Review : Samsung Galaxy S9 aqnd S9+

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ release date, price, news and features

The official Samsung Galaxy S9 release date news is March 16, but we've already had a chance to test this brand new Android phone's top features at MWC 2018.

What's the latest Samsung Galaxy S9 news?

The Samsung Galaxy S9 has been dubbed as having the best smartphone display on the market by DisplayMate, showing that the Super AMOLED technology is still the best you can get on a phone.

What is the Samsung Galaxy S9 price?

We know the Galaxy S9 will cost £739, $719.99, or AU$1,199 SIM-free directly from Samsung, but exact pricing for other markets is currently unclear.

Samsung Galaxy S9 screen

• Smaller upper and lower bezels than the Galaxy S8
• A 5.8-inch QHD+ screen with 567 pixels per inch
• Same Infinity Display design we've seen on Galaxy S8 and Note 8

The Samsung Galaxy S9 doesn't offer any major improvements over the display on the Galaxy S8 – there's sadly no in-screen fingerprint scanner here, like on the Vivo X20 Plus UD – but it still offers some high-end specs.

It's a 5.8-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2960. That equals 567 pixels per inch, which should allow for a super-crisp and clear picture for the high-end flagship device.

Again it has a screen ratio of 18.5:9, with slightly slimmer bezels at the top and bottom of the screen to allow for the same size screen in a smaller body than the Galaxy S8.It's a 5.8-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2960. That equals 567 pixels per inch, which should allow for a super-crisp and clear picture for the high-end flagship device.

DisplayMate has shared its research with TechRadar, which states that the screen inside of the S9 isn't just the best display in a phone, it's probably better than any screen you own in your living quarters.

Samsung Galaxy S9 design

• Largely similar design to the Galaxy S8
• A repositioned fingerprint scanner below the rear camera
• The headphone jack remains

If you know the Infinity Display design of the Galaxy S8, you'll recognize a lot of what the Galaxy S9 is trying to do. There aren't any major differences, but instead Samsung has opted to try and improve things with a few slight tweaks.

There's still a glass back, a rounded display on the front and slim bezels, with the aim of merging the screen almost seamlessly with the body of the handset.

Samsung's design improvements for the phone include the iris scanner hole being hidden, as well as less bezel at the top and bottom of the display.

Samsung Galaxy S9 camera

• Samsung claims this phone will 'reimagine' the camera
• A single-lens camera with variable aperture, unlike Galaxy S9 Plus
• Super-slow-motion video as well as added animated 'AR' emoji features

The Galaxy S9 only features a single lens on the rear of the phone, but Samsung has packed in lots of improvements in its effort to 'reimagine' the phone camera.

There's a 12MP rear sensor with optical image stabilization, and a lot of the other features we've come to expect from high-end Samsung devices.

One of the biggest upgrades is new dual-aperture technology, with the camera automatically adjusting the aperture depending on the scene you're shooting, much like the human eye adapts to changing light.

So if you're shooting something brighter than 100 lux (which is usually daylight) it'll automatically adjust to f/2.4 aperture, and if it's darker than that the camera will opt for the f/1.5 aperture.

F/1.5 is the widest ever aperture in a smartphone, and Samsung claims it should enable you to capture images with more color and detail, and much less noise in low light conditions.

The slow-mo features of the rear shooter have also been improved so you can now shoot at 960 frames per second, which is four times slower than the Galaxy S8 and meets the industry standard set by Sony phones.

This mode also uses something called automatic motion detect, which will automatically begin to record when the camera detects movement, so it should make it easier to only record the relevant moments in slow motion.

On the front of the phone there's an 8MP shooter with an f/1.7 aperture. This camera also plays into the facial recognition technology you can read about in the other features section at the bottom of this page.

Samsung Galaxy S9 battery

• A 3,000mAh battery
• Improved power efficiency

Much like the Galaxy S8, there's a 3,000mAh cell inside the Galaxy S9 to power it along on a daily basis. Exactly how long this will last is currently unclear, but it's expected that the new processing tech inside both versions of the phone will make it a touch more efficient than the Galaxy S8 was.

There's wireless charging technology here again too, so you'll be able to use a variety of different pads to charge up your phone without plugging it in. Plus there's fast charging on offer here as well, but you'll need to use the official charger to get the full power into your phone in the minimum amount of time.

Samsung Galaxy S9 specs and power

• Some markets get one with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
• Others will have Samsung's own Exynos 9810 chipset inside
• Just 4GB of RAM in all versions of the Galaxy S9
• New Dolby Atmos Surround Sound System

This is the chance for Samsung to show off its top processing power inside the Galaxy S9. For that opportunity the company has opted to follow a similar scheme to recent years where different countries get different chipsets.

If you live in the US, you'll get a version of the phone packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, and the S9 is set to be one of the first phones to get this technology from Qualcomm.

Those in the UK (and a lot of other markets) are set to get a version of the phone packing the Exynos 9810 chipset, which is created in-house at Samsung.

Exactly which version of the phone will be more powerful remains to be seen, but if it's like recent years both versions of the phones will be a similar level when it comes to raw processing power.

There's also only 4GB of RAM in each version of the phone, for 6GB you'll have to opt for the Galaxy S9 Plus. As for storage, the Galaxy S9 only comes with 64GB of onboard space, but you can add in microSD cards for up to 256GB of extra space.