{"id":507,"date":"2018-03-09T15:06:05","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T14:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=507"},"modified":"2018-03-08T15:08:18","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T14:08:18","slug":"samsung-galaxy-s9-review-the-best-big-screen-phone-by-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=507","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Galaxy S9+ review: the best big-screen phone by miles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"drop-cap\"><span class=\"drop-cap__inner\">H<\/span><\/span>aving ushered in a new super-slim bezel design at the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/apr\/21\/samsung-galaxy-s8-review-smartphone-infinity-display-iris-scanner\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">beginning of 2017 with the S8<\/a>, has Samsung\u2019s new dual-aperture, dual camera enough to entice people to upgrade?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s fair to say the Galaxy S9+ looks practically identical to its\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/apr\/28\/samsung-galaxy-s8-review-battery-infinity-screen\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">predecessor<\/a>. It\u2019s got the same curved glass design, metal sides and lump-less camera on the back, and while it is 1.4mm shorter, 0.4mm wider and 0.4mm thicker than\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/apr\/28\/samsung-galaxy-s8-review-battery-infinity-screen\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the S8+<\/a>, you\u2019ll need a ruler to notice.<\/p>\n<p>The bezels at the top, which contain the iris scanner, front-facing camera and various sensors, are slightly smaller. Samsung didn\u2019t adopt the \u201cnotch\u201d that Apple used for the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/nov\/10\/iphone-x-review-apple-face-id-all-screen-design-home-button\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">iPhone X<\/a>\u00a0and many others are expected to use this year, and I think that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>The large 6.2in OLED screen is absolutely gorgeous, pixel-perfect with deep blacks and rich colours, and it\u2019s squeezed into a frame that\u2019s surprisingly easy to hold, particularly compared to devices such as\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/oct\/17\/google-pixel-2-xl-review-big-screen-android-camera-battery-ai\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Google\u2019s Pixel 2XL<\/a>, which is 3.3mm wider. Oh, and it\u2019s still got a headphones socket.<\/p>\n<p>The S9+ is still quite big in your pocket, but one important change over last year\u2019s model is the position of the fingerprint scanner on the back. Blaced below the rear cameras instead of alongside them means it\u2019s so much easier to reach. It\u2019s accurate, fast and a massive improvement.<\/p>\n<h2>Specifications<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Screen:<\/strong>\u00a06.2in quad HD+ AMOLED (529ppi)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Processor:<\/strong>\u00a0octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 or octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845<\/li>\n<li><strong>RAM:\u00a0<\/strong>6GB of RAM<\/li>\n<li><strong>Storage:\u00a0<\/strong>128GB + microSD card slot<\/li>\n<li><strong>Operating system:<\/strong>\u00a0Android 8.0 with Samsung Experience<\/li>\n<li><strong>Camera:\u00a0<\/strong>Dual 12MP rear camera with OIS, 8MP front-facing camera<\/li>\n<li><strong>Connectivity:\u00a0<\/strong>LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, wireless charging, Bluetooth 5, GPS and Iris scanner<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dimensions:\u00a0<\/strong>158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm<\/li>\n<li><strong>Weight:\u00a0<\/strong>189g<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>A day\u2019s battery<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"img-2\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"a6c375c5f002aa08fd4b9ad509d834239c64f094\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Over the years we\u2019ve come to expect excellent performance from Samsung\u2019s top-of-the-line phones and the S9+ is no exception. It flies along as a result, keeping pace with most of the best of the rest, although it\u2019s not quite as snappy as\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/oct\/17\/google-pixel-2-xl-review-big-screen-android-camera-battery-ai\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Google\u2019s Pixel 2XL<\/a>, which comes down to software optimisation.<\/p>\n<p>The S9+ will be able to do everything you want in a top-end phone, including high-performance gaming and multiple apps on one screen, but there\u2019s one area of weakness compared to recent competitors \u2013 and that\u2019s battery life.<\/p>\n<p>The Galaxy S9+ doesn\u2019t have bad battery life, it will still get through a day. But when top-end phones such as\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/nov\/02\/huawei-mate-10-pro-review-two-day-battery-life-dual-cameras-android\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Huawei\u2019s Mate 10 Pro<\/a>\u00a0can do two days per charge, and Apple\u2019s\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/nov\/10\/iphone-x-review-apple-face-id-all-screen-design-home-button\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">iPhone X<\/a>\u00a0will last just under 30 hours, the Galaxy S9+\u2019s 26 hours between charges isn\u2019t as good as it should be. Last year\u2019s S8+ managed 30 hours between charges.<\/p>\n<p>That was while using the S9+ as my primary device with the screen set to QHD+ and the always-on display active, browsing and using apps for five hours with a hundred or so push messages, watching 60 minutes of Netflix, and listening to around five hours of music via Bluetooth headphones.<\/p>\n<p>Setting the screen to FHD+ added around two hours longevity, but you could see the display wasn\u2019t as crisp. Turning off the always-on display made little difference.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that the battery life got better the longer I used the phone, as Samsung\u2019s device maintenance feature suppresses apps that haven\u2019t been launched in a while but are still consuming power in the background.<\/p>\n<h2>Samsung\u2019s version of Android 8 Oreo<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"img-3\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"bcbdf737426b4c967dd238c1c8132f364518ae98\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Galaxy S9+ is one of the first Samsung devices to run Android 8 Oreo, but on the whole not a lot has changed since the Galaxy S8+. The Samsung\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/android\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Android<\/a>experience is fairly consistent between models, but it performs smoother on the S9+ than on any phone before it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"element element-image img--landscape element--thumbnail  \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"037713f1edbe7386b4c60f79388c3bf0e9eb2506\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are small additions, such as the ability to have the home screen rotate to landscape, Oreo\u2019s new notification system including number markers on program icons, and the ability to duplicate messaging apps so you can have two versions of apps such as WhatsApp installed at once.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most obvious additions is Samsung\u2019s new AR Emoji. They operate like Apple\u2019s Animoji, but use virtual avatars that are meant to look like you. Mine doesn\u2019t look much like me, but it picks up expressions, and eye and mouth movements, very well, so you can send a bespoke image. It also generates a series of gifs with your virtual self performing various actions that you can send to people like any other gif. When I did, the recipients told me to stop almost immediately, so I suspect some might like them more than others.<\/p>\n<h2>Biometrics<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"img-4\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"6c1456cb50a99c5cacd964d76b1a4403c6c01457\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Galaxy S9+ has facial recognition, an iris scanner and a fingerprint scanner, giving you multiple modes to unlock the device. New for this year is \u201cintelligent scan\u201d, which combines facial recognition and iris scanning into one mode.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s certainly fast and works well most of the time, but there are questions over its level of security, with warnings appearing when you set it up. Samsung\u2019s facial recognition certainly isn\u2019t as secure as Apple\u2019s on the iPhone X, but whether that matters to you depends on how you balance security with convenience.<\/p>\n<p>The fingerprint scanner on the back is great, and makes a huge difference to the usability of the device.<\/p>\n<h2>Camera<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"img-5\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"8c42a5fd4df9055529a33121ab5691f0a287ed12\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The camera is all new for the Galaxy S9+. There\u2019s a 12-megapixel dual camera on the back, that has one wide-angle camera and one telephoto camera, both with optical image stabilisation similar to the Note 8. But the wide-angle camera can also vary its aperture, flipping between an\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/F-number#Stops,_f-stop_conventions,_and_exposure\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">f-stop<\/a>\u00a0of 1.5 and 2.4.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is that the faster f\/1.5 lets in more light for better low-light photography and extremely shallow depth of field, while the f\/2.4 is better for shooting in good lighting. This can either be left to the camera to automatically decide or be controlled manually in \u201cpro\u201d mode.<\/p>\n<p>All combined, the rear camera system on the S9+ is one of the best available, producing well coloured, well detailed photos in most lighting conditions. Its low-light performance is impressive, while the telephoto camera occasionally comes in handy. It is a significant improvement from\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/samsung\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Samsung<\/a>\u00a0that catches up with the competition rather than blow them out of the water.<\/p>\n<p>New for this year is super slow motion of up to 960 frames per second, which is four times the speed of regular 240fps slow motion. The faster the capture the greater the effect when played at normal speed, making 0.2 seconds of action turn into six seconds of video.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"img-6\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"0b393eadf7c112543bd4c1e618faa13db63491e1\"><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s a lot of fun to use and Samsung has built-in systems to make it easier to capture what you\u2019re after. You can manually trigger the super slow-mo multiple times while recording video, and then produce one long clip or just export the bits you want as videos or gifs.<\/p>\n<p>But the camera app also has a motion-detection option, which allows you to define an area in which any movement will trigger the super slow-motion capture. It works very well, taking the guess work out of when to hit the button.<\/p>\n<p>The eight-megapixel selfie camera is still one of the best, preserving detail and doing fairly well in dim lighting.<\/p>\n<h2>Observations<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There\u2019s a \u201chybrid\u201d sim version available that allows you to use two sim cards at the same time, or one sim card and a microSD card<\/li>\n<li>The S9+ is water resistant to IP68 standards (1.5m of water for 30 minutes)<\/li>\n<li>Dolby Atmos sound enhancer is really great, adding more pop and space to audio, even with Bluetooth headphones<\/li>\n<li>The ear piece and bottom speakers work as a stereo pair<\/li>\n<li>You can get rid of the ugly icon backgrounds<\/li>\n<li>Bixby, Samsung\u2019s personal assistant, hasn\u2019t improved much over the last year and I still found it more annoying than useful \u2013 you can now disable the Bixby key and turn off the home screen page, effectively hiding it entirely<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Price<\/h2>\n<p>The Samsung Galaxy S9+ costs \u00a3869 with 128GB of storage in purple, blue or black.<\/p>\n<p>For comparison, the 6.3in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/sep\/07\/samsung-galaxy-note-8-review-a-greatest-hits-package-from-the-godfather-of-phablets\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Samsung Galaxy Note 8<\/a>\u00a0with 64GB of storage costs \u00a3869, the 6in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/oct\/17\/google-pixel-2-xl-review-big-screen-android-camera-battery-ai\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Google Pixel 2 XL<\/a>\u00a0with 64GB costs \u00a3799, the 6in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/nov\/02\/huawei-mate-10-pro-review-two-day-battery-life-dual-cameras-android\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Huawei Mate 10 Pro<\/a>\u00a0with 128GB costs \u00a3699, the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/nov\/20\/oneplus-5t-review-price-top-end-full-screen-smartphone-battery-life\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">6in OnePlus 5T<\/a>\u00a0with 64GB costs \u00a3449, the 6in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2018\/feb\/09\/honor-10-view-review-price--top-smartphone-with-two-day-battery-life\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Honor 10 View<\/a>\u00a0with 128GB costs \u00a3450, and the 5.8in iPhone X with 64GB costs \u00a3999.<\/p>\n<h2>Verdict<\/h2>\n<p>Last year\u2019s Galaxy S8+ was slightly held back by a few annoying niggles, such as the awkward fingerprint sensor placement, all of which have been rectified in the Galaxy S9+.<\/p>\n<p>Samsung could certainly be accused of simply recycling last year\u2019s design, but it was really great in 2017 and is just as great in 2018, so it gets away with it \u2013 for now. The battery life is slightly disappointing, but still long enough to get through a day.<\/p>\n<p>The camera is great, the screen fantastic and the fit and finish is brilliant. It is feature-packed and still the phone to go for if you want a massive screen in as manageable a body as possible. Given the bar has been raised by how expensive top-end smartphones can be, the S9+ is actually not that expensive for what it is, either, which is not something I thought I\u2019d say about a phone costing \u00a3869.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source\u00a0https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2018\/mar\/08\/samsung-galaxy-s9-review-big-screen-phone-camera-top-end-smartphone-battery-life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having ushered in a new super-slim bezel design at the\u00a0beginning of 2017 with the S8, has Samsung\u2019s new dual-aperture, dual camera enough to entice people to upgrade? It\u2019s fair to say the Galaxy S9+ looks practically identical to its\u00a0predecessor. It\u2019s got the same curved glass design, metal sides and lump-less camera on the back, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":509,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions\/509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}