Samsung Galaxy S9 versus Samsung Galaxy S8: design
The Galaxy S8 was, and is, a pretty thing. The front is almost all display, with tiny vertical bezels and a fairly small forehead and chin; the rest of the device is clean and looks particularly nice in colours such as Orchid Gray, Coral Blue and Rose Pink. It’s water and dust resistant to IP68.
The S9 is prettier still, in a familiar way: while it’s hardly a radical redesign the top and bottom bezels have been made significantly smaller, the fingerprint sensor has been moved slightly, and there’s a new colour Samsung claims will be the colour of the year: Lilac Purple, alongside the familiar Midnight Black and Coral Blue. Once again there’s a good old-fashioned headphone jack so you don’t need a dongle to listen to music.
Should you upgrade?
I’ll say it right away: most people who have a Galaxy S8 shouldn’t expect to upgrade to a Galaxy S9. And with all of Samsung’s product decisions and messaging around the Galaxy S9 launch, it doesn’t expect many people to make the one-year upgrade either. There’s a massive base of Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7 owners out there that are being targeted here, getting a refreshed and improved Galaxy S8 that’ll still look fantastic compared to those older phones.
If you bought your Galaxy S8 on Day 1 last year and have had it for well over a year now, you may be willing to sell off your phone to a third party and pay up the difference, but even in that case you’re looking at hundreds of dollars of outlay to get this newer phone that isn’t that much better. The one thing you could say for upgrading is that the Galaxy S9 does everything the S8 does, plus more — you don’t lose anything in the upgrade process. Even with that in mind, it’s tough to argue that a new camera system, moved fingerprint sensor, slightly faster processor and brighter screen is worth the hundreds of dollars it’ll cost to make the jump.
Samsung Galaxy S9 vs Samsung Galaxy S8 design
Watch our hands-on video with the Samsung Galaxy S9 above.
Samsung hasn’t changed the design much for the Samsung Galaxy S9, as with both that and the Galaxy S8 you get a metal frame and curved glass panels on both the front and back.
Both phones also sport IP68 certification for dust and water resistance, meaning you can submerge them up to 1.5 meters deep for up to 30 minutes. And yes, both phones also have a 3.5mm headphone port.
There are some differences though. The fingerprint scanner has been moved from the right of the camera where it sits on the S8 to underneath the camera on the S9. The Galaxy S9 also has slightly smaller bezels above and below the screen, leading to a marginally reduced height of 147.7mm compared to 148.9mm on the Galaxy S8.
Notably though the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S9’s dimensions are slightly larger, at 68.7 x 8.5mm compared to 68.1 x 8mm on the S8. The S9 also weighs slightly more at 163g, while the S8 is 155g.
You also have fewer color choices with the Galaxy S9, as it’s just launching in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple, while the Galaxy S8 is available in Midnight Black, Orchid Grey, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold, Rose Pink and Burgundy Red (though not all shades are available in all regions).
Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 specs comparison
The Galaxy S9 will deliver an improvement in performance courtesy of its Exynos 9810 chip. Early results show that it’s going to be an absolute ripper. Samsung will also use the Snapdragon 845 processor for the Galaxy S9/S9+ in some markets and some benchmark results suggest that there’s going to be a noticable performance difference in the Exynos and Snapdragon variants.
However, that can only truly be quantified once both variants are out in the market, so we’ll hear more about that in the future. For now, consider another major difference in this Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 comparison: the dual camera. The Galaxy S9+ is the first handset in this series to feature a dual camera system at the back.
You can see the detailed Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 specs camparison in the table below. Are the new internals enough to make you want to spend your money on the Galaxy S9? Comment below and let us know. Visit our devices section here for more details about the specs of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+.
| Galaxy S8/Galaxy S8+ | Galaxy S9/Galaxy S9+ | |
| Display | 5.8/6.2-inch Super AMOLED, Quad HD+, 18:5:9 | 5.8/6.2-inch Super AMOLED, Quad HD+, 18:5:9 |
| Processor | Exynos 8895/Snapdragon 835 Octa-core, 10nm, 64-bit | Exynos 9810/Snapdragon 845 Octa-core, 10nm, 64-bit |
| RAM | 4GB LPDDR4 | 4GB / 6GB LPDDR4 |
| Rear camera | 12-megapixel, OIS, Dual Pixel, phase-detection autofocus, 4K video recording | 12-megapixel, OIS, Dual Pixel, phase-detection autofocus, 4K video recording / 12+12MP dual camera with dual OIS |
| Front camera | 8-megapixel autofocus, F1.7 aperture, QHD video recording | 8-megapixel autofocus, F1.7 aperture, QHD video recording |
| Storage | 64GB internal, microSD slot (up to 256GB) | 64GB internal, microSD slot (up to 400GB) |
| Software | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 8.0 Oreo |
| Battery | 3,000/3,500 mAh, Adaptive Fast Charge and fast wireless charging | 3,000/3,500 mAh, Adaptive Fast Charge and fast wireless charging |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack | 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Dimensions | 148.9×68.1×8.0mm/159.5×73.4 x8.1mm, 152g/173g | 147.7×68.7×8.5mm/158.1×73.8x 8.5mm, 163g/189g |
| Other features | AKG earphones, 32-bit audio, Bixby virtual assistant, Samsung Pay, IP68 water & dust resistance, fingerprint sensor, iris/face recognition, pressure sensor | AKG earphones, stereo speakers, AR Emoji, 32-bit audio, Bixby, Samsung Pay, IP68 water & dust resistance, fingerprint sensor, iris/face recognition, pressure sensor |
What’s the same
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Samsung seems happy with its current design language because it kept things nearly identical for its 2018 flagship. The Galaxy S9 is almost the exact same physically as the outgoing Galaxy S8, with only a 1.2 mm reduction in height and 8-gram increase in weight separating the two. The metal and glass are both thicker, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell if someone didn’t let you in on the secret. You may notice the subtle change from a glossy to lightly textured finish on the metal — but the actual feel of it isn’t much different.
That means that the screen size remains the same at 5.8-inches in the Samsung standard 18.5:9 aspect ratio, with the same resolution, curved sides, rounded corners, and Gorilla Glass covering. The buttons all remain in near-identical positions, including the Bixby button on that left side underneath the volume rocker. Inside you have the same 64GB storage (plus SD card slot), 4GB of RAM, wireless charging, fast charging and all of the other Samsung standards. It also notably did not improve charging speeds, leaving things at Quick Charge 2.0 levels.
The important thing to note here is that nothing has gotten worse or less capable for 2018 — Samsung only built upon and improved from the Galaxy S8. In a way that’s a feature of this release, as so many times we see companies try to push the envelope year-over-year in a way that ends up leaving behind well-liked features from previous versions. So, look on the bright side.
Processor and Storage
The Snapdragon 835 processor that powered the Galaxy S8 (and eventually, other top Android phones that came out in 2017) makes way for the in the Galaxy S9. Qualcomm, which makes the Snapdragon mobile processing platform, says the 845 offers a 25 percent boost in performance over last year’s top-of-the line processor. Graphics performance should improve by more than 30 percent over the Snapdragon 835. And our testing certainly revealed improvements with the Galaxy S9.
In our video-editing test, in which we export a 2-minute 4K video file, the Galaxy S9+ accomplished the task in 2 minutes and 32 seconds; the S9 was a touch slower at 3 minutes, 29 seconds. But both those phones handily beat the S8’s time of 4 minutes and 7 seconds.
We also ran the Geekbench 4 general performance test on all of Samsung’s phones, and the S9+ turned in the top performance for any Android device at 8,295. The S9 was a step behind at 7,276. But again, both those numbers are better than the S8’s Geekbench 4 score of 6,295.
Still, the S9’s new processor still can’t compete with the iPhone X’s A11 Bionic chip, which breezed through our video conversion test in 42 seconds. And the iPhone X’s 10,357 Geekbench score is leagues above the S9+.
Both the Galaxy S8 and S8+ shipped with the same amount of RAM, and . But Samsung is mixing things up with the S9+, which ships with 6GB of RAM. That helps the larger device more quickly switch between apps than the S8+.
Storage looked like it was going to remain the same, with the S9 debuting with the same 64GB of capacity that Samsung included with the S8. But in May, of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ for $50 and $100 more respectively than the $720 and $840 base models. If you need even more storage space, there’s a microSD slot as before, though now you can add up to 400GB of storage; previously, you were limited to 256GB on the S8.
Software and Other Features
The Galaxy S9 debuted with Android Oreo, but it’s no longer the only Samsung phone to feature Google’s latest OS. The Oreo update has rolled out to carrier versions of the Galaxy S8, and it became available to unlocked versions of the older phone this month.
The S8 introduced the Bixby digital assistant, and that’s sticking around for the S9, though in a greatly enhanced form. Samsung added features like the ability to have Bixby Vision offer real-time translation just by pointing the S9’s camera at a sign or menu, with the translation superimposed on the screen.
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You’ll also need an S9 or S9+ if you want to experience AR Emoji, Samsung’s take on Apple’s Animoji. The AR Emoji feature turns your face into an animated 3D emoji with accompanying stickers. We found the new feature to be , though, so Galaxy S8 owners probably won’t feel pangs of envy once they see AR Emoji in action.
Samsung is taking orders on an updated DeX accessory — the $100 — that’s aimed at addressing some of the shortcomings with last year’s DeX Station in its attempt to turn your Galaxy phone into a portable computer when you hook it up with a monitor. The DeX Pad is backward compatible with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, though, so this is one new add-on that’s not exclusive to Samsung’s latest phones.
Samsung Galaxy S9 deals vs Samsung Galaxy S8 deals
Samsung has shoveled a significant amount of £ signs on to its new flagship phone. The standalone handset costs £739 — up £50 from the price of the Galaxy S8.
And that means that the early prices we’re seeing for Samsung Galaxy S9 deals on contract are way more expensive, too. Realistically, you’re looking at spending well over £1,000 for the two years if you want an upfront spend of anything less than £200.
Compare that to the best Samsung Galaxy S8 deals around. A year on from release, you can now pay a little more than £20 per month for low data tariffs, which equates to around £700 per year. So a good £300 saving on the S9. As you might imagine, the gulf is similar as the data rises, too.
Производительность
По данному аспекту все неоднозначно. У iPhone 8 существенно лучше процессор в сравнении с конкурентом, а все благодаря тому, что американская компания решила оснастить его чипом А11. На Самсунг же поставили Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, который хоть и неплох, но явно не является лучшим на современном рынке.
Но не все так плохо в S8. Например, он имеет 4 гигабайта оперативной памяти, что в два раза больше, чем у 8-ой версии Айфона. Но, конечно, данный недостаток позволяет в некоторой степени нивелировать мощный процессор.
Если говорить о памяти для хранения информации, то оба смартфона имеют версии с вместительностью по 64 Гб. Американский бренд также предлагает покупателям вариант на 256 Гб. Модель S8 доступна лишь в одном варианте на 64 Гб, но благодаря наличию слота microSD память можно увеличить.
Design and Display
Let’s start with the area Samsung left virtually untouched from last year’s phones. The come in the same sizes as their predecessors — the S9 has a 5.8-inch screen while the S9+ sports a 6.2-inch display. If you’ve got a very precise eye, you might notice the S9 and S9+ are a tenth-of-an-inch shorter than their predecessors; you’re more likely notice they’re a little bit heavier, possibly because of the new camera components inside the S9 models.
You’ll get the same immersive Infinity Display on these new phones that you did with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, though Samsung says the bezels are a bit narrower on the top and bottom of the phone. The 2960 x 1440 resolution is unchanged in this generation of phones, though Samsung says the AMOLED screens are brighter than they were on the S8. In our testing, the S9+ display registered 482 nits, slightly brighter than the 455 nits reached by the S8+.
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The biggest design change from the Galaxy S8 is also the most welcome. Instead of placing the fingerprint sensor next to the rear camera as it did on the S8, Samsung moved that sensor below the camera lens. Not only should that make it easier to unlock your phone with your fingerprint, you’re less likely to drag your finger over the camera lens as you do so. So hopefully, smudged lenses will be a thing of the past. (The phone’s case will pick up smudges, though, if is any indication.)
One other key design change since the Galaxy S8 is the addition of stereo speakers to the Galaxy S9. Samsung says the top and bottom speakers on the new phones pump out 1.4 times the volume of their predecessors. Dolby Atmos support should add to the immersive feel of the audio on the S9 and S9+.
Samsung Galaxy S9 versus Samsung Galaxy S8: software
The S8 shipped with Android 7.0, aka Nougat, with the usual Samsung refinements. It also has Bixby, Samsung’s version of Siri, Cortana or Hey . When Bixby is good it’s very good, so for example it’s great at downloading apps, rotating images and other tasks. However, the lack of widespread compatibility (for example home automation control expects Samsung home automation hardware) means many reviews damn it with faint praise such as “better than Cortana”.
The S9 comes with Oreo, aka Android 8.0, and Bixby’s had a significant upgrade too. It now offers live translation, and if you point it at food it can tell you how many calories each item has. There’s also a new feature, Places, that can tell you about anything nearby that may be relevant to you. If you are part of the SmartThings universe, there’s a new SmartThings app that Bixby can talk to.
Цена
Стоимость iPhone 8 на 64 Гб составляет около 56 тыс.руб., на 256 Гб – 68 тыс.руб. При этом Galaxy S8 обойдется в 50 тыс.руб. Разница небольшая, но все же Samsung дешевле на 6 тысяч. Если же сумма не важна, то выбор зависит от предпочтений. Если нужна яркая и красочная картинка на большом экране, то лучше приобрести устройство от корейского производителя, если нужна мощность, то лучше отдать предпочтение американской компании.
29 марта компания Samsung представила свои новые флагманы , целиком оправдавшие все ожидания поклонников. Весьма привлекательные внешне, смартфоны содержат впечатляющую начинку, включая экран Infinity Display и сканер сетчатки глаза. Однако насколько функционал устройств превосходит возможности ?
Galaxy S9 Vs. Galaxy S8: The Specs
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| Model | Galaxy S9 | Galaxy S9+ | Galaxy S8 | Galaxy S8+ |
| Price at Launch | $720-$820 | $840-$940 | $750 | $850 |
| Display (Resolution) | 5.8 inches (2960 x 1440) | 6.2 inches (2960 x 1440) | 5.8 inches (2960 x 1440) | 6.2 inches (2960 x 1440) |
| Rear Camera | 12-MP Super Speed Dual Pixel (f/1.5-f/2.4) | 12-MP Super Speed Dual Pixel (f/1.5-f/2.4), 12-MP telephoto (f/2.4) | 12-MP (f/1.7) | 12-MP (f/1.7) |
| Front Camera | 8-MP (f/1.7) | 8-MP (f/1.7) | 8-MP (f/1.7) | 8-MP (f/1.7) |
| CPU | Snapdragon 845 | Snapdragon 845 | Snapdragon 835 | Snapdragon 835 |
| RAM | 4GB | 6GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB | 64GB | 64GB |
| microSD | up to 400GB | up to 400GB | Up to 256GB | Up to 256GB |
| Battery | 3,000 mAh | 3,500 mAh | 3,000 mAh | 3,500 mAh |
| Battery Life (hrs:mins) | 10:52 | 10:59 | 10:39 | 11:04 |
| Color | Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple | Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver |
| Size | 5.8 x 2.7 x 0.33 inches | 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.33 inches | 5.7 x 2.7 x 0.3 inches | 6.3 x 2.9 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 5.8 ounces | 6.7 ounces | 5.5 ounces | 6.1 ounces |
Overall winner: Samsung Galaxy S9
Julian Chokkattu/Digital TrendsJulian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
It would have been a terrible outcome if the brand-new Samsung Galaxy S9 had been bested by its older stablemate. But although the Galaxy S9 won almost every category, the Galaxy S8 isn’t far behind. This became a tricky piece to write because, well, there’s so much that’s shared between the two models. When the S9 does deviate from the S8’s formula, it’s simply a refinement to the otherwise stunning phone that the Galaxy S8 is. Sure, the Galaxy S9 has the new hotness in the Snapdragon 845, and has removed one of the biggest gripes with the S8 by moving the fingerprint sensor, but it’s all extra polish to an otherwise stunning piece of tech.
The Galaxy S9 has the potential to be one of the best phones in the world right now; it’s powerful, the camera is incredible, and it has a design to die for. If money is no object, then there’s only one answer for you. But if you can snag a discount on the S8, there’s no shame in deciding to save some pennies with the Galaxy S8. You’re not getting a lesser experience, thanks to the S8 having so many of the same amazing features and gorgeous design you see in the Galaxy S9.
If you’re already using the Galaxy S8, then you shouldn’t feel pressured into updating. Your S8 already has a lot of what makes the S9 fantastic, you’re probably already used to the fingerprint sensor’s odd location, and it’s easy to live without the upgraded camera. But the Samsung Galaxy S9 is still the superior phone, simply by taking what the S8 did so well, and doing it better.
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Specs
| Samsung Galaxy S9 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
|
| Size | 147.6 x 68.7 x 8.4 mm (5.81 x 2.70 x 0.33 in) | 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm (5.86 x 2.68 x 0.31 in) |
| Weight | 163 grams (5.75 ounces) | 155 grams (5.47 ounces) |
| Screen | 5.8-inch AMOLED display | 5.8-inch AMOLED display |
| Resolution | 2960 x 1440 pixels (568ppi) | 2960 x 1440 pixels (570ppi) |
| OS | Android 8.0 Oreo | Android 7.0 Nougat (Android 8.0 Oreo update on the way) |
| Storage | 64GB | 64GB |
| MicroSD card slot | Yes | Yes |
| NFC support | Yes | Yes |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| Connectivity | GSM / HSPA / LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | GSM / HSPA / LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Camera | 12MP rear, 8MP front | 12MP rear, 8MP front |
| Video | 2160p@60fps, 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Audio | Headphone jack, stereo speakers | Headphone jack, bottom-firing speaker |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes, rear-mounted | Yes, rear-mounted |
| Other sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2 | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2 |
| Water resistance | IP68-rated | IP68-rated |
| Battery | 3,000mAh
Fast charging Qi wireless charging |
3,000mAh
Fast charging Qi wireless charging |
| Charging port | USB-C | USB-C |
| Marketplace | Google Play Store | Google Play Store |
| Colors | Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold, Rose Pink, Burgundy Red |
| Availability | Samsung, Best Buy, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon | Samsung, Amazon, Best Buy, , T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint |
| Price | $720 | $760 |
| DT review | Hands-on review | 4 out of 5 stars |
Curiously, for an upgrade, there’s not actually all that much difference between the two Galaxy models. Both the S9 and S8 come with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. You can expand that amount on both models with a MicroSD card, so you’re unlikely to run out of space on either handset. You’ll find Bluetooth 5.0 on both handsets, too, with both devices taking full advantage of the advanced strength and features.
The processor is one area where we see real improvements. While the Snapdragon 835 powering the Galaxy S8 is still a powerful chip, the initial results from the Snapdragon 845 benchmarks are in, and it’s clear that Qualcomm’s latest chip is capable of far more than the last generation. In real terms, you’re unlikely to notice a difference day-to-day, but the boosted power will be evident over time as apps grow to take advantage of the increased power in the chip.
So much is even between these two handsets that the smallest difference can spell victory for one side or the other. The Snapdragon 845 isn’t a small difference, it’s a massive one, and it alone powers the Samsung Galaxy S9 to the win in this first round.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S9
Samsung Galaxy S9 vs Samsung Galaxy S8 camera and battery
The Galaxy S9 sticks with a single sensor, but adds in dual-aperture capabilities.
This is the big one, as the camera seems to be the most significant area of focus for Samsung in the Galaxy S9.
It has a single 12MP lens on the back, but it’s one with a variable aperture, meaning it can change between f/2.4, which is ideal for daylight scenes, and f/1.5, which is meant for low light shooting, providing more light, more detail and less noise. It’s the highest aperture ever found in a smartphone.
In fact, it apparently delivers 30% less noise than the 12MP camera on the Galaxy S8, which has a fixed aperture of f/1.7. The ISP (Image Signal Processor) in the S9 is also supposedly four times faster than the S8’s.
The Galaxy S9’s camera also improves on the S8’s with its slow motion shooting skills, as the S9 can shoot at up to 960fps, allowing for footage that’s four times slower than the Galaxy S8’s. It also offers more shooting modes, such as one which automatically starts recording in slow-mo when movement enters a focus point.
And when you’re done shooting you can set your slow-motion footage to play back with a soundtrack or easily convert it into a GIF.
The Galaxy S9’s camera also lets you create your own emoji, mirroring your facial expressions, and Bixby has been powered up, as it can tell you how many calories are in the food you’re looking at or provide a live translation of text.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a single-lens 12MP camera with a fixed aperture
All that said, the Samsung Galaxy S8 already has a camera which hugely impressed us, and both phones sport optical image stabilization.
There’s also little to choose in their front-facing cameras, with both sporting 8MP f/1.7 lenses.
As for the battery, that’s not been changed much either, as both phones have a 3,000mAh battery and support both fast charging (via USB-C) and wireless charging.
Watch our video review of the Samsung Galaxy S8 below.
Samsung Galaxy S9 vs S8 specs – What new features have been added?
While there are plenty of new features to get excited about with the S9, there’s also plenty that’s remained the same.
The 5.8-inch – or 6.2-inch, if you go Plus – is the same size and features the same quad-HD+ resolution as the previous device. Battery sizes haven’t changed either, so we wouldn’t expect too much improvement when it comes to endurance. Qi wireless charging remains, and we haven’t had confirmation yet on whether the charging speed has been altered.
Credit: Max Parker – Trusted Reviews
In probably the most predictable update, the S9 and S9 Plus improve upon the Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 chip with the latest versions. If you’re in Europe you’ll get the Exynos 9810, while the US will get the Snapdragon 845. Improvements with these new chips include faster download speeds, superior CPU and GPU performance along with better efficiency.
RAM on the regular S9 remains at 4GB like the S8, but the S9 Plus gets 6GB. Storage remains at 64GB, although there will now be a 256GB option for the S9 and S9+.
| Samsung Galaxy S9 | Samsung Galaxy S8 | |
| Battery | 3000 mAh | 300mAh |
| Camera (Rear) | 12MP f/2.4 and f/1.5 | 12MP f/1.7 |
| Display | 5.8-inch OLED (1440 x 2560) | 5.8-inch OLED (1440 x 2560) |
| Processor | Snapdragon 845/Exynos 9810 | Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8890 |
| Storage | 64GB | 64GB |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
Takeaway
On paper the Samsung Galaxy S9 sounds to be an improvement on the Samsung Galaxy S8 in most but not all ways.
The most significant changes seem to have been reserved for the camera, while the design has just been slightly refined, the chipset has had a generational boost, and the screen and battery have been more or less left as they were.
It’s not the total transformation some might be hoping for, especially in the face of the iPhone X, but as the S8 was already one of the best phones of last year it’s arguable that Samsung really didn’t need to do much here.
Of course, price plays a big role in the purchase decision. In the UK, the S9 will cost you £739 – that’s a bit more than the £689 that the S8 ran for when it launched, though you’ll obviously find it for much lower than that since it’s about a year old at this point.
The story is a bit different if you’re in the US or Australia. Compared to the S8’s launch price of $725 (AU$1,199), the S9 will launch for $719 (AU$1,199). You’ll find the S8 cheaper these days, dropping as low as $549 during promotions, but it’s not as much of a sticker shock for the S9 as we were expecting.
We’re still waiting on pricing details for the S9 in regions like Australia and we’ll be sure to update this post with more details.
Samsung Galaxy S9 versus Samsung Galaxy S8: processor and storage
Depending on where you are in the world, Samsung offers different processors: Qualcomm Snapdragons or its own Exynos processors. Both versions of the Galaxy S8 have octa-core processors, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of on-board storage expandable via microSD.
It’s a similar story with the octa-core processors in the S9. The US and China get Snapdragon 845s, and the rest of the world Exynos 9810s. There’s 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a microSD slot.
It’s also worth pointing to the radios: in addition to the usual alphabet soup of connectivity the Galaxy S9 is the first device in Europe to support Gigabit LTE, which we’ll start to see networks offering this year.
Cameras
The most noteworthy spec change is with the . The 12-megapixel rear camera on both the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was really just a holdover from 2016’s Galaxy S7. With the S9, Samsung is introducing a new Super Speed Dual Pixel camera, and in the case of the S9+, it’s adding a second lens.
The main 12-MP lens on both the S9 and S9+ features a variable aperture that can switch between a wide f/1.5 opening and an f/2.4 aperture. The wider aperture — the Galaxy S8 featured a fixed f/1.7 setting — should help with dark settings, as the S9’s camera will be able to let in more light. In fact, Samsung says its new phones let in 28 percent more light than the S8.
As for the dual-lens setup on the S9+, Samsung adds a second 12-MP telephoto lens. That allows the S9+ to offer a 2x optical zoom while also supporting Live Focus images with artistically blurred backgrounds. Those are features you’ll find in the Galaxy Note 8, but not either Galaxy S8 model.
In our testing, we found the S9+ does perform impressively in low-light conditions, but it still trails the Pixel 2 and iPhone X in image quality.
Another big difference between the S9 and last year’s phones is that the new models feature Super Slo-Mo video capabilities, where you can slow things down to 960 frames per second at 720p resolution. You can even rely on the S9’s camera to automatically kick into Super Slo-Mo mode when it detects motion. We found that manual mode resulted in better slow-mo clips, because sometimes the sensitive automatic mode is triggered too early.
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Samsung Galaxy S9 vs S8 design – What’s new?
The Samsung Galaxy S8 represented a huge step forward in industrial design for the South Korean company and signalled a shift in the way phones look. The awkward bezel was minimised, with metal and glass becoming the materials of choice.
Related: Samsung Galaxy S9
After receiving such a makeover, it was always likely that the device that followed the S8 would look very much alike. That is indeed the case with the S9, which looks pretty much identical to its predecessor.
Samsung said it has reduced the top and bottom bezel slightly, and you’ll notice the fingerprint sensor has been shifted so that it sits below the camera module. There’s also now a front-firing speaker in the mic on the top, rather than just that middling bottom-facing one.
Both phones include a 3.5mm headphone jack, IP68 water-resistance, a microSD slot for storage expansion and a USB-C port for charging.
Part 2. Possible Reasons to Upgrade Galaxy S8 to Galaxy S9
After reading the above introduction, you might have found that the newest Galaxy S9 has not much surprise than Galaxy S8. So if you want to upgrade your Galaxy S8 to Galaxy S9, it is likely because of the following reasons.
· You want to use Facial Recognition, but it is so bad on Galaxy S8 while Galaxy S9 has improvement.
· You can’t stand the fingerprint detection on Galaxy S8, while Galaxy S9 has moved the position of fingerprint sensor to a lower place to be more user-friendly.
· You want to zoom a lot when taking photos. Galaxy S9 comes with a dual-lens camera while Galaxy S8 has only one single-lens camera.
· You want to use iris recognition, but Galaxy S8 does not offer a great iris recognition and Galaxy S9 has some improvement.
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What’s different
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The most substantial change in the Galaxy S9 is an all-new camera setup, comprised of a new «Super Speed» Dual Pixel sensor and a lens with a physically variable aperture. The sensor offers dramatically reduced grain and improved fine edge processing, which was a sore spot of the Galaxy S8 in low-light scenes. Speaking of, the move to an f/1.5 aperture also lets in more light in badly lit scenes, giving that improved sensor even more to work with. The result is notably improved low-light photography that’s among the best in the industry. The new sensor also gives the Galaxy S9 a 960 fps super slow-motion mode, going well beyond the Galaxy S8 for a super dramatic effect.
Even though the battery hasn’t gotten any larger, the Galaxy S9 has more efficient processor that can help a little with overall longevity. Whether you get the Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9 version, both processors are more frugal with power for normal tasks, which in the end will save you battery (though the Snapdragon model seems to be the better of the two this year). Just how much is really going to depend on how you use the phone, but considering the rest of the experience has remained effectively constant, don’t expect this to be a massive improvement.
Samsung’s only claimed improvement with the 5.8-inch display for 2018 is a bump in brightness, but at a 15% increase that’s pretty substantial. That puts the GS9’s display roughly on par with the Galaxy Note 8 in overall brightness, and that’s noticeable over the Galaxy S8. The Galaxy S9 bests the S8 and the Note 8 with audio, though, firing up a second speaker above the screen for stereo sound that’s louder and has crucial stereo separation.
And it’s a relatively small thing, but the one real change to the usability of the Galaxy S9 is its fingerprint sensor, which is far easier to reach and use than on the Galaxy S8. It makes the swipe-down gesture for the notification shade useful, and generally reduces frustration when you’re trying to unlock your phone — something you do hundreds of times a day.