Samsung Unveils the Galaxy S9 and S9+

Megalith

Megalith

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Samsung has officially announced its latest Galaxy devices at the company’s Unboxed event. Unlike their predecessors, the S9 and S9+ have had their fingerprint sensors moved to a more practical location. The phones also feature a dual-aperture camera, which will allow for better photography in different lighting conditions.
 
The average user that sees that video will buy the phone. Pictures and video is all anyone cares about anymore.
 
May be time to upgrade from my Galaxy S7. I just haven't seen anything since I got my S7 that has interested me and honestly, I have no real reason to upgrade. Better battery life maybe but otherwise my screen hasn't cracked, it's survived rain and a washing machine (love the IP68 rating, won't ever buy another phone without it or similar), and performance doesn't normally hinder me. The biggest thing I don't like about new phones, and my friends call me old school, is I like to have a physical home button. I just do, I don't trust software to take me out of whatever I'm in as quick as that home button does. I just imagine myself wanting to hide something on screen like a birthday present or something only to have the person walk in and me having to wait those precious couple seconds for the software buttons to come up or react. IDK maybe it's just me.
 
I like it. I used Notes for the longest time til they started blowing up and I was forced to switch to a Motorola Z. I've really been looking forward to getting back to a Galaxy when it's time to upgrade this one this fall.
 
Samesung need another leap
The S5 to the S6 was a big jump in terms of look etc. Feel like they are stuck again
 
Everyone keeps pointing that the new flagships to the previous ones isn't a big jump... since when in electronics (in this day and age) has a 1y cycle been the norm ?
People usually upgrade at 2 or 3 years contract so comparing S9 to S8 is mostly pointless for 99% of users... yes some always get the best and newest but that's not the market.

Now compare that S9 to S7 or even S6 and it's a worthwhile upgrade.
 
Exploding batteries, but this time with 20% more punch!

Besides that point, Note4 is still the best* phone Samsung made to date.

* unless you like swimming with your phone, but for those of us who live above the water level.
 
MMitch said:
Everyone keeps pointing that the new flagships to the previous ones isn't a big jump... since when in electronics (in this day and age) has a 1y cycle been the norm ?
People usually upgrade at 2 or 3 years contract so comparing S9 to S8 is mostly pointless for 99% of users... yes some always get the best and newest but that's not the market.

Now compare that S9 to S7 or even S6 and it's a worthwhile upgrade.
Click to expand...
To be honest upgrading from a S6 to a S9 is still a pointless upgrade for most people. If the S6 still working anyway.
 
My S4 died while I was outside my job site 1.5 years ago, so I had to run to the store and get an On5, since that's what I had money for. Despite being newer than the S4, the S4 was much more premium. The On5 doesn't have a lot of ram, and updates fail due to limited internal storage (I hate how updates move apps back to internal storage). I may consider the S9, since it would be a significant increase of performance, but a $1000 price is a bit much to stomach for a phone.
 
More overhyping as usual, though I admittedly chuckled a bit at "the world's most popular headphone jack." Too bad your non-Samsung and non-LG options for that essential feature are pretty limited these days.

I wonder if my mom would like the S9 or the S8 Active more to replace her old S7 with over at T-Mobile (JUMP 2.0), since she should be due for an upgrade right about now, and her current S7 has a nonfunctional microSD slot for whatever dumb reason. Forces me to manually offload the photos and videos clogging up her internal storage every now and then.

OnceSetThisCannotChange said:
Exploding batteries, but this time with 20% more punch!

Besides that point, Note4 is still the best* phone Samsung made to date.

* unless you like swimming with your phone, but for those of us who live above the water level.
Click to expand...
Exploding battery jokes are old by now, c'mon. Everyone that used a lithium-ion battery in their products has had to deal with that crap at least once.

And as much as I love my Note 4, alas, Sprint variants don't work so great on T-Mobile (unofficial unlocks exist, but Sprint locked out the LTE bands and T-Mo isn't giving it 3G any more), and buying a used one is a crapshoot with the dreaded eMMC failure issue (which mine thankfully hasn't fallen to).

I run a Note 8 now and find it surprisingly likable, except for that damn curved edge screen and Samsung dragging their heels on updates as usual (which wasn't such a problem on the Note 4 with its unlocked bootloader on Sprint and T-Mobile).

TheOne5 said:
My S4 died while I was outside my job site 1.5 years ago, so I had to run to the store and get an On5, since that's what I had money for. Despite being newer than the S4, the S4 was much more premium. The On5 doesn't have a lot of ram, and updates fail due to limited internal storage (I hate how updates move apps back to internal storage). I may consider the S9, since it would be a significant increase of performance, but a $1000 price is a bit much to stomach for a phone.
Click to expand...
My stepfather kinda did the same thing going from an S5 to an On5 when we made the Sprint -> T-Mobile switch, but unlike us, he's not a phone guy. I was actually appalled at how cheap it felt, both hardware and software.

This is why I suggest getting older flagships instead of lower-end phones to begin with; roughly the same price, but you still come out ahead on hardware. The only thing that throws a wrench into this is the software side of things, because the older flagships are usually neglected in terms of software updates. You have to make sure that you're getting something with an unlocked bootloader and good XDA-developers support because of that.

Come to think of it, it's not just phones this applies to; I'd probably do the same thing with laptops and especially cars.
 
jimbob200521 said:
The biggest thing I don't like about new phones, and my friends call me old school, is I like to have a physical home button. I just do, I don't trust software to take me out of whatever I'm in as quick as that home button does. I just imagine myself wanting to hide something on screen like a birthday present or something only to have the person walk in and me having to wait those precious couple seconds for the software buttons to come up or react. IDK maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...
You do realize that the hardware button on your s7 is just telling the same software to go home right? And if you wanna hide your screen in a hurry there is always the power button.


Disco_Stu_04 said:
I hate the curved infinity screen.

Otherwise it looks good on paper.
Click to expand...

I've gotten a little hands on with the s9. And while the screen is certainly still curved it's not as bad as the S7 edge or the s8 is. I would call it somewhere between the s8 and the simply rounded edges of the v30. It's not a huge change and it's quite subtle, but if you have both phones in hand side by side you can feel the difference. And it's an improvement.

It's talked about here: https://www.phonearena.com/news/Gal...ers-hint-at-front-design-differences_id102070
 
Krenum said:
So, a pocket camera that can be used as a phone? Brilliant!
Click to expand...
Sounds more like how I'd describe a Nokia 808 or Lumia 1020 than any recent smartphone - especially if the 1020 has its battery/camera shutter grip attachment.

Sure makes you wonder how the smartphone industry would look if they were still cramming massive (by smartphone standards) sensors with 41MP resolution and xenon flash bulbs into today's phones, but with a mainstream OS for a change.
 
bastage said:
I've gotten a little hands on with the s9. And while the screen is certainly still curved it's not as bad as the S7 edge or the s8 is. I would call it somewhere between the s8 and the simply rounded edges of the v30. It's not a huge change and it's quite subtle, but if you have both phones in hand side by side you can feel the difference. And it's an improvement.

It's talked about here: https://www.phonearena.com/news/Gal...ers-hint-at-front-design-differences_id102070
Click to expand...

There, it is clearly visible that the sloping curve of the display edge is much more gradual than on the S8, starts sooner, but also merges sooner with the bezel, making it thicker than on the S8.
Click to expand...

So the screen will have even less flat area?
 
jimbob200521 said:
May be time to upgrade from my Galaxy S7. I just haven't seen anything since I got my S7 that has interested me and honestly, I have no real reason to upgrade. Better battery life maybe but otherwise my screen hasn't cracked, it's survived rain and a washing machine (love the IP68 rating, won't ever buy another phone without it or similar), and performance doesn't normally hinder me. The biggest thing I don't like about new phones, and my friends call me old school, is I like to have a physical home button. I just do, I don't trust software to take me out of whatever I'm in as quick as that home button does. I just imagine myself wanting to hide something on screen like a birthday present or something only to have the person walk in and me having to wait those precious couple seconds for the software buttons to come up or react. IDK maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...

Yeah a birthday present.. yeah thats what i am hiding..:ROFLMAO:
 
My problem with the new camera features is that some of them aren't even applicable to everyday usage. Slo-mo may be fun, but not what I'll ever use when I visit places and want memories.
 
Disco_Stu_04 said:
So the screen will have even less flat area?
Click to expand...

That may actually be the case.. the usability of the screen however is improved imho. I've never been a fan of the infinity display as I felt you lost screen around the edge. And this was not so much the case with the s9.
 
And here I am sitting with my S5 still looking at phones that cost the down payment on a car.
 
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jimbob200521 said:
I don't trust software to take me out of whatever I'm in as quick as that home button does. I just imagine myself wanting to hide something on screen like a birthday present or something only to have the person walk in and me having to wait those precious couple seconds for the software buttons to come up or react. IDK maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...

Or you could just start locking the door when you’re watching porn
 
bastage said:
You do realize that the hardware button on your s7 is just telling the same software to go home right? And if you wanna hide your screen in a hurry there is always
Click to expand...

Ehh my s7 home button is much more responsive than my girlfriends infuriating s8+ button.
 
I can live with a touch home/back button instead of a physical button, as long as those functions are there. I was trying to install an app on an iphone X and it was frustrating since I guess you have to know the swipe commands to do so.
 
I stopped into Verizon yesterday to try and find out how much the 8’s would drop. They are adamant it’s only going to be $100 for the foreseeable future. But the pixels are $300 off apparently so I might have waited too long just to feel “eh” about this launch.
 
WIth the S8 t-mobile had a buy one get one free about a month after release. I'll wait and see if they do it again before I consider getting the s9.
 
Still using my Note 4, does everything I need to... upgraded the memory and replaced the battery (not that I needed to) about a year ago so expec to have it for another 4-5 years

Get off my lawn!
 
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