Samsung Galaxy S9 review

Performance

Samsung Galaxy S9, just like the previous S and Note models, will be available in two variants. Samsung's own Exynos 9810 chip will power most of the S9 phones around the globe, while Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 845 will be ticking in the S9 handsets sold in North America and China.

So, what's the differences?

The Exynos 9810 chipset (10nm FinFET) has a new octa-core processor packing four custom third-generation Mongoose cores at 2.7GHz and four Cortex-A55 at 1.8GHz. The GPU in charge of graphics is an 18-core Mali-G72.

The Exynos chip comes with a new LTE modem with support for 6CA (carrier aggregation) for download and maximum downlink of 1.2Gbs (Cat.18). The uplink supports 2CA and a speed of 200Mbps (Cat.18).

Finally, the Samsung's new silicon can do 4K capturing and playback at 120fps, but those won't be premiering on the S9 because the Snapdragon 845 can't do those.

The Snapdragon 845 chip (10nm LPP) introduces a new octa-core processor with new Kryo 385 cores. The high-performance pair of Kryo 385 Gold cores is clocked at 2.8GHz and the architecture derives from Cortex-A75. The power-efficient pair of Kryo 385 Silver cores works at 1.7GHz and its architecture is based on Cortex-A55.

There is also a new Adreno 630 GPU, 30% more powerful than the Adreno 540 inside the Snapdragon 835. Rumors suggest the Adreno 630 performance will be slightly behind Samsung's Mali choice, but this can't make a difference in real-life scenarios for the lifespan of the devices.

Qualcomm also has a new modem - the X20 with 5CA and LTE Cat1.18 downlink of 1.2Gbps. The uplink is inferior to Samsung's model with 2CA but LTE Cat.13 support for 150Mbps speeds.

The ISP of the Snapdragon is also inferior to the Samsung's with a support for 4K at 60fps video encoding and decoding.

And here are some benchmarks we ran on the Exynos-powered Galaxy S9.

We were curious to see how the third generation custom Mongoose core stacks against other processors, so we start with some Geekbenching. Well, Samsung's new core is definitely trying to catch up with the latest Monsoon by Apple and is the first one to come close. It doubles the performance of the second-gen Mongoose inside the Galaxy S8 and has a 50% advantage over the top of the line Kryo inside the new Snapdragon 845 (Xperia XZ2). So, as far as Android devices are concerned, the Galaxy S9 has the best CPU for single-core operations.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone X
  4256
• Apple iPhone 8
  4234
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  3759
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  2454
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1991
• Google Pixel 2
  1912
• LG V30
  1901
• Huawei Mate 10
  1882

Running multi-core benchmarks, Apple is still the king, but this doesn't really matter in the Android world. Obviously, Samsung's new processor is a mighty beast and the best among the whole flagship gang. It outperforms the old Exynos chip by 30% and even beats the current Qualcomm's best - the Snapdragon 845.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone X
  10215
• Apple iPhone 8
  10214
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  8830
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  8466
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  6656
• Huawei Mate 10
  6625
• Google Pixel 2
  6437
• LG V30
  6365

The 18-core Mali-G72 is in charge of the graphics department for most of the Galaxy S9 sold around the world. We don't have the Snapdragon 845 unit, but we had the Xperia XZ2 in our office with that chipset, so we can draw some conclusions from there.

The offscreen tests show the raw power of the GPUs, and here the Galaxy S9 is on par with the iPhone X, 30% faster than the Galaxy S8, but behind the Xperia XZ2. This means the Adreno 630 inside the Xperia, also found in the Galaxy S9 units in North America and China, is 20% faster than all Exynos models sold worldwide.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XZ2
  55
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  46
• Apple iPhone X
  44
• Google Pixel 2
  41
• LG V30
  41
• Huawei Mate 10
  38
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  36
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  28
• Huawei P10
  22

The phones with lower screen resolution would have an edge over the Quad HD Galaxy S9 and that's obvious from the onscreen test. The Huawei P10, Pixel 2, Xperia XZ2 and even the iPhone X - they all have 1080p or similar resolution compared to the 1440p screen on the Galaxy S9.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone X
  51
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  51
• Google Pixel 2
  43
• Huawei P10
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  24
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  23
• Huawei Mate 10
  23
• LG V30
  19
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  15

Another GPU stress test we like to run is the BaseMark ES 3.1/Metal and the Galaxy S9 aced that thing.

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9
  1456
• Apple iPhone X
  1385
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1189
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  1176
• Huawei Mate 10
  1142
• LG V30
  860
• Google Pixel 2
  839
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  732
• Huawei P10
  716

Finally, and probably what many of you have been looking for - the AnTuTu test. Little surprises here, the Galaxy S9 is as good as the Xperia XZ2 - two excellent specimens for the best chips on the Android scene.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XZ2
  259244
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  250156
• Huawei Mate 10
  214037
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  199022
• LG V30
  182374
• Huawei P10
  144458

One of the most predictable updates was the new Exynos chip, which delivers the 30% promised boost. The new custom processor is really powerful and shows a promising future for the in-house CPU development. Meanwhile the Galaxy S9's GPU isn't the most powerful one on the market, bested by Qualcomm's latest, but it is the next best thing and still a beast.

As far as real-life experience is concerned - the Galaxy S9 is among the fastest phones on the planet today. But did anyone expect otherwise? No matter if it's Exynos or Snapdragon model, nobody would feel any difference in the years to come.

The Galaxy S9 keeps its body cool most of the time, and it can apply some minor throttling if needed - but we could notice this only in the scores of the most intensive benchmarks and after a few consecutive runs. So, as far as temperature goes - you won't experience heated spots over the Galaxy S9.