Samsung Galaxy S9+ review

15 March 2018
Generation 9 in plus size - this is the Samsung Galaxy S9+. Unlike last year when the S8 and the S8+ had just size setting them apart, in 2018 Samsung's Plus means more than higher battery capacity and larger display diagonal.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • 6jr
  • 19 Mar 2018

Just me, 19 Mar 2018for the past years, usually S Series dominate the chart of ... moreS9 would sell less than s8 and s8 sold less than S2 even...

Either they try something radically new or they should accept their role as a dying super power... Samsung mobile's best years are behind her, most possibly...

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • vV5
    • 19 Mar 2018

    Just me, 19 Mar 2018for the past years, usually S Series dominate the chart of ... moreThe statistics are skewed because most of the visitors to this website come from India. In my country, vivo, which ranks 5th now, does not even have a presence.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • TXc
      • 19 Mar 2018

      I am so disappointed with S9+. Same design, basically the same camera, a bit faster GPU and CPU , some gimmick features and a sky-high price. I am done with Samsung, hope Huawei save the Android camp.... Do not want to switch to Apple, but all those boring new phones are leaving me with no choice. If I am gonna play 900$ for a phone, at least I will need full support for several years and good battery life.

        • J
        • Just me
        • thv
        • 19 Mar 2018

        for the past years, usually S Series dominate the chart of most visitted phones on gsmarena during their gala premiere for weeks, even months. But now it just reach no 1 for few days and then step down. Is this the end of Samsung era ?

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • vV5
          • 19 Mar 2018

          Nick, 18 Mar 2018Except Xperia flagships are only phones which automatically... moreBeen trying to tell this to the Xperia fans for the longest time but they don't seem to understand such a simple fact. On tripod, XZ2 is great but if handheld, S9 is better. I would suggest that we save our time and effort. To them, Sony Xperia is the best in everything.

            • c
            • confusing
            • 8vJ
            • 19 Mar 2018

            Next time clearly indicate which spec option are you reviewing. Same thing with the tables, instead giving clocks just indicate which cpu it is.

              • N
              • Nick
              • vmF
              • 18 Mar 2018

              Anonymous, 16 Mar 2018Low light has nothing to Pixel size... S9 has 1,4 micro... moreLow-light performance largely depends on pixel size. If each individual pixel is more sensitive to light, there will be less noise in the image. So even if there are 19 million pixels which are receiving light, since SNR of the sensor is low with smaller pixels, the advantage of having more pixels quickly vanishes in dim environment. It is also shown that OIS does not have an effect on the quality of video stabilisation (e.g. Pixel 2), and if Sony really can't manage to get OIS and EIS working together like Google did, they can just turn off OIS with software(yes, OIS actually can be disabled if the manufacturer chooses to do so)when recording video.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 6jr
                • 18 Mar 2018

                AnonD-731363, 17 Mar 2018Pros: nothing jsut a sligthly better camera from S8 and sli... moreThose are s9 and agree with.

                S9+ is a diff story though.

                  • D
                  • AnonD-481725
                  • StN
                  • 18 Mar 2018

                  Nick, 18 Mar 2018Except Xperia flagships are only phones which automatically... moreDude, guess you are one of the "prove everything good for Samsung bad for Sony".
                  In hand shots you need maximum 1/16ss unless you have exceptional issues, which is still can get better photos than the s9.
                  Why going so far? Compare the video samples, you know since it is a video sample then it is 30 fps then the shutter speed can never be less than 1/30ss and a tripod is literally useless, check this out.
                  https://www.gsmarena.com/vidcmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=9081&idPhone2=8966&idPhone3=8161

                    • N
                    • Nick
                    • vmF
                    • 18 Mar 2018

                    AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Not only the xz2, but all smartphones including S9 all were... moreExcept Xperia flagships are only phones which automatically activates "tripod mode" that uses longer shutter speed in order to reduce noise and increase the details, whereas all the other flagships have OIS so there's no need for having such a dedicated mode. In handheld you will see S9 faring much better than XZ2 in low-light.

                      Anonymous, 16 Mar 2018Low light has nothing to Pixel size... S9 has 1,4 micro... moreLOL absolutely no!
                      If the XZ2 is set to the same ISO and SS as the S9, the XZ2 could be even worse than the S9. The Galaxy S9 has better camera hardware, ISP and algorithm, the new algorithm on the XZ2 is great improvement, but that's not really great compare to Samsung.

                        • R
                        • Racer
                        • mnn
                        • 17 Mar 2018

                        If we change the display to FHD+ , then will it make a difference in the benchmarks for the GPU??

                          • S
                          • S9 owner
                          • IcG
                          • 17 Mar 2018

                          Skipping all the advance stuff let's talk about simple stuff you can't do with the S9 like change your message background or sign out of anything google without deleting your account from the settings

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • mw4
                            • 17 Mar 2018

                            I own the S9+ for a week. The MAIN PROBLEM , so far, is that there is no way to record a voice call (not over VoIP).

                            I use the ACR pro , that's the best application to record calls , and there is no way to record a voice call on this phone.

                            Samsung - please fix it ASAP

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • I8m
                              • 17 Mar 2018

                              AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Not only the xz2, but all smartphones including S9 all were... moreStill not the same

                                • D
                                • AnonD-731363
                                • SH3
                                • 17 Mar 2018

                                Pros: nothing jsut a sligthly better camera from S8 and slightly better CPU and GPU.
                                Cons: Same battery and ram as 2 years old S7. Same display same everything else apart from USB-C compared to Micro USB.
                                The biggest mistake: 3 and half higher selling price compared to manufacturing cost of one device.
                                Result: No willing to spend even a penny on Samsung super expensive advertising. So big No. Thumbs Up.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-481725
                                  • StN
                                  • 17 Mar 2018

                                  Anonymous, 16 Mar 2018-_- The XZ2 was using ISO 200 and shutter speed 1/8 s in... moreNot only the xz2, but all smartphones including S9 all were at tripod in the gsmarena camera comparing tools.

                                    Anonymous, 17 Mar 2018Well you were not clear in mentioning which low light sampl... moreLess noisy, but not sharper.
                                    It's about as sharp, and the extra noise is due to the higher ISO (320 vs 500).
                                    One thing is, at times, a noise-free image feels too artificial. The XZ2 can be determined as an image taken from a camera, unlike the S9 that looks like a drawn image.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-458768
                                      • fxH
                                      • 17 Mar 2018

                                      Great review from the staff. But google pixels are still roks!

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • vjw
                                        • 17 Mar 2018

                                        [deleted post]Well you were not clear in mentioning which low light samples you were referring to when there are so many of them. Anyway, all the S9+ lowlight samples look less noisy and sharper than the XZ2's.