The dust has settled and the hype has come home to roost. But does the Samsung Galaxy S9 improve on its predecessor? We compared them to find out.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is official, and it’s clear that Samsung’s flagship range is bigger, badder, and cooler than ever. But how does Samsung’s latest stand up against the last generation? Specifically, how does the Galaxy S9 improve on the high standard set by the Galaxy S8?
With the launch of the S9, you can bet that there will be some discounts on the previous S8 generation — so if you’re looking to upgrade, is it worth paying the extra cash for the latest, or is the S8 still a viable choice? Perhaps you have an S8, and you’re considering updating to the latest model — is it worth your hard-earned money?
We took a look at the two phones and pitted them head-to-head in a true battle of titans to see which reigns triumphant.
Curiously, for an upgrade, there’s not actually all that much difference between the two Galaxy models. Both the S9 and S8 come with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. You can expand that amount on both models with a MicroSD card, so you’re unlikely to run out of space on either handset. You’ll find Bluetooth 5.0 on both handsets, too, with both devices taking full advantage of the advanced strength and features.
The processor is one area where we see real improvements. While the Snapdragon 835 powering the Galaxy S8 is still a powerful chip, the initial results from the Snapdragon 845 benchmarks are in, and it’s clear that Qualcomm’s latest chip is capable of far more than the last generation. In real terms, you’re unlikely to notice a difference day-to-day, but the boosted power will be evident over time as apps grow to take advantage of the increased power in the chip.
So much is even between these two handsets that the smallest difference can spell victory for one side or the other. The Snapdragon 845 isn’t a small difference, it’s a massive one, and it alone powers the Samsung Galaxy S9 to the win in this first round.
The Galaxy S8 was one of the 2017’s most beautiful phones, and a radical change from the design of the Galaxy S7. So it makes sense that Samsung decided to let the design team take a year off, and took a good look at refining the S8’s great design, rather than starting from scratch. If you liked the Galaxy S8’s design, then you’re going to like the S9, since they’re basically identical. You’re looking at the same general shape, with thin bezels at the top and bottom of the screen, and a display that folds around the sides of the phone. Both handsets are clad in glass laid over a metal frame, and it results in a design that’s as beautiful as it is stylish.
That similarity extends to the displays. They’re both 5.8-inch AMOLED displays running 2,960 x 1,440-pixel resolutions, and they’re clear, crisp, and capable of showing the vivid colors that only AMOLED screens can. In terms of durability, you guessed it — the S9 will be much the same as the S8, with the IP68-rating returning, and the durability of the glass body being… well, a case is a really good idea.
It’s only when you flip the phones over that you see any real difference at all. Samsung has listened to the many, many complaints about the placement of the fingerprint sensor and moved it. It was one of our only real complaints with the S8, and with Bixby having been similarly toned down, it’s clear that moving the sensor underneath the camera is a good thing. Another big win for the S9 is the inclusion of stereo speakers, with the earpiece at the top of the phone pairing with the bottom-firing speaker to produce much better sound than the S8. The speakers have also been tuned by AKG to be louder, and they work with Dolby Atmos for some truly amazing sound.
Much like the specifications, there’s so much here that’s still the same — so it’s really obvious when even a couple of good changes have been made. The fingerprint sensor’s new position and the stereo speakers win the Galaxy S9 this round.
Of all the elements that the Galaxy S8 did right, nothing got old like the camera did. Samsung made few changes to the camera in the S8, relying on the proven quality of the S7’s camera suite, and while that paid off initially, the S8’s cameras quickly got lost behind a whole host of phones with superior cameras, such as the iPhone 8 Plus, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and Samsung stablemate the Note 8.
That’s not to say that S8 has a poor camera — nothing could be further from the truth. The S8’s main shooter is a 12-megapixel (MP) camera with an aperture of f/1.7, which makes it a respectable performer in a variety of different lighting types. It’s just nothing particularly special in this day and age. The 8-megapixel selfie camera around the front is slightly more interesting, not least because of Samsung’s array of Snapchat-style filters and effects to apply to friends and family.
Samsung seems to have realized it has something to prove, and tagged the S9’s reveal with the tagline: “The Camera. Reimagined.” It’s clear Samsung has focused hard on the cameras in the S9, and it shows. While the specifications may look similar — with a 12-megapixel lens on the back and an 8-megapixel lens around the front — there’s been a marked change in the underlying tech. The S9’s main camera features a variable aperture, which can switch between a massive f/1.5, which should make the S9 stronger in the low-light conditions, and f/2.4 for when lighting is good.
There’s been an improvement to the slow-motion capturing tech, too. Where the S8 could shoot at 260fps, the S9 can now shoot super-slow-motion video at an incredible 960fps. There’s also AR emoji software included in the S9’s camera, so users can turn themselves into emoji that mimic their facial movements — and that will soon also include Disney characters, thanks to a partnership with the House of Mouse.
There’s no contest here. While the S8’s camera continues to be strong, it’s been steadily outclassed by other competitors — and that now includes the Galaxy S9. The larger aperture (the largest in the world in a smartphone), the super-slow-motion video, and the AR emojis take the camera category for the Galaxy S9.
If you’re looking at pure battery capacity, then you’re not likely to see much of a change between the S8 and S9. Both devices are rocking the same 3,000mAh battery, which should easily see you through the day with moderate use. Both devices also come with wireless charging and QuickCharge 2.0 that should ensure you aren’t spending too much time tethered to a charger when you do finally need to recharge your battery.
There’s no difference between the two devices here. This has to be a draw.
Since both devices are Samsung-built, it’s no surprise at all that both devices are running on Samsung’s Samsung Experience over Android. Samsung may have been hoping that the S8’s Oreo rollout would be complete by the time that the S9 was announced, but since the rollout ran into issues with unexpected shutdowns, that may not be the case. So while the Galaxy S9 will be running on Android 8.0 Oreo, for the moment, the S8 is stuck with Android 7.0 Nougat.
Still, the Galaxy S8 will be receiving an update to Android 8.0 Oreo, so it seems unfair to penalize the phone for that shortcoming right now. Regardless of the version of Android, the Galaxy S9 still has the edge over its stablemate. While both have Samsung’s unique and fun features like Edge Panel, the Galaxy S9 will have features like the animated AR emojis mentioned in the camera section, as well as some key changes to Bixby, chief of which is the much-improved camera function.
