Overview of flagship smartphones Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 +

On February 25, 2018, Samsung launched the flagship devices Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on the smartphone market. The "older" model differs slightly from the "younger" in size, RAM and battery capacity, as well as the presence of a dual camera. The remaining characteristics are almost the same for the two devices, so we will combine information about them in one review and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of new products.

But first, let's say a few words about how to choose a reliable and suitable "smart phone" for you.

The main criteria for choosing a smartphone

• Decide how much money you can allocate for the purchase from your budget. Thus, the circle of potential "applicants" will be significantly narrowed.After all, there are a lot of smartphone models in the world, their difference in price can vary from 9,000 to 200,000 rubles.
• Even if you can afford not only budget models, think about what features of the phone you definitely need, and for which it makes no sense to overpay. Why do you need a new device? For calls and taking pictures, for playing games and watching movies, for being active on the Internet? It is possible that an active user will need the full functioning of all these options. It makes no sense for a buyer focused only on calls and communication to pay more for a device with a "fancy" camera.
• How and where it is profitable to buy a smartphone is a question no less important. Many consumers prefer the traditional way - to purchase equipment in specialized hypermarkets and salons, where you can get a guarantee and advice from the seller, which device is better to buy. True, there is a minus: talented "salespeople" are able to persuade the buyer to purchase a more expensive model with unnecessary options. Online shopping is a growing trend. This makes it possible to purchase devices directly from the manufacturer or on the trading floors of their China. The choice of models here is quite wide, but not all of them, according to their characteristics, can be operated in Russia. Again, there is a risk of no guarantee and possible dishonesty of the sellers.

Parameters to pay attention to:

Which brand of smartphone is better to buy

The popularity and recognition of models is not the last criterion for many buyers when choosing a device. At the same time, there is no need to overpay for a brand today: in addition to well-known and status brands, quite inexpensive brands from Chinese corporations are also represented on the market.

Top Producers

• Fly (UK-India);
• ZTE (PRC);
• Xiaomi (PRC);
• Meizu (PRC);
• Huawei (PRC);
• ASUS (Taiwan);
• LG (South Korea);
• Lenovo (Hong Kong);
• Apple (USA);
• Samsung S series (South Korea);
• Sony (Japan).

Popular smartphone models in 2018

• Samsung Galaxy S8;
• Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+;
• Huawei Nova 2;
• HTC U11;
• Lenovo K6 Note;
• Xiaomi Mi 6;
• Sony Xperia X Compact;
• Huawei Honor 9;
• Apple iPhone 8.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

Samsung is positioning the new models as smartphones that include all the previous developments, but equipped with an improved and redesigned camera. Particular emphasis is placed on simplifying the opportunities for the user to share photo and video content with others. A large set of all kinds of options allows us to say that in terms of functionality these phones are still outperforming their potential competitors.

Dimensions: 158.1x73.8x8.5 mm.

Weight: 189 g.

Average price: 60,000 rubles.

Equipment

• Smartphone;
• Instruction;
• Paperclip for opening the tray with sim-cards;
• Stereo headset wired;
• Charger;
• Adapter for external devices;
• USB Type C adapter.

Main differences

Design and ergonomics

In their appearance, smartphones are very similar to devices of the previous generation - S7, S8, there have been no fundamental changes here. Their dimensions are almost identical, so those who own the "old" models can understand how convenient the new device is.

The color scheme of the model offers the user a choice between black, silver, lilac and blue. The once popular golden hue is no longer used.

For the manufacture of the metal frame, a new material is used - aluminum AL 7003. It is durable and resistant to scratches. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and a durable oleophobic coating.

A distinctive feature of the model is that the fingerprint sensor is now located under the camera, and not on the side of it, as was the case with its predecessors.

The headphone jack has been preserved, which is perceived very positively by users.

The rounded case fits well in the hand, but the smartphone is quite slippery, and in vibration mode it can easily “creep away” and, as a result, fall, so a protective case will not be superfluous at all.

Screen

The diagonal size is 5.8 inches for the S9 and 6.2 inches for the S9+. The models are equipped with a Super AMOLED matrix, which has the highest quality of color reproduction and pictures. Compared to previous releases, the maximum screen brightness has been increased by 20%. In the sun, the information on the display is read perfectly, the picture remains natural.

Screen settings allow you to work with color temperature and other standard settings. There is an option to work with gloves, which for some time was removed from the feature set.

A special AlwaysOn Display mode assumes that the display shows the information the user needs (for example, notifications or clocks) even when the screen is locked.

The smartphone plays video in HDR-standard, but can not shoot in it.

Interface

In this area, the new smartphone has significant differences from its predecessors. The operating system - Android 8.0 Oreo plus the Samsung Experience proprietary shell added a number of new features for the user, namely:

• You can easily remove almost all unnecessary applications;
• The Dual Messenger application makes it possible to clone a number of instant messengers and social network clients (except for VKontakte);
• Support for landscape orientation.

An interesting new feature is sending gif-animations to instant messengers, both those already available in the online catalog and those that you can create yourself. The AR-Emoji option prompts the user to scan a face through the front camera and present it as an animation hero. True, the result does not always have a reliable resemblance to the original.

How it works? You take your photo by selecting the desired gender, get an image that you can edit to your liking - choose the color of the skin, eyes and hair, a suitable hairstyle.You can then create an unlimited set of gifs expressing different emotions and use them in your posts and even record videos with them.

Smartphone owners can use the Bixby digital assistant. Unfortunately, it does not yet support voice and written commands in Russian, but you can work with it without restrictions in English. The assistant will translate the inscriptions on the signs, the menu in the restaurant, tell you about the sights, you just need to point the camera at the desired object. The “chips” available in the new S9 and S9 + are the ability to calculate the calories of a dish from a photo taken or virtually apply decorative cosmetics to the face that the owner of the smartphone would like to buy. The assistant can help you not only change the settings of the device, but also work with a number of popular third-party applications, for example, post on Instagram. A special Bixby Hello panel is also designed to work with it. Some Bixby functions are available in other smartphones (for example, Honor View 10, Huawei Mate 10 Pro), and Google Assistant works on any Android device, which largely duplicates Bixby.

"Stuffing" and performance

If in China and the USA the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip is used for the smartphone, then in the rest of the world, including Russia, the Exynos 9810 processor is used.

Basic processor parameters

• 8 cores: 4 Samsung Mongoose M3 high performance cores (2.7GHz) and 4 low cost Cortex-A55 (1.8GHz);
• High-speed modem that transmits data at speeds up to 1.2 Gb / s;
• Graphics Mali-G72.

The amount of RAM in the "nine" is 4 GB, built-in - 64 GB (expandable to 128 or 256 GB).

Both devices have maximum performance, applications, both system and non-system, open and work quickly, without slowing down.

autonomy

As in previous releases, the smartphone has a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 3000/3500 m/Ah. There is a fast charging option that allows you to “feed” the device in 70-80 minutes, and wireless. The device is able to withstand 5-6 hours of screen operation (the level of its backlight is important here). In the mode of active games, it will work for about 5.5 hours, when watching videos in Full HD format - 12.5 hours. With average busyness - calls, surfing the Internet, watching news and accessing social networks, taking pictures, checking mail, etc. - by the evening, about 30-40% of a fully charged battery remains.

cameras

The redesigned rear camera is one of the main announced features of the new smartphones. The front camera has not undergone significant changes.

Key Features

• For the first time, the S-line models have a dual main module (12 megapixels). The principle of operation is that a second camera is added to the standard camera, providing a double optical zoom and various effects. There is an optical stabilization function.
• Variable aperture with two values. The first - f1.5 - allows the camera to capture maximum light. The second - f2.4 - helps to eliminate overexposure in certain areas of the photo when working in bright sunlight, allowing you to achieve higher detail. You can select the desired mode both manually and automatically.
• Shooting super slow motion video (Super Slo-Mo). Frequency - 960 frames per second.To catch the right moment - after all, a segment lasting 0.2 seconds is filmed and then "stretched" - a special system for detecting movement is installed in the camera. Those. the smartphone “waits” for the right moment and, catching it, automatically slows down the shooting. You can’t shoot video on your own in this mode, this is a minus. On the other hand, ready-made videos are obtained, to which various special effects can be applied (repeat, movement in the opposite direction) and musical accompaniment can be applied to them.
• A new focusing algorithm that has become very fast.
• Color encoding in 10 bits (previously - 8 bits), which adds naturalness to the picture.
• Significantly improved the quality of shooting at night. Instant autofocus, optical image stabilization, f/1.5 aperture, and noise reduction help capture low-noise night shots.
• The ability to take panoramic "selfies" and ultra-wide panoramas.
• Good level of text capture.
• The camera allows you to record video, including in 4K mode - up to 60 frames per second, in Full HD format - with the same time parameters.

Photo examples:

• in daylight

• under artificial lighting

• examples of photos with a blurred background

Communications

As flagship models, new smartphones from Samsung have a full range of wireless interfaces:

• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac;
• LTE-A Cat18;
• Bluetooth 5.0 (allows you to connect two acoustic devices at the same time). At the same time, it became possible to choose in which connected device the sound will be played in the application. So, one user using wireless devices can watch video, and another can listen to music;
• Dual Sim Dual Standby mode (you can insert either two nano-sims into the combo tray or combine one of them with a memory card);
• Navigation systems: GPS, BDS, Galileo and GLONASS;
• NFC and MST to enable Samsung Pay;
• ANT +, which allows you to work with sports accessories.

Sound and multimedia

The increase in the capabilities of the smartphone was also due to the installation of stereo speakers in it. The volume of the device has become 1.4 times higher compared to previous models. The phone is always well audible, no matter how deep it is in your pocket or bag. Clear sound is also heard when watching videos or listening to audio files. The Dolby Atmos tuning system allows you to individually adjust the sound of the device. The kit includes a quality headset AKG EO-IG955.

Unlock

In addition to the standard unlock, the user can use the fingerprint scanner and smart scanning. The last of these methods, due to the recognition of the iris and face, allows you to unlock your smartphone in low light conditions.

Results

Smartphones Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 + are undoubtedly in the ranking of high-quality and popular models. They have a set of new options that can be called evolutionary rather than revolutionary: the camera shoots a little better, the processor has become a little faster, a number of functions have appeared that can attract the user's attention at presentations and remain unclaimed in everyday life. It is unlikely that those who purchased last year's "eight" make sense to change it to a model that does not have fundamentally new differences, unless there are increased requirements for photo quality.

• Stylish design;
• Improved camera;
• Productive and more "nimble" compared to its predecessors;
• Bright screen;
• Biometric identification with new features;
• The presence of stereo speakers;
• Excellent sound;
• There is water protection;
• Build quality;
• Ergonomics.

• According to some users, the battery gets very hot and may be rather weak for fans of active games and long video views;
• Without a case, scratches easily appear on the case;
• Mark Corps;
• The almost useless Bixby function in Russia;
• No FM radio;
• High price.

New devices can be designated as leading models among premium segment smartphones based on Android OS. Users who are thinking about purchasing a new “smart phone” can consider them as an option, since they have not yet had competitors in terms of technology advancement.