Samsung Galaxy: What are the differences between the S9 and S9+
The new Samsung Galaxy S9 and it’s bigger version, the Galaxy S9+ is about to start a new standard on modern smartphone performance. Better camera and an unbeatable performing AI-driven user experience.
If you think that the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Samsung Galaxy S9+ are identical to each other, you are not quite right. There are a number of features you will miss if you opted for the standard S9 than the bigger S9+. Here’s all of those features.
Feature Differences of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Samsung Galaxy S9+
Size is the most obvious difference. This is also a negotiable choice for some. If you are a person who prefer your smartphone perfect for one handed use, you’ll go for the smaller S9. It’s not practically tiny though but a lot handier than the monstrous S9+. For big-handed individuals, the S9+ is the one to go. Just remember that it will be a difficult job to fit into pockets, especially on skinny jeans.
Galaxy S9: Dimensions: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5 mm / Weight: 163 g
Galaxy S9+: Dimensions: 158.0 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm / Weight: 189 g
Rear Camera also gets a huge bump on the bigger Galaxy S9+. This is an easier choice because if you want the better one, you’ll go S9+ all the way. It’s got dual camera for wide angle and telephoto. This is the best a smartphone camera has ever come into form. The Galaxy S9 also have some of the same features from it’s bigger brother, but none of the hardware to rival the dual lens mechanism.
Galaxy S9: OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), Digital zoom up to 8x, Selective Focus (background blur effect)
Galaxy S9+: Dual camera, Dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), Optical zoom at 2x, Digital zoom up to 10x, Live focus with bokeh filters (background blur effect), Dual Capture
Battery is obviously proportional to the chassis size of the bigger S9+. It’s got a bigger battery than the S9.
Galaxy S9:
Battery Capacity
3000mAh
Battery Life
MP3 playback (AOD on): up to 48 hrs
MP3 playback (AOD off): up to 80 hrs
Video playback: up to 16 hrs
Talk time: up to 22 hrs
Internet use (Wi-Fi): up to 14 hrs
Internet use (3G): up to 11 hrs
Internet use (4G): up to 12 hrs
Galaxy S9+:
Battery Capacity
3500mAh
Battery Life
MP3 playback (AOD on): up to 54 hrs
MP3 playback (AOD off): up to 94 hrs
Video playback: up to 18 hrs
Talk time: up to 25 hrs
Internet use (Wi-Fi): up to 15 hrs
Internet use (3G): up to 13 hrs
Internet use (4G): up to 15 hrs
RAM or Random Access Memory that allows your S9 or S9+ to perform a lot of tasks all at the same time, is also slightly (or hugely) different between the two.
It was first rumored last year that the Galaxy S9 would be launched earlier than its predecessor. However, it’s common to hear such rumors whenever there’s a new Samsung flagship around the corner. Samsung ended up confirming earlier this month that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in February, a full month earlier than the Galaxy S8.
Many of you will be curious about what to expect from the Galaxy S9 given that it’s one of the most hotly anticipated Android flagships of 2018. Let’s take a look at what to expect in terms of specs, design, price and release date.
What to expect from Galaxy S9
Design
Samsung introduced its “Infinity” design with the Galaxy S8 last year and brought it to the Galaxy Note 8 as well. Samsung has even incorporated some of those design elements into the new Galaxy A8 (2018). It goes to show that this design language is here to stay.
Multiple reports and panel and case leaks have revealed that the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ will be more or less identical to their predecessors as far as the display size and even the aspect ratio are concerned. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are likely going to retain the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch panels of their predecessors with the 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Samsung was rumored to be working on a Galaxy S9 with notably reduced front bezels and a screen-to-body ratio unlike what we’ve seen on any other device, but the company reportedly shelved the design because it failed to pass internal tests.
This means that the only significant design change will be on the back of the device where the fingerprint sensor has been repositioned below the camera lens. The Galaxy S9+ will also receive a dual camera system at the back. That’s likely going to be the extent of design changes Samsung makes to its upcoming flagships unless new information to the contrary surfaces in the coming weeks.
Specs
One can’t talk about what to expect from Galaxy S9 without considering the updated specs that this new flagship is going to offer. It goes without saying that it will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor in markets like the United States and China. In all other markets, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will have the Samsung’s new Exynos 9810 octa-core processor with the Mali-G72 GPU and LTE Cat. 18 6CA modem under the hood. You can see more detail about both chips in our Snapdragon 845 vs Exynos 9810 specs comparison.
We expect no less than 6GB of RAM in the Galaxy S9 and at least 64GB of storagein the base model. There have been no rumors as yet to suggest that Samsung is going to raise the base model’s internal storage beyond 64GB, although there’s a possibility the 5.8-inch variant will only have 4GB of RAM.
We can also expect the handset to feature IP68 water and dust resistance, a USB Type-C port, a microSD card slot, wireless charging, Bluetooth 5.0, and possibly improved iris scanning/facial recognition technology.
Camera
The camera is set to be the primary selling point for the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+, as Samsung says the camera has been reimagined for its upcoming flagship. The S9+ is expected to be the only model with a dual camera at the back, but the Galaxy S9’s single camera may have a few tricks up its sleeve as well.
As we reported earlier, Samsung may have revealed the Galaxy S9’s camera details on its own website. It may have a 3-stack fast-read-out sensor enabling the handset to record slow-mo video at 480fps in 1080p Full HD. If it’s capable of doing that, then 720p at an impressive 960fps becomes possible as well. If this information is accurate, the Galaxy S9 will be one of the very few handsets on the market capable of doing this.
It may also feature “Super PD” or Super Phase Detection autofocus. Samsung hasn’t revealed a lot of details about this, but it did mention that the autofocus speeds will be improved considerably. Some rumors also suggest the camera will have variable aperture that can go from F1.5 to F2.4, a feature that the company has already introduced on its newest flip phone flagship for the South Korean market.
As for the Galaxy S9+’ dual camera, we can expect it to provide functionality similar to the Galaxy Note 8, which is Samsung’s first handset with a dual rear camera. The company may have made some improvements to the setup, and it will be interesting to see the kind of fine-tuning has done for the dual camera system.
Battery
It was rumored at one point that the Galaxy S9 would have a slightly larger 3,200mAh battery compared to the Galaxy S8. However, a filing made with Brazil’s telecommunications regulator ANATEL by Samsung for its new flagship handsets reveals that those holding out for a battery capacity bump may end up being disappointed.
The Galaxy S9 is likely going to have the same 3,000mAh battery as the Galaxy S8. If Samsung is sticking to the script, it means that the Galaxy S9+ will keep its predecessor’s 3,500mAh battery. Fast charging will also remain unchanged. Hopefully, the more power efficient internals and additional optimizations will result in battery life improvements, even if there’s no increase in battery capacity.
Software
You can put your money on the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ launching with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. They’re going to be the first Samsung handsets to come with Oreo pre-installed. Samsung introduced the Samsung Experience UX version 8.1 with the Galaxy S8 last year. The upgraded version 8.5 was released with the Galaxy Note 8, and the Galaxy S9 will come with SE 9.0.
Samsung recently teased that artificial intelligence is going to play a bigger role on the Galaxy S9; it’s even expected to have its own AI chip. The company also teased during its Bixby Voice launch event in China late last year that the Galaxy S9 UX will likely be called the Galaxy Ai UX. If that’s accurate, we might see some new functionality baked on top of Oreo. Unfortunately, not a lot of information is available about that at this point in time.
Additional features
We can expect the device to retain features like facial recognition and iris scanning from its predecessor. Stereo AKG-tuned speakers are rumored as well, and the AKG-branded earphones that debuted on the Galaxy S8 are sure to come along for the ride. The Galaxy S9 will also provide PC-like functionality when paired with a new DeX pad that Samsung is expected to launch alongside the flagship.
Bixby
Samsung launched its Bixby personal assistant with the Galaxy S8 last year. The company feels that this feature is important enough to have its own hardware button on the device. Since the Galaxy Note 8 had it too, there’s no reason to believe that Samsung will decide against including a Bixby hardware button on the Galaxy S9.
The S9 and S9+ are likely to have Bixby 2.0 out of the box, although there isn’t a lot of information available about what improvements we can expect other than the features introduced by the second-generation of the service. The artificial intelligence push suggests we will see Bixby offer something on the S9 that we haven’t seen before, but we’ll have to wait for more details to get a clear picture.
Price and release date
Samsung has confirmed officially that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ on February 25 at the Mobile World Congress 2018 next month. It’s going to confirm at the event when pre-orders will begin and when it will start shipping the handset.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were unveiled on March 29 last year, and pre-orders were opened the very next day, with the handsets being released in several markets across the globe on April 21. Samsung will reportedly follow the same script for its new flagship handsets as well, opening pre-orders the very next day and releasing the device by mid-March.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ cost 799 euro and 899 euro in Europe respectively. Customers in the United States paid $724.99 and $824.99 for the two handsets. We can expect the new flagships to cost around the same, if not more.
We have obtained some information about Samsung’s next flagship smartphone. The company has started Galaxy S9 firmware development. The version numbers confirm that there will be two models, which means that we can expect a Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ to be released in 2018.
Galaxy S9 firmware development begins
Two separate Galaxy S9 firmware are being developed, G960FXXU0AQI5 and G965FXXU0AQI5. The model numbers of Samsung’s next flagship smartphones have therefore been confirmed as well. The Galaxy S9 will be SM-G960 while the Galaxy S9+ will be SM-G965.
That’s not surprising, given that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have model numbers SM-G950 and SM-G955 respectively. It’s interesting to note that the Galaxy S9 firmware development has started two weeks earlier than it did for the Galaxy S8 last year.
Galaxy S9 expected release date
As you can probably imagine, there will soon be a lot of rumors about the Galaxy S9 being launched ahead of schedule. While that might be the impression you get from the early Galaxy S9 firmware development, it’s just as likely that the Galaxy S9 release will take place around the same time as the Galaxy S8.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S8 at a dedicated event in New York City on March 29 this year. It was released in a handful of markets across the globe on April 21. Samsung might stick with the same timeframe for the Galaxy S9 release next year.
As we continue to keep an eye on the Galaxy S9 firmware development, expect more information about Samsung’s next flagship smartphones to surface in the coming weeks.
With the Galaxy S8 pushing the boundaries of the display by extending the bezels on the device it set the way for other manufactures to follow suit. Samsung followed with the Note 8 and even Apple got into the game with the iPhone X.
The subtle differences between the Samsung and Apple implementation of a bezel-less display saw Apple opt for a top notch to house the front facing camera and various sensors, while Samsung extended the top bezel the entire way across the device.
One concept that has surfaced suggests the Samsung may take a design cue from Apple when it comes to the Galaxy S9 and reduce the bezels of the device even further with the top cutout.
We’ve seen this design on the Essential Phone as well where the camera is cut out from an otherwise edge-to-edge display.
The latest Samsung Galaxy S9 concept comes from the YouTube channel DBS Designing that sees the top and bottom bezel almost completely eliminated.
At the top of the Galaxy S9 there’s a small cutout to house the camera, speaker, iris scanner, and other sensors. The iPhone X cutout is more pronounced than that of the Galaxy S9 concept but arguably the cutout on the iPhone is that size for a reason given the available technology it has to pack in that small space.
Other key points of the Galaxy S9 concept are the inclusion of the 3.5mm jack that the designer believes Samsung will retain. The concept also has dual front-facing cameras with a 18:9 aspect ratio Quad HD+ Infinity OLED display. The device is said to have 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage and will be the first device to run the upcoming Snapdragon 845 SoC.
We’ve heard previously that Samsung may expedite the arrival of the Galaxy S9 to combat sales of the iPhone X that may see a January or February arrival, a few months before when it is actually expected.
While there’s no doubt Samsung will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with display technology, it could be very possible Samsung reduce the bezels even further to mimic the design of the iPhone X. However, I think reducing the bezels to the amount shown in the concept simply isn’t possible with the available technology and the size of the components needed in that notch.
We always say that it’s never too late for us to discuss the next premium flagship smartphones from any top OEM. Since the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is already out, we now have the Galaxy S9 to look forward to. We know it will have the same shape and display size as the Galaxy S8. The phone may have the same rear fingerprint sensor. There’s also the idea that the Galaxy S9 will be modular and be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset.
This year’s Galaxy S8 was delayed but Samsung may be rolling out the Galaxy S9 earlier. Rumor has it the South Korean tech giant will unveil the phone in January before its February market release. This early launch was simply predicted by parts manufacturers who said Samsung has placed orders earlier. There is a possibility that development and production will end earlier compared to this year’s March-April launch and roll out.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is believed to be the project “Star” by Samsung and development is well underway. The tech company has high hopes for this upcoming premium device that will directly rival the yet-to-be-revealed iPhone 8. Let’s wait and see for its official launch but before that happens, expect rumors and early leaks to be published.
