This isn’t for the faint of heart – PhoneBuff did a drop test on the Samsung Galaxy S9+, the phone fell again and again and again. It got through surprisingly well, though not without major cosmetic damage.
For the S9, Samsung made some design changes to make the phone more durable – it used thicker glass and stronger aluminum to protect that glass. Well, the front glass is thicker, the back glass is the first thing to go, watch:
It’s cool to see that the variable aperture survived this ordeal, even if the selfie camera did not. Still, you may want to slap a case on your Galaxy S9+ for piece of mind. Here’s a quick video of S9’s cases:
It's the Samsung Galaxy S9+'s time to get the iFixit disassembly treatment and for us to have a good look inside its beautiful glass and metal hull.
The teardown starts off like you'd expect for a waterproof glass and metal phone - with a heatgun, opening pick and a lot of nervous prying.
The battery is glued in place and required Adhesive Remover and a lot of know-how to remove.
The camera is the more interesting component. Being the Galaxy S9+ it's the dual camera with the main variable aperture sensor and the second, tele sensor.
The main camera's aperture is made up of two rotating circular blades that adjust between the wide f/1.5 and the narrower f/2.4 one.
The conclusion, as with so many modern flagships, is that you'd best leave repairs to certified repair shops and professionals. The screen is very difficult to replace because you'd need to disassemble the rear glass panel.
If you've been waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S9 (and S9+) to pass JerryRigEverything's Durability test, it's time to grab the popcorn.
And if you were fearing the worst you can breathe a sigh of relief. The duo of Galaxies will withstand any regular-day beating you might throw at it.
As per usual, JerryRigEverything tested the phone's glass' scratch resistance - normal - its burn resistance - better than most OLEDs as the screen pixels recovered - and its bend resistance - the phones didn't bend.
The stronger aluminum used in the Galaxy S9 and S9+ seemingly doesn't dramatically change the phone's rigidity. It didn't bend but neither did its predecessor.
We'll have to wait for a drop test to see if the stronger glass makes a noticeable difference.
Samsung has released its latest television commercial on YouTube, one that is likely set to air during the 90th Annual Academy Awards on ABC this Sunday.
The ad features two TV actresses: Issa Rae and Constance Wu throughout various scenes encouraging viewers to make anything, even “make something awkward”. The ad, of course, shows off the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the gorgeous Lilac Purple color.
Ironically, after saying “make something big” the kids reply with “but we don’t have a budget” so the obvious response is “make something small”. The irony comes when thinking about the steadily increasing cost of flagship smartphones, particularly from Apple and Samsung.
Anyway, the overall tone of the ad is encouraging young creators to go out there and make mistakes, make something, make anything, before making history. This message ties in perfectly with Samsung’s “Do What You Can’t” ad campaign.
ABC is reportedly asking for $2 million for a 30-second ad spot during the Academy Award Ceremony. This is no surprise as Samsung is well-known for high-spending advertising campaigns.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition models have arrived in Germany. The former will be available in the country starting April, while the latter has gone on sale already.
They carry a price tag of €849 and €499, respectively. It's worth mentioning that these phones are dual-SIM.
In case you aren't aware, Samsung's Enterprise Edition devices come with features such as Knox Configure and Enterprise Firmware Over-the-Air (E-FOTA).
The Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition will get three years of monthly security updates, while the S9 variant will also get quarterly updates in the fourth year. Both devices come with manufacturer warranty of two years.
Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ have only been official for a few days now, but even so the leaks have already moved on to the Korean company's next big thing: the Galaxy Note9. Despite the fact that it's only expected to be announced in late summer, a prototype has already been spotted in a benchmark's database.
We're talking about HTML5test, which handily reveals that the Note9 will unsurprisingly sport an Infinity Display of its own. The listed resolution is 412x846, but note that this benchmark always contains fractions of the actual resolution of any phone. What's more important here is the aspect ratio, which is slightly taller than 18:9 (and that makes sense because Samsung's Infinity Displays have so far had an 18.5:9 ratio).
The benchmark run also tells us that the prototype Note9 is running Android 8.0 Oreo at this time, once again surprising no one (that's the version of the OS powering the S9 duo too). The model number of the phone is SM-N960, and since the note 8 is SM-N950 it means that Samsung will keep incrementing that number by 10 with each new generation. The SM-N960U that got benchmarked is the variant headed for US shores.
Back in February we found out that the Note9wouldn't be sporting an in-display fingerprint sensor like the vivo X20 Plus, while last yearits codename was revealed to be Crown, for what that's worth.
Samsung’s weekend was all about the Galaxy S9, but behind the scenes other phones are getting ready for their time in the spotlight. Like this one, which prolific leakster Roland Quandt says is not a Galaxy S9 Active.
There’s only one other thing it could be then – the Galaxy Xcover 5. The Xcover 4 was launched in March last year so it’s about time for a new one. Note the rugged, grippy exterior with exposed bolts - it’s a tough phone alright.
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 5 (leaked photo)
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about it yet beyond that its single camera will have a bright triple LED flash. And it’s all but certain that it will be IP68-certified and MI-STD-810G compliant, it’s how the Xcover line goes.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 has been making headlines all week leading up to, during, and after its announcement last weekend. DxO Mark is a company dedicated to testing all kinds of camera equipment and includes smartphone cameras as well.
The Galaxy S9+ was praised for offering “one of the most comprehensive smartphone imaging feature sets available today.” This is definitely a result of Samsung’s dual-aperture camera system that switches between f/2.4 for bright lighting conditions and a much faster f/1.5 aperture for taking photos in low-lighting conditions.
Here’s DxO Mark’s brief summary of the phone:
With an overall DxOMark score of 99 points, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus takes the number one spot in our Mobile ranking, edging out the Google Pixel 2 by just one point and theiPhone X by two. The S9 Plus comes with a camera that hasn’t got any obvious weaknesses and performs very well across all photo and video test categories.
In bright light, the Galaxy S9+ has a nice balance between noise reduction and retention of details. Though it wasn’t the fastest auto-focusing system, it was “more than fast enough”. Reliability and consistency of performance was also a positive note.
In lower light conditions, fine details aren’t as apparent as in bright light, but this is the usual tradeoff of reducing noise in low lit scenes. The image stacking is what takes a toll on such details. “The S9 Plus keeps an excellent balance between noise and detail across all light levels. “ Meanwhile, white balance when using flash “produces fairly accurate results”.
Source: DxOMark
Like the Note8, the Galaxy S9+ has hybrid zoom and offers a Bokeh (Live Focus) mode. DxO was impressed with resolution and detail even at 4X zoom. It also states that Samsung’s zoomed images are notably cleaner than competitors. Meanwhile, in Live Focus mode, DxO cited limted dynamic range in this mode with “minor segementation artifacts… visible around the foreground subject,”
The Photo score of 104 points is the best we’ve seen so far. At 91 points the video score is a little lower but still among the best, making the new Samsung an ideal choice for any mobile users who want the best possible still image quality without compromising on video.
Moving on, the DxO mark covered things like exposure, color, autofocus, flash, texture, and noise. The Galaxy S9+ also scored the highest marks for still images (104) while video scored 91. Areas of improvement include occasional exposure inconsistencies, noticeable loss of sharpness in certain situations, and slight color casts are occasionally noticeable.
We are more than excited to actually test the Samsung Galaxy S9 duo for ourselves. Check out our hands-on with the Galaxy S9 and head to the Source Link to see DxO’s full test findings of the Galaxy S9’s camera.
Pre-orders are already live, and if you pull the trigger before March 7 at 23:59 GMT you will receive the devices seven days earlier than the release date. That's March 9 instead of March 16.
Keep in mind that all operators in the country, as well as third-party dealers such as Carphone Warehouse, have a huge assortment of Pay Monthly offers that have varying upfront costs for the phones, monthly prices, and included perks. It's always best to take a look at all the options before deciding.
We can't cover every single such combo here, so we'll just give you the introductory offers for contracts, those that net you the handsets for the lowest upfront cost with the lowest monthly subscription.
SIM-free
Carphone Warehouse is already taking pre-orders for the duo. The S9 costs £739, while the S9+ is £869. These are in fact Samsung's recommended retail prices for the handsets.
O2
The S9 is £49.99 upfront if you get it with a £56/month plan for two years. The S9+ is still £49.99 upfront, but the plan you need in this case is £61/month for two years.
If you trade-in a Galaxy S7, S7 edge, S6, S6 edge, or S6 edge+ you can get £100 off your purchase, but you need to pre-order by March 15 and make the trade-in by April 15.
Vodafone
Here you pay £29 upfront with a £59 per month plan for the S9, or £49 upfront with a £69 per month plan for the S9+.
EE
The Galaxy S9 is free with a £58 per month plan, whereas the S9+ is free with a £68 per month plan.
If you trade-in a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, you can get a £250 discount.
Samsung has just unpacked the new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship duo in Barcelona. The new devices are helming Samsung's 2018 smartphone portfolio with new hardware but old looks.
Both S9 and S9+ retain the familiar glass-sandwich design with water-proofing, aluminum frame, curved Gorilla glasses, and everything. Samsung has trimmed the screen bezels a bit and thus both phones have smaller footprints than their respective predecessors - if insignificantly so.
The minor changes in the design include a well-hidden iris scanner, a properly placed fingerprint reader, and a changed grille for the bottom speaker.
The Infinity Super AMOLED screens are here to stay, both with Quad HD resolution. The Galaxy S9 has a 5.8" big screen, while the Galaxy S9+ opts for a 6.2" unit - just like last year. Samsung promises even deeper blacks than before, whatever that means for an OLED screen.
Both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will run on the latest Exynos 9810 everywhere but North America and China. The new SoC has an octa-core processor with a quartet of third-gen Mongoose cores at 2.8GHz and a quartet of Cortex-A55 at 1.7GHz. There is an 18-core Mali-G72 GPU and 4GB (S9) or 6GB (S9+) of RAM.
The latest Qualcomm chipset - Snapdragon 845 - will power the duo in North America in China. It has an octa-core Kryo 385 processor, Adreno 630 GPU, and the same RAM - 4 gigs for the S9 and 6 gigs on the S9+.
Samsung Galaxy S9+
The camera is where the new Galaxies have seen the biggest lift. The 12MP main camera on both phones is now capable of variable aperture - you can choose between f/1.5 and f/2.4. There is optical stabilization, and dual pixel phase-detect autofocus. Unfortunately, the LED flash is staying single for another year.
The selfie shooter is borrowed straight from the S8 - an 8MP one with f/1.7 lens and autofocus.
The Galaxy S9+ is exclusively getting a secondary telephoto camera - the same as on the Note8. It's a 12MP sensor with f/2.4 lens, OIS, and dual-pixel AF.
Both smartphones support 4K at 60fps capturing in the new HEVC format, as well as 720p slow-mo recording at 960 fps - just like the most recent Sonys. One major difference between the Xperias and the Galaxy S9 smartphones is the automatic event detection - no more hit and misses of those precious moments. The slow-mo has a quicker cool down time, too, now it's just 2s. And finally, Samsung offers easy editing of those clips, including one-click gif export.
Finally, both Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with a premium AKG by Harman stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. Samsung says those are 40% louder than the S8's speaker.
The S9 duo runs on Android Oreo with the latest Grace UX. There is new support of AR Emojis, improved KNOX, and Intelligent Scan security making use of the iris scanner and face unlock at the same time.
Samsung Galaxy S9
The batteries of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are the same as on the S8 and S8+, no updates here.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will launch next month in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, and Lilac Purple. Pricing, promotions, and exact availability is yet to be announced.
Earlier today a bunch of live images showing Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ got outed, but perhaps you want something more official. How about a newly leaked promo video created by the Korean company for the two devices? Here you go.
The video is focused on selling the S9 handsets to enterprise customers, saying such things as "now the perfect phone for you is the perfect phone for business". It does however reveal the main slogan for the S9 - "The Phone. Reimagined", which can and will be broken into more specific iterations - like "The Camera. Reimagined" from the company's official event invite.
Another interesting tidbit is that Samsung is promising "up to" 4 years of security updates for the S9 duo, but that seems to only apply to those who get the Enterprise Edition package. The S9 phones are also said to ship with "AR Readiness", and support for remote over-the-air firmware updates.
Samsung needs to tighten up its security – live images of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are all over the web! We get to see the two phones side by side and gawk at the color options a day ahead of schedule.
To be fair, the copious rumors have given away all the twists and turns, including the selection of colors. Still, this beats the renders and even the two live photos from a few days ago.
Live photos of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+
Look closely at the Galaxy S9, then go look at an image of the Galaxy S8, say, this one:
Samsung Galaxy S8
Can you spot the differences? Clearly, the repositioned fingerprint reader on the back will be a dead giveaway, but the front looks wholly unchanged.
It's been a while since Samsung launched a high-end tablet, but the wait could be almost over. A couple of days ago an upcoming slate from the Korean company was spotted in a benchmark and based on its model number it's assumed to be the Galaxy Tab S4.
Now it's been caught in another benchmark, HTML5Test, where its screen aspect ratio is confirmed as being 16:10. That's a bit odd considering that the Galaxy Tab S3 from last year used the 4:3 aspect ratio. It looks like Samsung decided it was time for a change.
When you look at the screenshot above, keep in mind that HTML5Test doesn't show the actual resolution of devices. The Galaxy Tab S4 will have a 10.5" 2,560x1,600 panel, the Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 12 MP main camera, and an 8 MP secondary unit. It will run Android 8.0 Oreo from day one.
Samsung is holding a big event at MWC in Barcelona this Sunday, February 25. That's where it will unveil the Galaxy S9 and S9+, but there's a slim chance we'll also see the Galaxy Tab S4 becoming official by the end of the week.
Weak demand for the iPhone X is hurting Samsung’s OLED display business – while the company is seeking out new customers, it will slash the output by as much as 20 million units. The original target was for around 45 million to 50 million iPhone X displays, reports Nikkei.
And this is just for the January-March quarter, there may be additional cutbacks for April-June. The company is reportedly looking at Chinese and other customers to make up the difference.
Last year, Samsung invested $12.6 billion to boost its OLED production capacity in anticipation of an iPhone X boom that never came. Early predictions for 2018 profits were to beat the 6-year high of Q2 last year, but now it’s looking like Samsung’s display business may be in for a slump.
With less than a week to go until their official announcement on Sunday, a few hours ago almost every single detail regarding Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ was leaked. And yet, while we've already seen the Exynos-powered S9 going through Geekbench, it's only now that its sibling's run has been added to the benchmark's database.
The S9 already had very respectable results, with a single-core score of 3,648 and a multi-core score of 8,894. The S9+, however, beat even that, as you can see, scoring 3,773 and 9,024, respectively.
To put that result into perspective, consider that in Geekbench's most recent Android chart, the S8 duo both scored on average around 1,950 single-core and 6,400 multi-core. The best result of the S8+ was 2,159 single-core and 7,235 multi-core. Thus, the performance improvements brought by the new Exynos 9810 SoC in this particular benchmark, compared to the Exynos 8895 in last year's Samsung flagships, are simply staggering.
The Snapdragon 845 version of the S9+, which will be sold in some markets including the US, only managed to achieve a 2,422 single-core score and 8,351 multi-core score, when it was spotted on Geekbench back in December. So there's going to be quite the difference between this and the Exynos model which will be offered in most of the world.
Additionally, the scores posted by the S9+ are approaching latest iPhone territory - the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X all average around 4,200 single-core and 10,100 multi-core. It is then safe to assume that raw horsepower will not be lacking in the Exynos version of the S9+, which also comes with 6GB of RAM, 2GB more than the S9.
The Galaxy S9 duo is just six days away from its official announcement, but press renders and specs just leaked, revealing all the key specs of the Samsung flagship. The Galaxy S9 will be the first Snapdragon 845 smartphone that will sell in the US, while the other markets get the Exynos 9810-powered device.
Samsung Galaxy S9 in Titanium Gray
The phone will have the same Infinity Display as the Galaxy S8 on the front, while the fingerprint scanner and camera now occupy the back in a vertical setup. The bigger Galaxy S9+ will come with dual cameras, as previously reported.
Samsung Galaxy S9 in Midnight Black
Samsung Galaxy S9 in Coral Blue
Samsung Galaxy S9 in Lilac Violet
The 12 MP camera of the Galaxy S9 is expected to be the big change - it will have “variable aperture” that goes from f/1.5 to f/2.4 - perhaps the same as the one inside the W2018 flip phone that debuted in China late last year. The dual setup of the Galaxy S9+ will have the same primary sensor, coupled with 12 MP secondary cam with f/2.4 aperture, that is most likely the same as the Galaxy Note8 second shooter.
The specs that Twitter user Roland Quandt outed also reveal 5.8” AMOLED display with 2960 x 1440 resolution for the Galaxy S9, while the Galaxy S9+ panel will be 6.2”. Both chipsets will have octa-core CPU, but the Exynos 9810 will be clocked at 2.9 GHz, while the Snapdragon 845 runs at 2.6 GHz.
Samsung will present two RAM options - the smaller flagship getting 4 GB, while the Plus-version will come with 6 gigs. Both will have 64 GB storage and microSD slot that could add 400 GB more with the proper memory card, of course.
Samsung Galaxy S9+ in Coral Blue
Samsung Galaxy S9+ in Lilac Violet
Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C are somewhat mandatory for flagships now, so this is not a big surprise. What is interesting to see is that Samsung will keep the same 3,000 mAh/3,500 mAh batteries in its flagships that will last longer due to the improved power efficiency of the new chipsets.
Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ to come with Stereo speakers
Here's hoping Samsung still has a few surprises for us come Sunday and the official debut of the Galaxy S9 duo.
