Being an iPhone fan, even after the whole phone-catching-on-fire debacle, I was really impressed with the Samsung Galaxy S8. The “eyes-to-unlock” feature, facial recognition, big screens, fast wireless charging, and even the headphone jack (hint hint), were delightful!
Samsung Galaxy S9 – Better, but same
Unveiled in this year’s Mobile World Conference with the S9 Plus, this year’s Samsung smartphone beast starts at $719.99 – a pretty decent price compared to… any iPhone.
When I say “better but same”, the Samsung Galaxy S9 seems to be almost too similar to it’s predecessor. There isn’t any improvement on the display, there isn’t any in-screen fingerprint scanner either. There is, however, better display and quality – which is always expected.
As S8 owners and aficionados will know, the Galaxy S8 had it’s fingerprint scanner right next to the camera, but the S9 holds the sensor right under the camera now.
Although your finger will reach the sensor faster, you won’t be able to use your S8 and S8+ phone cases because of this.
With claims of a 1.5 times louder speaker compared to the S8, Samsung has announced its Dolby ATMOS surround sound technology. Add a slightly waterproof feature to that (if you drop it in a puddle accidentally), and 3 different colours to choose from.
Camera
This might be the most thrilling thing about the S9.
The 12MP sensor comes with image stabilization and automatic aperture adjusting (for the non photographers – sort of like your eyes adapting to the changing light). This might not replace an actual camera, but it’s much more than any other phone has ever seen.
There’s now dual-pixel autofocus tech too – basically focuses on faces and such faster.
Many of you might be familiar with Apple’s Animoji (like Snapchat filters but for your iPhone camera) – Samsung now has the AR Emoji. After taking a selfie, you can create custom 3D characters with your features, and even customize the overall look.
Kinda creepy, but that’s okay.
Final touches
Running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, it comes with 4GB ram, 64GB storage, with the option for MicroSD.
The 3,000mAh cell can have your Samsung Galaxy S9 on juice all day (or that’s what we all assume).
There isn’t much of a physical overhaul compared to the S8 – it’s more improving, improving, improving. Better camera, faster processor, and okay, maybe a new fingerprint scanner location.
The S8 was a solid phone, there’s no reason the S9 shouldn’t be, too.
