Galaxy S9 Plus worth the upgrade?

Samsung’s S9+ phone was released in early 2018 and as I have been living with this phone for just over 6 months, here is an honest review.

Appearance

The bezels are smaller than the S8 phone from last year, but Samsung has made a much better attempt in integrating the sensors, gizmos and other gadgets flush with the top of the phone to give a more complete feel of the phone. The finger print scanner has also been adjusted from the left side of the camera to underneath the camera, allowing for more ergonomic handling of the phone. This just goes to show that Samsung is still open to structured criticism from its users and can adapt to the ever-changing smartphone market- unlike some of their stubborn competitors *cough* *cough*.

Although not flush with the back-glass casing, the fingerprint scanner allows the user to feel the indent and unlock their phone without having to flip over the phone and look. The fingerprint scanner is also much better optimized and can unlock the phone with a single, light touch. On the topic of finger prints, the glass casing on the back is an excellent magnet for fingerprints and I would personally recommend a protective case for it, or a skin at the least to preserve the look of the back casing. Samsung has beefed up the structural components of the phone, but have traded this off for a slightly greater, overall weight.

Screen

The 6.2”, Quad HD+, super AMOLED curved screen is super sharp in the day and is able to provide sharp contrasts when needed. It can also be toned right down with the included blue light filter for those 3am YouTube, Instagram or Reddit browsing sessions. The thicker glass provides more resistance to drops and makes me that much more confident in picking up my phone after dropping it, without having to drop all the cash in my wallet in repairing the screen.

Battery

Battery life is one of the short falls of the S9 plus. The battery capacity is 3500 mAh, which is respectable by any means, but form a Samsung flagship perspective, could have been done a lot better. Although this has been addressed in Samsung’s note 9 phones, by increasing the battery to 4000 mAh. When performing daily tasks on the phone, added to watching videos and light game play, I frequently found that the battery would decrease quickly. The fast charging and wireless charging additions are welcome additions, but I found it to be unquestionably more inconvenient.

Audio

Keeping with the Samsung theme, they have decided not to delete the headphone jack, but rampant rumours and leaks have surfaced for the upcoming S10 series are that the headphone jacks have been removed. Samsung has also teamed up with AKG and Dolby Atmos for some very good sound quality. Two speakers are present at the top and bottom end of the phone and give an almost surround sound experience when watching movies or videos on the screen. A pair of AKG ear buds are provided in the box, but if you’re looking for some premium headphones, check out our review on these SONY and BOSE headphones.

Camera

One of the biggest selling points for the S9 plus was the never seen before variable aperture. The phone can be adjusted between f1.5 and f2.4, depending on the surrounding light intensity. Although this feature is not as noticeable right off the bat, it does show great improvements in low light situations with the f1.5 setting when comparing between 2 photos. The f1.5 allows for more light to enter the camera sensors, allowing for more vivid shots in lowlight conditions, while the f2.4 feature allows for more crisp and clear photos in normal lighting conditions. The default settings come with f2.4 enabled, hence more details can be captured. The back-facing camera is a whopping 12 megapixels with an additional telephoto camera, allowing for a duel back facing camera combo. The telephoto camera allows for optical zoom and live focus features, but these features will not generally be used by the average person. This is a major game changer in the smartphone market and competitors will be seen to follow suit in the coming smartphone releases. The improvements go to show how close the mobile photography market is rivalling the tried and true DLSR camera division. Samsung has tried to leave photos more raw and natural to what they actually look like, but photos still give off a distinct Samsung feel due the overexposure and saturation of photos set by default.

Although more recent than the Pixel and iPhone X, the image quality is to a lesser degree in certain conditions. Without a doubt, the Pixel come out as the top dog in image quality and how true it is to real life in most situations, but the S9 Plus does blow both phones in the low light competition.

Random gizmos and gadgets

In addition to the heart rate monitor, Samsung has also gone the extra mile and added a blood pressure sensor. This could almost be industry leading as no other big brand has seen features like this in their flagship phones to date. Iris scanning has also been added from the note 8, although slow, is seen to be more accurate. There nine different known ways to take a selfie on the front facing camera, which may seem excessive to some……and is, but it is nothing less of what we expect from Samsung. Bixby is a wonderful addition to the phone itself and allows the user to access useful features, hands-free, but with one downside. The placement of the Bixby button has been a disaster from an ergonomic standpoint. It’s placement under the volume button and opposite to the power button had me accidently accessing Bixby. Although this feature can be disabling and rewired for other shortcuts by 3rd party apps, the physical button is still present and is a lingering reminder of how the phone could have ruled over the smartphone market. There are also many un-necessary features that would not be used on a regular basis but is what is expected from Samsung phones. The added bloat wear is present but can easily be disabled, hence is a plus in my books. Storage is something that is Samsung’s strong suits and the ability to increase the storage capacity of the phone my adding a micro SD card is very alluring and arises the question; ‘why don’t all smartphone manufactures offer the ability to increase storage?’

Bixby vision allows the camera to translate foreign words in photos into another language. Although this not extremely helpful in everyday life, I can see how it may help constant travellers. This is also one of the first times we have seen Samsung dive into AR emoji stickers and videos. This is also an added quirk that has been added, but while most of us will just use Snapchat, Instagram or 3rd party filters, this is a generous thought for Samsung to add.

Final verdict

Is it worth the buy??? One million percent would fully recommend this phone if you’re looking for an upgrade from an older generation or just want bragging rights about having Samsung’s flagship phone. If you were looking towards the S9, simply put, DON’T. Save up a bit of extra cash and go for the S9 plus. The added benefits heavily outweigh the minor savings gained upfront. It is in my opinion the perfect balance between the note and the regular S9.

If you want to buy this, check out Amazon; https://amzn.to/2GIuaGu

Specifications

Dimensions: 158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm.

Weight: 189g.

Screen: 6.2"

CPU: Snapdragon 845 / Exynos 980.

RAM: 6GB.

Storage: 64GB / 128GB (Variable)

Camera: Dual 12MP rear, 8MP front.

Battery capacity: 3500mAh.