It’s finally here! The Samsung Galaxy S9, alongside its Plus-size partner, has been unveiled on stage at the MWC 2018 press conference in Barcelona. Here are 9 of its quality, key features.
1. Same screen; smaller body
It’s a 5.8-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with a 1440 x 2960 resolution. That’s 567 pixels per inch, which guarantees a crisp, clear picture. Its screen ratio of 18.5:9, with trimmer bezels at the screen’s top and bottom, provide the same size screen in a smaller body than its Galaxy S8 predecessor. All this equals a quality experience for viewing your films, TV shows and flicking through photos.
2. It looks stunning
The iris scanner hole has been hidden, there’s less bezel at the top and bottom of the display screen and, while there’s still a glass back and rounded front display, the aim and achievement is a seamless body. A few slight tweaks, but ones you’ll certainly appreciate.
3. They’ve moved the fingerprint scanner!
One criticism of the Galaxy S8 was its odd fingerprint scanner placement on the rear of the phone, right next to the camera. Samsung have listened and, now, it sits below the camera with quite some distance, so there’s no chance of you smudging the lens this time around!
4. It sounds phenomenal
Is audio is a big deal for your phone choice process? The Samsung S9 is blessed with Dolby ATMOS surround sound technology. Unlike some of its rivals, the Samsung Galaxy S9 has a 3.5mm headphone jack along the bottom edge. Next to that sits the USB-C slot for charging / data transfer, and one of the phone’s two speakers – the other is on top of the phone, and Samsung insist this will push the S9 to become 1.5 times louder than the S8.
5. You have 3 (or 4) colour options
Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple will all be available in most corners of the globe. In the US or UK, we won’t be gifted the Titanium Grey version, only available elsewhere.
6. That camera!
It’s the camera that can slow down time and see in the dark. A single-lens with variable aperture (unlike S9+) and offers super-slow-motion for those action shots.
7. It’s powered by dragons
In the US, the S9 will be one of the first phones to get Snapdragon 845 chipset technology from Qualcomm. In the UK (and most other markets), we’re set to receive the Exynos 9810 chipset, created in-house at Samsung. If it’s anything like what we’ve seen in recent years, both versions will be a similar level in raw processing power.
As was the case with the Galaxy S8, there’s a 3,000mAh cell inside the Galaxy S9 – one of the highest when put against competitors and far above Apple’s offering. How long will it last? That’s currently unclear, but with its new processing tech it’ll be a touch more efficient than the S8. There’s also wireless charging technology available, so you can top it back up without plugging in (with the official charger, there’s also fast charging available).
8. Bixby Vision and AR
People are communicating with images far more than ever before, so, in response, Samsung has introduced AR emoji. AR stands for augmented reality, using the front camera to take a selfie and make an emoji based on your looks. It’s works in a similar way to The Sims, where you make an image that represents you and can be customized. It uses facial recognition and can recognize over 18 different expressions.
It’s similar idea to Apple’s Animoji feature, but here allows you to make your own character (think: The Sims) and dress it, change its hair and glasses. You can move your face to make silly videos, but you can also choose one of 18 different emotions pre-built into the app so you don’t always need to pull a stupid face into your phone to be able to send one.
Tap Bixby while in the camera app to access a collection of new features, including tracking the place you’re in, pointing it at food to estimate the number of calories, or using Live Translation by aiming the camera at text and auto-translating it (a huge deal for the travellers amongst us).
9. Get one on 9 March
The Samsung Galaxy S9 announcement date was 25 February, and its available from Friday 16 March. If you pre-order though, you’ll get it 7 days early. Pre-orders are available now across Europe, while the US will need to hold their horses until 1 March. Samsung confirmed its UK price of the Galaxy S9 at £739 or you can order it on an EE Pay Monthly Contract or Upgrade from Direct Mobiles.
Below is our first look hands-on video with the Samsung Galaxy S9. What do you think of the S9? Let us know in the Comments.
