S9 Plus’ second rear camera does not have the variable aperture feature but works similarly to the Note 8’s dual camera system. It has an f/2.4 lens that gets you two times closer to your subject than the wide-angle camera and allows for portrait-mode blurring effects (which Samsung calls “Live Focus”). Both phones have the same 8-megapixel f/1.7 autofocus front camera as last year’s models.
Integrated into the new camera app is Samsung’s take on the iPhone X’s Animoji, which it calls AR Em
oji. It lets you capture an image of your face, and using over 100 points, it builds a custom 3D character with your features. The app then creates 18 animated GIF “stickers” that are accessible in the keyboard for use in messaging apps. You can customize the look of your character with different hairstyles, glasses, and outfits, as well. AR Emoji aren’t quite the same as Animoji — the tracking isn’t nearly as precise and it’s not animals — but it’s more similar to a 3D Bitmoji character.
For software, the S9 will launch with Android 8.0 Oreo, but much like the hardware, the design isn’t hugely different from the software on the S8. Samsung has redesigned parts of the Bixby app, most notably the camera features, which can now be used to estimate calories in food and provide faster real-time translation.
The S9 will be available worldwide for about $719.99 and $839.99 before taxes , and will come in different colours including; black, purple, blue or grey. It’s likely that other color options will be made available later in the year.
