Samsung S9: Best in the Galaxy… for now

SAMSUNG pulled the wraps off its new flagship smartphone duo, the Galaxy S9 and S9+, just over a month ago and they’re now widely available locally.

If you read my column about the launch, you’ll know my initial impressions were overwhelmingly favourable. But would they stand up to closer scrutiny over a prolonged period? I’ve been lucky enough to spend the past few weeks with the smaller of the two, the S9, and am happy to report that familiarity has done little to dent my enthusiasm.

There’s so much to like about this device, starting with first impressions as you remove it from the box. Sure, viewed from the front it’s a dead ringer for its predecessor, the S8, but given that phone’s stunning good looks, that’s hardly a handicap.

There’s that almost identical and just as gorgeous curved 5.8-inch Super Amoled, Quad HD screen, still boasting near non-existent bezels. This makes for a virtually unrivalled screen-to-body ratio which, in turn, translates into the kind of big-screen display that used to come only in beefy, close to tablet-sized devices. By contrast, the S9, like the S8 before it, nestles comfortably in my mediumsized mitts and slips easily into a pants or jacket pocket.

Significantly, Samsung’s managed to achieve this without having to resort to an unsightly notch, unlike Apple’s iphone X and various of its copycats.

And while we’re comparing the S9 to the competition, turning the phone to look at the bottom reveals another heart-warming sight, a headphone jack, something absent in depressingly many smartphones of late.

As someone who listens to a lot of audio content on my phone, this is a compulsory feature. Sure, you can use a Bluetooth headset, but these are more expensive, less reliable and need to be charged.

And while we’re on the subject of audio, the S9 comes with a pretty decent pair of AKG earbuds, a definite step up from the run-ofthe-mill fare shipped with so many smartphones. Combine that with the built-in Dolby Atmos support, and you’ve got a significantly more immersive listening experience compared to its predecessor, as well as many competing devices.

It gets better. Samsung’s also beefed up its onboard speakers, with the bottom-firing speaker now complemented by a front-firing speaker on the top of the phone.

This gives a surprisingly good approximation of surround sound while watching videos or playing games in landscape mode. It’s certainly a marked improvement on the S8.

Samsung has also retained the SD card slot, which means you can upgrade the already beefy 64GB of onboard storage by up to 400GB. As with its predecessor, the new S9 comes with IP68 water and dust resistance. I tested this latter feature by repeatedly taking the phone into the shower with me and leaving it on the middle step of a swimming pool for 30 minutes. It passed with flying colours.

Of course, water and dust resistance are no protection against the, alas, all too common

hazard of dropping your phone on to a hard surface. With a glass front and back, the S9, like many similarlyconstructed phones, is almost guaranteed to do a Humpty Dumpty if it takes a tumble, so I was pleased to note that Samsung has followed the example of Huawei and included a free phone cover in the box.

It’s a pretty bare bones clear silicone cover, but it shows off the S9’s looks to good effect and will help keep it safe until you get around to buying one of the swankier aftermarket cases available for this device. I’m partial to the UAG brand, whose rugged cases have protected my S6 and S8 over the past few years, but Samsung has its own line that is definitely worth a look.

And when are you most likely to drop your phone? When you’re taking a photo. If you buy the S9 you’ll be taking a lot of those, thanks to its awesomely upgraded camera. While it doesn’t have the dual camera set-up of its big brother, the S9+, it does come with arguably the biggest innovation introduced by Samsung with the S9 range, the first variable aperture lens fitted to a smartphone.

On the S9’s 12-megapixel snapper, this physically switches between an f-stop of 1.5 for low-light photography and an f-stop of 2.4 for brighter conditions. For comparison, I snapped quite a few pics with both my S8 and the S9, and the newcomer definitely has the edge in low light environments.

Another clever camera feature, super slow motion, allows you to shoot video at an astonishing 960 frames per second. This means you can stretch a 0.2second event into six seconds of normal video, significantly beating the competitors like the iphone X and Google’s Pixel 2, which shoot at a comparatively brisk maximum of 240 frames per second.

Another big improvement over the S8 becomes apparent when you flip the S9 over to look at its mirror-shiny glass rear end.

The fingerprint reader has now moved from next to the camera to below it – a much more convenient location. This, paired with upgraded face recognition and iris-scanning technology, make for a much-improved unlocking experience.

Throw in a significantly soupedup processor, the latest version of the Android operating system, 8.0 (Oreo), and animated AR emojis, and you’ve got what’s arguably the most compelling premium smartphone offering currently available.

It’ll set you back R15499 – not cheap by any measure, but not an increase on last year’s models either and quite a bit lighter on the pocket than the iphone X.

If you already own a Galaxy S8 or S8+, you’ll probably need a bit more convincing to make the switch, but if you’re in the market for an upgrade, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything better at the top end of the market than the S9 and S9+… for now.

I add that caveat because this past week, after this column went to press, Huawei held the South African launch of its new P20 and P20 Pro, which, on paper at least, look like they could give the Samsung S9 and S9+ a serious run for their money. Watch this space.

Follow Alan Cooper on Twitter @alanqcooper.