Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in Barcelona yesterday, though the company had already seeded review units of the handsets to most publications. Post the event, many other tech publications got to play around with the Galaxy S9 as well and share their thoughts about it.

With the Galaxy S9 looking largely the same as the Galaxy S8, many potential consumers are interested in knowing what’s actually improved in the device. So, let’s see what other tech publications have to say about the Galaxy S9 after their brief time with it.

Engadget

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are all about their new 12MP rear camera with variable aperture. And that’s not all. There’s also the new super-fast autofocus system combined with new multi-frame noise reduction that uses 12 separate images for every single photo it outputs to keep noise in check and capture as much details as possible. There’s also AR Emoji which failed to replicate the face of many journalists and some of Samsung’s own reps as per Engadget. 

But the replication didn’t work as well for everyone. The avatars for some other journalists or Samsung’s own reps, looked nothing like them. For these people, AR Emoji might be less fun, but I was definitely sucked into styling up my avatar with great hair, a cool outfit and cute glasses. After you’re done customizing your emoji, the S9 auto-generates a set of animated stickers that you can insert from within the Messaging app’s keyboard (other apps can find these from the Gallery).

Otherwise, the Galaxy S9 is all about minor changes that you will be hard-pressed to notice at a glance.

Samsung also tidied up the S9’s front by trimming the bezel and masking the array of cameras and sensors above the screen. You won’t really notice these differences until you look closely, but the effect is a slightly more minimalist design than before.

Read

Android Central

The publication points out that the metal frame on the Galaxy S9 is thicker which makes the handset feels more robust. Plus, the metal now has a texture to it as well. The black glass is also thicker than the one found on the Galaxy S8 which should make it less prone to cracking. It also notes that the display on the Galaxy S9 is up to 15 percent brighter than the one on the Galaxy S8 and can reach brightness levels of up to 700 nits. The bezels on the S9 are slightly shorter as well and Samsung has even managed to mask them even better this time around.

With slightly shorter overall heights that means that the top and bottom bezels have shrunk ever-so-slightly — an imperceptible amount, really. Samsung managed this subtle shrinkage without removing anything from the phones — they have the same battery capacities and hardware features as before, including wireless charging, a microSD card slot, IP68 water resistance, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and all of the latest radios.

The combination of iris scanner and face unlock into one with Intelligent scan seems to work pretty well in real life.

This doesn’t entirely fix Samsung’s muddy authentication options or take on Apple’s Face ID in terms of security, but in practice, it’ll work dramatically better than the old system. And with the fingerprint sensor that is now moved back to a reasonable location, you can easily reach, the entire fingerprint/iris/face combination is a formidable one that can make me forget about the Galaxy S8’s stumbles.

Samsung knows its market very well so even if you are disappointed with the S9, Samsung will continue to sell millions of units of the handsets.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are … not that exciting. They aren’t substantially different from their predecessors, they don’t add any massive new feature or make any sweeping design leaps that push the industry forward. But once again Samsung knows its market. It knows it has a massive loyal customer base upgrading from the Galaxy S6 and S7, and those people will be thrilled with the Galaxy S9 or S9+, even if someone harshly dubs it a “refreshed Galaxy S8.” Anyone with either of those older phones will be ecstatic to get a Galaxy S8 that has nearly all of its flaws fixed. A Galaxy S8 with a fingerprint sensor they can reach, and a metal body that feels better and is more robust. A Galaxy S8 with improved performance, new software and a camera that makes a big leap over the last generation.

Read

MrMobile

MrMobile’s Michael Fisher immediately makes it clear that the Galaxy S9 is not meant for existing Galaxy S8 owners. The handset is more about small and iterative upgrades over the S8 to deliver a more refined experience. Fisher calls the Galaxy S9’s camera its magic sauce. The variable aperture camera combined with improved image processing means the S9’s camera can capture some outstanding images with very low noise and plenty of details.

MKBHD

MKBHD calls the Galaxy S9 a refinement over the Galaxy S8, with a couple of new interesting features thrown in. He likes the repositioned fingerprint scanner which is easier to reach, and he mentions that while the new stereo speaker is louder, there’s not a huge improvement in quality.

The rest of the video talks about the camera and explains the variable aperture system used by Samsung on its latest flagship. He also mentions that while the super slow-mo video recording on the Galaxy S9 is impressive, the quality does not seem to be that impressive. It is also limited to just 0.2 seconds similar to what we have seen on Sony’s flagship devices.

What do you think about the Galaxy S9 based on the hands-on experiences shared by major tech publications? Drop a comment and let us know!