The Samsung s9 is a gorgeous phone which along with the s9 plus are the most recent phones in the Samsung Galaxy series. The s9 is the smaller version of the s9 plus which makes it handier especially considering its slippery surface. This smaller size makes the s9 convenient for everyday use as it slips comfortably into the pocket. This phone is a great alternative for Apple fans wanting to sell iPhone and try an Android for a change.
Durability
The Samsung s9 has an aluminum frame with a front/back glass gorilla (Gorilla glass 5) surface, but despite the solid-looking build, it doesn’t inspire confidence and would not survive a drop on a hard surface from a considerable distance. To prevent cracks, it’s recommended you get a protective case and a tempered glass protector although finding one that’s durable doesn’t impede touch control and takes the edges into account might be a bit challenging.
Unlock options
The device comes with the fingerprint, face and iris unlock options and so far, the fingerprint unlock option has proven to be the most effective – not the fastest out there, but it gets the job done.
Screen
The screen is impressive although when using it for certain tasks or videos, you might miss having that screen with a flat surface. It is a 5.8’ screen with Super AMOLED display of 1440 x 2960 pixels with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Also, to save on battery, you might have to turn off the QHD mode, and after the first couple of minutes, you would hardly notice any change in the display. More importantly, the colors are vibrant, and the auto brightness works well, so things always look nice.
Speakers
One area where the s9 stands out is the quality of the speakers, they are nice and have a rich base. The sounds over a headphone are great; not as good as what you would get on an LG phone but it’s better than what you would find on 95% of phones currently in the market.
Battery
The battery on the s9 is good, and we found it lasts longer than that of the s9 plus which is quite a conundrum. In-between YouTube videos, calls and regular browsing, it can go an entire day especially with the power saver turned on. However, we did feel the charging could have been faster and using the charger that comes along with the device is a lot better than that of a generic charger.
Performance
The processor is the Snapdragon 845, and with 4GB of RAM, you can have as much as 30 applications running without noticing any time lag. The hard drive sizes are 64/128/256GB of internal storage expandable to 512GB. The camera is 12MP with a focus of 1.5-2.4 and compared with the s8, and it’s somewhat of an upgrade especially when you consider the quality of the colors on the s9. However, there are some occasions where you might feel the need for the telephoto lens of the s9 plus, but with cheaper lens pieces from Amazon or Moment, you are covered.
