Samsung Galaxy S9+

The Samsung Galaxy S9+ (or S9 Plus) is Samsung's largest Galaxy S flagship for 2018. The model was announced during the Mobile World Congress and, in contrast to its smaller brother, has a double camera and a slightly larger Infinity screen. We are going to explain here exactly what this S9+ has to offer and what other features it has.

More difference than size alone

Samsung has focussed on the camera with this 9th generation Galaxy S-smartphone. The appearance has remained almost the same, except for some minor improvements. For example, the camera is slightly less bent at the edges, making it more comfortable to hold. The frame is still made of metal and the front and back are made of glass. Samsung uses the strong Gorilla Glass 5 for this. The Galaxy S9+ has a 6.2-inch Infinity Display with the same Quad HD+ screen resolution of 2960 × 1440 pixels. Due to the slightly larger screen area, the pixel density (PPI) is slightly lower than for the S9, but still at a neat 529. Images are therefore sharp even up close. Biggest difference with the smaller S9 this year is not only the size, differences are also in the camera this year. On the back we find for the first time a double 12 megapixel camera; one is equipped with a wide-angle lens, the other with a telephoto zoom. With the latter you can zoom in without loss of quality and thus bring images closer. It is also possible to blur the background, which makes for more beautiful portraits. The Galaxy S9+ also features special Bokeh filters that allow you to adjust the shape of the background lights.

Dual Aperture Camera

Still, most attention is paid to the camera with wide-angle lens. It is equipped with a double aperture of both f/1.5 and f/2.4. The lower this so-called f-number, the more open the aperture. Compare it with the pupil of your eye: the larger it is, the better you see in the dark. This also applies to the camera on the S9+. Because it can choose between two different values, it can choose the best one for the right situation. And you can see that result; DxOMark's testers assign the camera on the Galaxy S9 Plus the highest value ever. This means that it shoots good photos and videos in almost every situation, whether it's dark or during the day. Samsung has further equipped the camera on the Galaxy S9+ with a super slow-motion video mode. This slows down your videos up to 960 frames per second so that you can make the invisible visible. These Super Slow-mo videos can even be set up as a lock screen. Speaking of unlocking, the S9+ can now combine the iris scanner with facial recognition, something called Intelligent Scan. If it's too dark to recognise your face properly, it automatically switches to iris recognition, which works better in the dark thanks to infra-red light.

Main Samsung Galaxy S9+ specifications

• 6.2-inch large Curved Super AMOLED borderless screen
• Double 12 megapixel camera with optical OIS and variable aperture
• Focussed 8 megapixel selfie camera with AR Emoji function
• Powerful Exynos 9810 processor on 2,8 GHz + 6GB of RAM RAM memory
• Standard with 64GB storage + a memory card slot (up to 400GB)
• Dustproof (IP68 certification)
• Support for high-speed mobile 4G internet (LTE category 18)
• Loud stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support
• Unlocking by pattern support, pin, password, iris, fingerprint or facial recognition

Emoji stickers and stereo sound

Because the Galaxy S9+ is considered to be the absolute top model for 2018, there are plenty of other new features that should make life more convenient and fun. Think of AR Emoji which allows you to create a virtual you that you can recreate by looking at you with the selfie camera. You can then turn it into stickers and send them to friends or family. Also new is the stereo speaker at the front. By now also using the phone speaker at the top, a second speaker is created for unadulterated stereo sound that is up to 1.4x more powerful than before. This sound is also tuned by AKG for an even better sound reproduction. The stereo speaker also comes in handy with the new Dolby Atmos setting. Once turned on, you will be treated to a 3D sound like in the cinema, for example. Also useful on the S9+ is the new location of the fingerprint scanner. On the S8+ it was still clumsy on the right side of the camera, on the S9+ it is in the middle again. Easy to find by touch and less chance to leave fingerprints on the camera lens.

Pro and cons Samsung Galaxy S9+

• Best camera of Q1 2018
• Dual camera with zoom
• Create virtual emoji
• Stereo sound with Dolby Atmos

• Little difference in appearance compared to last year