Review | Samsung Galaxy S9+ full review: best camera for lowlight photos, great battery life and no front notch make handset a winner
Flagship phone from Korean company is that rare thing – a viable alternative to Apple’s idea of how handsets should look; its display is flawless, its battery life good, ‘intelligent scan’ unlocks the screen fast, and its camera is world-leading
They may look almost identical to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, but the South Korean company’s Galaxy S9 and S9+ still stand out from the crowd, with other big Android phones – from the upcoming Huawei P20 to OnePlus’ next releases – all copying the iPhone X’s notch design for its front-facing camera.
By sticking with the tried and true, the S9 and S9+ will be among the very few big-name, globally available smartphones to offer a real alternative to Apple’s idea of what a handset should be.
Design and hardware
The contrast with Apple’s flagship handset doesn’t stop at the display edges. The Galaxy S9+ (the unit reviewed here) still has a 3.5mm headphone jack, the dying port whose demise was triggered by Apple and immediately followed by other Android phone makers – for no good reason, by the way.
The industrial design language that Samsung initiated with the Galaxy S6 mostly returns here. The OLED display panel (5.8 inches on the S9 and 6.2 inches on the S9+) still curves at the sides, and it gets even brighter than that of the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung’s other flagship phone release of 2017. This is about as flawless as a mobile display can get right now.