Samsung Galaxy S9+ Review

Overview

The Galaxy S9+ is the first smartphone from the Galaxy S series of Samsung that employs two rear cameras. In addition to the wide shooter with a variable aperture used by the Galaxy S9 as well, this model uses a telephoto lens coupled with another 12MP sensor. That's the main difference between the S9 and S9+ if we put aside the display size, dimensions, weight and battery capacity. In the following in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy S9+, you will manage to get a detailed idea of the design, display quality, software provision, chipset and battery performance, camera and audio quality. If some elements sound similar, there's a good explanation about that - the S9+ is simply a bigger sibling of the S9 and both have retained the Infinity Display and design concept from last year's Galaxy S8/S8+.

Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S9+ is equipped with 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display with a WQHD+ resolution (1440 x 2960) and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. A 3D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protects the front and the back of the device split by a polished 7000-series aluminium alloy frame. This smartphone has two variants depending on the type of chipset it uses. The first one is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 mobile platform, built on Samsung's 10LPP (Low Power Plus) process. It employs eight Kryo 385 CPU cores. Four are clocked at 2.8GHz and the other four at 1.8GHz. An Adreno 630 manages the graphics department and supports OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.0, DirectX 12. This chipset includes an X20 LTE modem, a Hexagon 685 DSP, Spectra 280 ISP, security core unit, etc. The second variant is based on the Exynos 9810 chipset. It is built on the same 2nd generation 10LPP process. The SoC houses a 3rd generation custom CPU upgraded with wider pipelines and optimized cache memory. It employs 4x Exynos M3 Mongoose CPU cores that run at a thread-count dependent maximum frequency the top one being 2.7GHz (not 2.9GHz as initially advertised). The other four cores are Cortex-A55 units ticking at 1.79GHz. The Exynos 9810 is equipped with the 18-core Mali-G72 M18 GPU clocked at 572MHz that supports OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0, OpenCL 2.0, DirectX 11, Renderscript. The Exynos 9810 SoC also employs several security features such as Samsung KNOX, Security Processing Unit, and DRAM encryption. There are 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM on board. It is double-channel and clocked at 1794MHz. The UFS 2.1 storage is available in three versions - 64/128/256GB. The LTE modem on board the chipset supports category 18 with 6CA for downlink with 1.2Gbps speeds and 2CA for uplink with up to 200Mbps speeds. The list of supported network bands includes 2G GSM (800, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G TD-SCDMA (1880-1920, 2010-2025 MHz), 3G UMTS (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE-FDD (700 Class 13, 700 Class 17, 800, 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz), and 4G LTE-TDD (1900, 2300, 2500, 2600, 700 MHz - B12, 700 MHz - B28). The model also supports Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with 4x4 VHT80 MIMO, 1024-QAM scheme, Bluetooth 5, NFC with Android Beam and Tap and Pay. The Galaxy S9+ works with GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo. The device has a USB Type-C 3.1 port with OTG support and a 3.5 mm jack. The camera department includes a 12MP Samsung SAK2L3 main camera with a 77° lens with variable aperture - f/1.5 and f/2.4, while the second has a telephoto lens and another 12MP sensor. They are both aided by Smart OIS, Object tracking AF, Dual-Pixel PDAF, real-time HDR imaging, 3-Dimensional Noise Reduction (3DNR) and a High CRI LED flash. The front-facing camera is equipped with an 8-megapixel Samsung S5K3H1 sensor and an 80° wide-angle lens with f/1.7 aperture. A 3500 mAh battery keeps the lights on. It is coupled with a 5V/2A~9V/1.67A fast charger and supports Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge and Fast Wireless Charging (Qi & PMA). An iris scanner, heart rate and fingerprint sensor are on board as well. The model runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0 on top.

Complete Samsung Galaxy S9+ Exynos and Samsung Galaxy S9+ SD845 specifications.

What's in the box

The Galaxy S9+ is packaged in Samsung's signature rectangular box in graphite black colour. The box has a "sleeve" of the same colour with the model's name imprinted in its centre in dark blue colour. The full model name, storage and SIM card version are imprinted on it as well. The lid of the box has the Samsung logo in deep black and with a different texture. It opens on the right side and unfolds to the left unveiling the contents. The device is placed in the top-level compartment with all standard protective packaging. Below it, you will see the accessories:

• 5V/2A~9V/1.67A fast charger (British Standard - BS 1363)
• USB Type-C data cable
• USB Connector (C to A)
• Transparent silicone case for the back
• AKG-tuned earphones with spare pads
• SIM tray pin
• Quick start guide
• Smart Switch leaflet

A note on the charger: this is a 13 amp charger that has 3 pins and supports 220-240 V electric systems. This type is used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Malaysia, and Singapore. Prepare a plug adapter, if you live elsewhere and receive a device with such a charger.