Samsung Galaxy S9 review

09 March 2018
It's true what they say - you don't fix what's not broken. And that's what Samsung did for the Galaxy S9 - it didn't change what was already great, it just tweaked specs wherever possible. And it has worked out just fine for them.

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Aspros, 11 Mar 2018OMG the Apple pro-bias Gsmarena has some moments is soooo d... moreSo, Samsung paid for page 2, but Apple paid for page 9? This thing is getting hilarious! :D

    OMG the Apple pro-bias Gsmarena has some moments is soooo disgusting!
    There are many bits here and there, but what really stands out is where they mention that the choice amongst so and iPhone x is purely an OS choice, unless ones values the double camera and smaller frame. Like this is the only differences amongst those two and SO has absolutely no pros over the X. Since when the second camera is more important than better battery? Or ring loudness? Or price difference? The broken effect more important than a noisy picture indoors? Gsmarena always have to advertise Apple in each and every phone review?? Disgraceful...

      Mobilemaster, 11 Mar 2018Where are the drawbacks as usual? You only mentioned what i... moreNo, the first page doesn't mention what's good, it says 'specs'. There are pros and cons in the review. On the last page. As it has been for months.

        Where are the drawbacks as usual? You only mentioned what is good about this phone on the first page.

          AnonD-743517, 11 Mar 2018GSMArena seems to be getting paid by Samsung for praising e... moreGiving credit where it's due is one thing, evaluating the phone as a package is another. Maybe you should read the final paragraph of the conclusion before thorwing words as paid, bias and other nonsense. Thanks!

            • M
            • Mixi4
            • mH4
            • 11 Mar 2018

            Very biased review again!
            Interestingly, these guys conveniently forgot to mention the iPhone X score on antutu 7. It is far inferior than Samsung Galaxy S9.
            The fast charging is still one of the best on the market and it is double the speed of the iPhone X.

              • D
              • AnonD-706668
              • PEW
              • 11 Mar 2018

              Huh only iPhone camera is worse

                • D
                • AnonD-721786
                • GR}
                • 11 Mar 2018

                "The retail package of the Samsung Galaxy S9 should be an example of a flagship treatment and we hope other makers (one Cupertino-based company in particular) take notes."

                Epic!

                  Kiyasuriin, 10 Mar 2018When alone, yes. A single G72 core is feeble. Couple 18 of ... moreYep, Mali GPUs are weak. They have improved a lot over the years, but even with the Mali G72, it is still not up to Qualcomm's Adreno 630 inside the SNAPDRAGON 845 and Apple's A11 Bionic integrated graphics standard. When u compare the SNAPDRAGON with the EXYNOS, it always go neck and neck; in the CPU benchmarks the EXYNOS can be considered as the king of multitasking in the ANDROID world, while the GPU benchmarks the SNAPDRAGON takes the crown for the best graphics for ANDROID smartphones, it is always like that. If it is not because of the contract SAMSUNG had signed with Qualcomm, the EXYNOS would already be crushing Qualcomm's SNAPDRAGON...

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • JU@
                    • 11 Mar 2018

                    Kavin, 11 Mar 2018Too low endurance. They should have 4000mah battery. One pl... moreOp6 and mi7 wont have even 3400mAh

                      • J
                      • Jman
                      • nGR
                      • 11 Mar 2018

                      AnonD-743517, 11 Mar 2018GSMArena seems to be getting paid by Samsung for praising e... moreGSM Arena was one of the last websites to put up a review, and they still haven't done the S9 + yet.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-147910
                        • pYg
                        • 11 Mar 2018

                        AnonD-743517, 11 Mar 2018GSMArena seems to be getting paid by Samsung for praising e... moreSomething's weird right? and what about this comment in the review: "No horns on the Galaxy S9, still more futuristic than an iPhone".
                        that's someones opinion! it's not an objective observation. This shouldn't be in a review. Unless GSMArena is indeed biased in some way.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • X}6
                          • 11 Mar 2018

                          AnonD-743517, 11 Mar 2018GSMArena seems to be getting paid by Samsung for praising e... moreS8/S8+ is already launched a week ago. Wake up!! boy.

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                            • AnonD-743517
                            • fC$
                            • 11 Mar 2018

                            GSMArena seems to be getting paid by Samsung for praising every phone they launch, not fair reviews and surprisingly they get each Samsung device to review and before its launched anywhere in world.......

                              Anonymous, 11 Mar 2018Yeah..like grass is better for a cow than bread.Huh, people who prefer XZ2 over S9 are cows? What does that mean exactly?

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 6jq
                                • 11 Mar 2018

                                Jman, 11 Mar 2018Got this today, and it is a lovely phone, but it did lead m... moreBattery life (in the case of S phones), slumped to the underworld between s5 and s6.

                                You wouldn't need fast moving bettery tech to solve autonomy. Just a removable battery and a system to swap without having to shut down the phone (i.e. a small internal battery).

                                The only reason it hasn't happened yet is because markets optimize for profits at the least possible risk level, not the opposite. Meaning they will take small profits if it doesn't come with an associated risk. Trying something radically new in such a mature market is extremely risky at this point.

                                When a market gets big it solidifies and gets boring.


                                There are a myriad ways to actually make phones better (and they may come after a few decades), we won't get them in the short term because comapnies are extremely risk averse at this point. Which is why you get mediocre products from companies that used to give excellent products...

                                Obviously we have not reached an actual plateau though. We are as far away from it as we were in 2006 where things were also slowing down and if it was not for Apple we would still live in that era thinking that there are no innovations of note...

                                  • K
                                  • Kavin
                                  • D06
                                  • 11 Mar 2018

                                  Too low endurance. They should have 4000mah battery. One plus 6 or mi 7 will throw samsung in premium segment if its battery is more or at 4000..xiomi has kicked samsung from top in india with redmi note series..samsung should have learned from nokia failure ..nokia lost becoz of ram and battery. Now samsung and sony will be no more soon because of failure in battery . Excell3nt camera .Best screen.good speaker. Okay software .but worst battery.so thumbs down.

                                    xXENDER FREAKXx, 11 Mar 2018Lol even if iPHONE X is the "best", it is abused by their b... moreWell said mate!

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                                      • AnonD-327936
                                      • pLW
                                      • 11 Mar 2018

                                      The things which bother me about this are Bixby is worse than useless, same for the AR emoji things and if I get the otherwise impressive S9 I'd be paying top dollar for two key features I would never use.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • KhD
                                        • 11 Mar 2018

                                        Anonymous, 11 Mar 2018Yeah..like grass is better for a cow than bread.V30+ is another better choice