To See the Video Review watch here, for the text review keep reading.
Promising a new Camera and boasting specs to be a powerhouse the S9 and S9+ phones bring Some well needed updates to the Galaxy Family. Like most of the world we have one major question is it all that much better than the S8 and worth the upgrade? Or will the price drop on last years infinity screen handheld be more enticing?
Here with BAD tech and gaming where we bring our passion to life through YouTube to help improve your life. We intend to answer those questions with our review of the s9 and the s9+.
Per our usual breakdown we have 4 categories Great good bad horrible. Don't forget to stick around for the conclusion so you can get our buying recommendation.
Un-suprisingly we will start with the greats to get the most talked about feature out of the way we will start with.
THE CAMERA:
It is great the slow mo video works well but is difficult to get used to. However, compared to my Moto Z this camera is incredible. We will be doing a full on review later of the camera. For now here are some shots I took.
THE SPECS:
This phone is a powerhouse with enough processing power to run anything that Android can throw at it, with little to no lag (Minus you Touchwiz). Even the pieces that have lag are really not that bad and to an average user they may never really notice anything. For the full list of specs will be linked at the end of the Post from Android central.
THE DESIGN:
Although feeling reused from the S8 the phones Design looks great especially with the finger print scanner moved we will touch on that in a second.
No surprise here but the screen is unbelievably good the details are incredible and the colors look amazing. Even the brightness in broad daylight is superb compared to my Moto z2 Force and the original Google pixel phone.
Moving onto the Good Category
BUILD QUALITY:
Now Samsung has amazing overall build quality this phone is solid. However, due to the glass sandwich you have to get a nice case and glass screen protector. My brother in law broke his phone days from a chest high fall with a flip cover case on it. I usually recommend something like the otter box symmetry or commuter for average drops and if your rough you will definitely have to get a defender case, no this is not a Otter Box sponsored advertisement I just have found these over the last 6 years to be most consistent i also have some sort of glass screen protectors. I will leave links below and can do reviews on each if you guys want.
TOUCH WIZ:
Does make it into the great category and ends up in the goods because it is still laggy at times and seems slower than my Moto Z2 Force. However, as every year it gets more improvements and closer to stock Android I will leave it in the goods almost to greats area.
THE FINGER PRINT SCANNER:
This makes it into the good category mostly because sometimes it just doesn't work and I have to try 2 times which isn't really an issue but can get annoying if I am trying to hurry. Same with the finger print gestures where you can pull down the notifications shade.
Onto the BADs
THAT LAGGIENESS:
That ends up here, after using stock Android devices there are times where this phone makes me almost angry actually but that's bound to happen when you put extra stuff onto an already feature packed operating system.
Another feature in the bad category is
THE IN SCREEN HOME BUTTON:
Now I know I know I miss the physical button and am a little salty. But this fo button gets pressed alot when I don't mean to. Like while playing video games I go to shoot someone press to hard and end up on the home screen. I turn the phone upside down and while moving still end up pressing it. This is just annoying and there should be an off button for it.
Last but not least the horrible
there is only one thing here.
THE BATTERY:
Specifically on the 9 (not the +) it is aweful. It dies half way through my day on medium usage. I always end up using my Moto (with battery pack mod by the end of the day.)
IN CONCLUSION:
with design comparing nearly identical to the S8 and only a handful of useful new features. If you have an S8 or are a budgeter now you will probably be better off waiting for the 10 and for all other phones if you can get passed the battery on the 9 and the awkward home button this will be money well spent. I recommend this phone all day, to most people. It knocks out the basics and improves in most areas where the last year's phone struggled. Also something to consider, is the lag if you are coming from Apple or Stock Android if that sort of thing bothers you.
Lastly don't forget to Subscribe if you want to see the future camera review. Like if you thought we did a good job and comment if I missed anything.
Here are the promised specs from Android central: https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s9-specs
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