Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) review

Experience Oreo the Samsung way

The Galaxy A9 (2018) runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0 on top, just like the rest of the recent A-series phones, A7 (2018) included. The high-end Note9 is in a pre-Pie, pre-One-UI state of Android 8.1 and Experience 9.5, but for practical purposes the UI is the same, minus the missing features obviously.

The experience starts with the always on display feature, which seems to be on any Samsung phone with an AMOLED display these days. As usual, you get a host of different layouts and clock options, plus the choice to keep it on all the time or only according to a schedule.

Always on display

Unlike the A7 (2018) with its side-mounted fingerprint reader, the Galaxy A9 (2108) relies on a conventional sensor placed on the back. You can enroll a fingerprint in a single swipe, though you can tap instead if you so desire. Unlocking is pretty fast, but, as usual, Samsungs aren't record-holders for speed. A basic, non-IR face unlock is also an option.

Fingerprints and security

The fingerprint sensor can also be set to bring down the notification shade and quick toggles, and that's much more fool proof than the A7's side-mounted solution that really got in the way as we often triggered it accidentally. You can also enable the 'quick-open notification panel' feature, so you can swipe on an empty homescreen area to pull the notifications shade.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Homescreen settings

Nothing has really changed on the lockscreen, homescreen, or the notification shade. The task switcher (now with optional list view) is the place where you can initiate multi-window or pop-up apps - Samsung's really unmatched in the versatility of its multi-tasking implementation.

Notifications • Quick toggles • Task switcher • List view • Multi-window

Just like other Galaxies, the A9 (2018) supports themes, and there's a ton available in the store. Secure folder is also present on the A9, and it's where you can keep files, memos and apps away from prying eyes. Then there's Game launcher to keep your games in one place and in-play Game tools to disable notifications and the nav bar as well as take screenshots or record gameplay.

Theme store • Random theme • Secure folder • Dual apps • Game launcher • Game tools

Samsung is using its own Gallery app where the Pictures pane is a timeline of photos and screenshots, while Albums has them sorted by origin instead. Stories is Samsung's take on shareable collaborative albums, which we'd be surprised if anyone uses. There's a powerful editor on board for when you're away from a PC.

Oddly, there was no music player at all pre-installed on the Galaxy A9 (2018). We hit the Play Store and downloaded Google Play Music to check if the usual Samsung sound customizations would be available, and indeed they are - a simple two dial adjustment or a proper 9-band equalizer is at your disposal. So is the Adapt Sound feature which tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of ears and headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them. An FM radio receiver is also available.

Gallery • Photo Editor Pro • Google Play Music • Sound settings • Adapt sound • FM radio

Synthetic benchmarks

The Galaxy A9 (2018) is powered by the Snaprdragon 660 chipset, as opposed to the A7, A8, and A8+ (2018) that each pack an in-house Exynos 7885 SoC. The 660 is substantially more powerful than the 7885 and undoubtedly a better fit for the A9's position atop the A-series. The chip is a familiar Qualcomm midrange offering with an octa-core CPU (4x2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260) and the Adreno 512 GPU. The A9 is offered in 6GB and 8GB RAM trim levels and ours is the 'base' model.

In the single-core GeekBench test, the A9 (2018) falls in the high-performance group of Snapdragon 660 phones, posting very similar (if marginally lower) scores to other phones with the Snapdragon 660 like the Nokia 7 Plus and the Xiaomi Mi A2 and Mi 8 Lite. The other group of S660 handsets includes the vivo V11, Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2, and the Realme 2 Pro, which are lagging behind. Meanwhile, Snapdragon 710 devices like the Oppo RX17 Pro and and the Mi 8 SE are noticeably ahead in this test, with the high-end Snapdragon 845 making the OnePlus 6T unreachable at the top of this chart.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  2431
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  1890
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  1835
• Nokia 7 plus
  1634
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  1628
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  1617
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  1611
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  1595
• Realme U1
  1567
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  1532
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  1524
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  1465
• Realme 2 Pro
  1462
• vivo V11
  1457
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  820

Under multi-core loads, the A9 (2018) is again that little behind the best of S660 devices, which rival ones using the S710. Other S660 phones still fall short of the A9's performance. It's in the multi-core test where the A9's superiority over the A8 and A7 becomes more readily apparent than in the single-core portion of the benchmark.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  8977
• Realme U1
  6004
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  5944
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  5908
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  5894
• Nokia 7 plus
  5893
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  5763
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  5574
• vivo V11
  5535
• Realme 2 Pro
  5531
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  5169
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  4625
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  4446
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  4418
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  3639

The A9 (2018) additionally has a significant advantage over its stablemates in graphics benchmarks where it's routinely capable of outputting 50% higher framerates. It's also consistently ahead of other S660 devices that would beat it in the CPU benchmark. Of course, the S710's more powerful GPU allows the Oppo RX17 Pro and the Mi 8 SE to pull ahead.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  83
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  33
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  32
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  23
• Nokia 7 plus
  23
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  22
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  22
• Realme U1
  22
• Realme 2 Pro
  21
• vivo V11
  20
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  20
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  16
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  9.6

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  59
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  30
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  28
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  21
• Nokia 7 plus
  21
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  21
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  20
• Realme U1
  20
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  19
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  19
• vivo V11
  18
• Realme 2 Pro
  18
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  17
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  14

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  60
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  23
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  23
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  15
• Nokia 7 plus
  15
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  15
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  15
• vivo V11
  14
• Realme 2 Pro
  14
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  14
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  13
• Realme U1
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  9.9
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  5.9

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  53
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  22
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  19
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  14
• Nokia 7 plus
  14
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  14
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  13
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  13
• vivo V11
  12
• Realme 2 Pro
  12
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  12
• Realme U1
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  9.4
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  8.7

In Antutu, the Galaxy A9 (2018) shows much the same performance relative to other Snapdragon 660 devices - in the upper half of that bunch, but still bested by a few of them.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• OnePlus 6T
  293994
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  170218
• Oppo RX17 Pro
  154861
• Realme U1
  144436
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  143257
• Nokia 7 plus
  140820
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
  140500
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  136583
• Realme 2 Pro
  132958
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  130927
• ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2
  124039
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
  123883
• Xiaomi Redmi 6
  75182

In the end, the Galaxy A9 (2018)'s performance can be summed up as predictably good. It's one of the better implementations of the Snapdragon 660 chipset and the 660s it beats, it beats by a wide margin, while the ones it loses to, it loses only just. As expected, the Snapdragon 710 handsets deliver more, but the A9's by no means underpowered. Then again, for about as much money in a lot of the world you can have the OnePlus 6T with the high-end Snapdragon 845, so the A9's price/performance ratio isn't strictly award-winning.