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Samsung Galaxy S9

145 'Samsung Galaxy S9' stories April 2017 - July 2018
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Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+, the successors to 2017’s top-selling smartphones. This year, though, besides repositioning the horribly placed fingerprint sensor, the overall hardware design goes unchanged. Instead, Samsung focused on improving the onboard camera(s) and software-based productivity features.

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Learn More About the Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+

Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S9+
Android Version Android 8.0 Oreo Android 8.0 Oreo
Screen size 5.8-inch Quad HD + Curved Super AMOLED 6.2-inch Quad HD + Curved Super AMOLED
Resolution 2960×1440 pixels 2960×1440 pixels
PPI 570 ppi 529 ppi
Camera Super Speed Dual Pixel 12MP AF sensor with OIS (F1.5/F2.4) Dual Camera with Dual OIS, Wide-angle: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12MP AF sensor (F1.5/F2.4), Telephoto: 12MP AF sensor (F2.4)
Front Camera 8MP AF (F1.7) 8MP AF (F1.7)
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (Exynos 9810 internationally) Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (Exynos 9810 internationally)
Storage 64GB/128GB/256GB 64GB/128GB/256GB
Expandable storage up to 400GB 400GB
RAM 4GB 6GB
Battery 3,000mAh (nonremovable) 3,500mAh (nonremovable)
Ports USB Type-C, headphone jack USB Type-C, headphone jack
Weight 163 g 189 g
Dimensions 147.7mm x 68.7mm x 8.5mm 158.1mm x 73.8mm x 8.5mm
Other features Rear-facing fingerprint sensor, iris sensor, pressure sensor,  IP68, Fast Wired Charging compatible with QC 2.0, NFC or MST payment compatibility Rear-facing fingerprint sensor, iris sensor, pressure sensor,  IP68, Fast Wired Charging compatible with QC 2.0, NFC or MST payment compatibility
Color options Midnight Black, Lilac Purple, Titanium Gray, and Coral Blue Midnight Black, Lilac Purple, Titanium Gray, and Coral Blue
Carrier availability AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, others | March 16, 2018 AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, others | March 16, 2018
Base price off-contract ~$719.99 ~$839.99
In-box accessories USB-C charging cable, Fast Charging wall adapter, wired AKG headphones USB-C charging cable, Fast Charging wall adapter, wired AKG headphones
Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung brings ‘video lockscreen’ feature to Galaxy Note 8 and S8 from Galaxy S9

Avatar for Ben Schoon Jul 2 2018 - 8:38 am PT
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Samsung hasn’t made any drastic changes to its hardware or software for the past year or so, but the company has been doing great with bringing new features to older devices. Recently, the company quietly brought its “video lockscreen” from the S9 to last year’s crop of devices.


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Samsung adds nearly 30 new clockfaces to ‘Always-On Display’ on S8, S9, Note 8 w/ app

Avatar for Ben Schoon Jun 26 2018 - 6:51 am PT
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Samsung packs its devices full of features, some useful, some not. One of my personal favorites for the past few years has been the “Always-On Display” which debuted on the Galaxy S7. In recent releases and updates, Samsung has continually improved the feature. Now, Samsung is adding quite a few new customizations.


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Samsung Galaxy S9 gets June security patch on unlocked and carrier units w/ first update in months

Avatar for Ben Schoon Jun 25 2018 - 8:29 am PT
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Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+ are some of the best phones we’ve seen hit the market in 2018, but the company hasn’t been doing a great job when it comes to updates, unfortunately. Since launch, Samsung has only pushed one update to these devices, but this week, that’s changing.


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Galaxy S9 update

Exynos-running Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+ in select regions gain a built-in call recorder

Avatar for Justin Duino May 29 2018 - 10:18 am PT
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With the latest security update that just rolled out to Galaxy S9 and S9+ users, Samsung included a new call recorder feature that’s baked directly into the phone’s default phone app. Don’t get too excited if you’re in the US, though, because it’s only available for handsets powered by the Exynos CPU that are sold in select foreign countries.


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Samsung’s AR Emoji adds characters from The Incredibles, includes Mr. Incredible, Frozone, more

Avatar for Ben Schoon May 23 2018 - 9:29 am PT
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Samsung didn’t deliver on a ton of new things with the Galaxy S9 family, but one notable new feature was AR Emoji. The feature launched with largely negative feedback, but its one shining feature is the ability to let you pretend to be another character. Now, Samsung is continuing its Disney partnership with characters from The Incredibles.


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Review: Kerf’s real-wood cases for Pixel and Galaxy phones get even better over time

Avatar for Justin Duino Apr 17 2018 - 5:52 pm PT
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Despite there being dozens of different case companies on the market, almost every offering looks just like the one before it. If you’re looking for something other than the standard plastic and rubber options, Kerf, a company based out of Pittsburgh, hand makes wood cases for Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphones…


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Remap the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+’s Bixby button with bxActions

Avatar for Justin Duino Apr 9 2018 - 6:52 pm PT
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If you’re like most Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners, you probably never use the physical Bixby button found on the side of your device. Thankfully, instead of just disabling the button altogether, an app called bxActions works surprising well at remapping the button to launch different apps or actions.


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Comment: I’m not rushing back to the Pixel 2 XL after using the Galaxy S9+, here’s why

Avatar for Ben Schoon Apr 4 2018 - 12:33 pm PT
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Last month I published my full review of Samsung’s Galaxy S9+, and if you read it, you’ll know I enjoyed the phone. If not, the TL;DR is that the Galaxy S9+ is a solid upgrade from what came before it, but isn’t anything ground-breaking either. Now, over a month later, this phone is still what’s in my pocket day-by-day, and that doesn’t usually happen…


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Samsung Galaxy S9 battery life is better on Snapdragon processors as Exynos tests show poor results

Avatar for Ben Schoon Apr 2 2018 - 2:24 pm PT
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It’s pretty well-known at this point that Samsung’s phones vary on the internals based on where you live. In the States, you get the latest from Qualcomm, and pretty much everywhere else that’s traded out for Samsung’s own Exynos chipset. For the most part, differences between the two are minimal, but on the Galaxy S9, it seems like there’s a pretty big difference.


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