Samsung Galaxy S9

[5105973]

Sounds great If we had Samsung Pay available here, meaning that I could get a Gear S3 watch and pay with it like I can with my Apple Watch, I'd be interested in upgrading my S8+ to the S9 or S9+. However, with the lack of watch payments and Samsung's still lackluster update support in the NEE region are keeping me mainly on iOS despite the iOS 11 bugs gradually driving me crazy. Let's see which happens first, Samsung Pay's rollout, Samsung improving their update cycles over here or Apple delivering what they've promised with iOS 12.

The race is on!

@Aneres11 here is an example of what Samsung offers over stock Android and if I can get this device trained further along on Bixby it may become a worthwhile convenience instead of the running joke most pundits and customers make of it.

At night when I'm ready to go to bed, I usually like to read on my phone or iPad. Preferably the phone because I've been known to nod off and drop the iPad on my nose or mouth before fully falling asleep. I'm lucky I haven't chipped a tooth yet. Anyway, instead of doing all or part of that manually and individually, I should be able to just press the Bixby button and say "Goodnight Bixby" and Bixby takes care of all of that for me. I guess I'll find out tonight.

I don't go to bed at the same time every night so theoretically this should be more convenient for me than relying on settings I configured to turn on automatically for a schedule I don't always adhere to.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Some case reviews for the S9. Samsung have a variety of cases. Would like Apple to follow suit...

I just picked up the rugged kickstand one at Bestbuy, spur of the moment buy. Didn't even realize it had a kickstand until I opened it. The kickstand and case is constructed well. This is my first kickstand case.

 

[Aneres11]

The race is on!

@Aneres11 here is an example of what Samsung offers over stock Android and if I can get this device trained further along on Bixby it may become a worthwhile convenience instead of the running joke most pundits and customers make of it.

View attachment 754732

At night when I'm ready to go to bed, I usually like to read on my phone or iPad. Preferably the phone because I've been known to nod off and drop the iPad on my nose or mouth before fully falling asleep. I'm lucky I haven't chipped a tooth yet. Anyway, instead of doing all or part of that manually and individually, I should be able to just press the Bixby button and say "Goodnight Bixby" and Bixby takes care of all of that for me. I guess I'll find out tonight.

I don't go to bed at the same time every night so theoretically this should be more convenient for me than relying on settings I configured to turn on automatically for a schedule I don't always adhere to.

Ha, I've got to say, that does sound very cool!

Do let us know how it performs later!

I had a look at the S9 in CPW earlier when we were out and about.
But it was so full of store demo modes and homescreen clutter I just couldn't get past it.
Felt nice though!

I did see a gold Note 8 though for the first time. My my. That was gorgeous.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

Sounds great If we had Samsung Pay available here, meaning that I could get a Gear S3 watch and pay with it like I can with my Apple Watch, I'd be interested in upgrading my S8+ to the S9 or S9+. However, with the lack of watch payments and Samsung's still lackluster update support in the NEE region are keeping me mainly on iOS despite the iOS 11 bugs gradually driving me crazy. Let's see which happens first, Samsung Pay's rollout, Samsung improving their update cycles over here or Apple delivering what they've promised with iOS 12.

Want a free Gear S3? I just did this and got one!

https://slickdeals.net/coupons/att-tv-now/

 

[5105973]

Ha, I've got to say, that does sound very cool!

Do let us know how it performs later!

I had a look at the S9 in CPW earlier when we were out and about.
But it was so full of store demo modes and homescreen clutter I just couldn't get past it.
Felt nice though!

I did see a gold Note 8 though for the first time. My my. That was gorgeous.

The Note 8 is spectacular. It is just a little bit big for me. Otherwise I admit I was tempted when I saw it. But I would have missed the stereo speakers.

I do hate the store demo mode. They have made it less obnoxious over the years. But it still gets in the way. Some stores lock the phone down pretty heavily. Best Buy here in the US gives it a nice long tether. Unless the phones are part of the carrier display, and in that case sometimes you can barely lift the phones or they are just fakes.

I wish I could visit a Carphone Warehouse. It sounds like an interesting store. I am still setting everything up on my S9+

I didn't copy over the setup from my S8+ because I wanted to start fresh. There are some problematic apps like Pokemon Go that I want to keep off for now.

For most of my phones there is always something left off that leaves me wanting to upgrade. For iPhones I am waiting for the ability to record videos in stereo audio and for better call quality so that my father doesn't ask me if I'm calling from the bottom of a well. I also wish in vain for the headphone port to return. For iPhone X in particular I would want the fingerprint scanner back very badly--the way things are currently promised to go, I probably wouldn't be happy giving up my 8 Plus anytime soon.

For the Pixel 2, I also wish for stereo recording capability, though the monoaural sound is good and clear so I'm not as dissatisfied as I am with iPhone. And wireless charging is missed a little bit. Headphone port, definitely, especially given the confusing state of USB-C headphones. A better display that doesn't have pwm flicker is mildly missed. Full support from my carrier is something I didn't miss until I got all the features reinstated on my S9+

So far, with the S9+ I seem to be having it all. I need to call my dad and check on the call quality. But I don't see any missing pieces yet. I guess I wish I had the 128 GB on board storage option that the UK got. But I would hardly upgrade for that or call it a missing piece.

 

[erayser]

Coming from the S7 Edge, I really like the changes in the stock Samsung's Experience aka TouchWiz. I prefer not to have the app drawer icon... and just swipe up if needed. For swipe down, I changed it to pull down my notifications. Don't need both gestures to get to the app drawer. I disabled the Bixby button... I can still press and hold to use it like Siri. Every thing is clean on my homescreen... and works like how I set things up on my jailbroken iPhone. I really like my S9+ with the stock launcher... but I prefer my phone to look and feel like my modded jailbroken iPhone... so I'll enjoy the honeymoon with my new s9+ stock, then go back to the Nova Launcher in few weeks, and start making new KLWP mods. The only thing I need to get used to... is the virtual buttons. Very happy with my S9+... I've been on the S7 edge way too long... LOL...

 

[maka344]

So, yet again, I’m stuck.

I have had the s9 plus for over a week and I also have the iPhone X and can’t decide which one to use as my main phone.

I love both, love iMessage and use it with friends and family in the US.

I love the customisation with the Samsung. HELP

 

[torana355]

On my second day with my new S9+ and it looks like everything has settled down and I now see a noticeable increase in performance over my S8+. This phone really does not have any major weaknesses, it does everything really well. I don't know what Samsung did to the Iris scanner but it works 10x better then on my S8, it unlocks even when I don't want it to half the time! Just ordered the Samsung Alcantara case in the Blue colour, cant wait for it to arrive

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

On my second day with my new S9+ and it looks like everything has settled down and I now see a noticeable increase in performance over my S8+. This phone really does not have any major weaknesses, it does everything really well. I don't know what Samsung did to the Iris scanner but it works 10x better then on my S8, it unlocks even when I don't want it to half the time! Just ordered the Samsung Alcantara case in the Blue colour, cant wait for it to arrive

The Iris scanner does seem improved, compared to the Note 8.

The Intelligent scanner option takes a good 1-2 seconds to work. I'm thinking it's the Facial recognition part holding it up. I even tried to enable the faster recognition option under facial recognition. But it's still slower than using the Iris scanner by itself. The Iris scanner is instant for me, so I'm just going to stick with that.

 

[Vegastouch]

So, yet again, I’m stuck.

I have had the s9 plus for over a week and I also have the iPhone X and can’t decide which one to use as my main phone.

I love both, love iMessage and use it with friends and family in the US.

I love the customisation with the Samsung. HELP

Lol, this is why I only buy one phone.

 

[oldhifi]

Got my S9 today reallly like it, runs smooth, I will miss the FaceTime from my Iphone

 

[0388631]

It's already on sale? Jeez, I need to keep up.

 

[widgeteer]

Forgot that you can't use visual voicemail on an unlocked Sammy with VZW. Crap.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Very pleased with my S9+ got $385 trade on my old S7 (kept the S8 for my extra sims) plus a free wireless charger stand and 30% off the LED cover

As others noted switched it on and immediately got the March update, had to run 5mins of calls using my Malay sim before the phone was unlocked for the 2nd Sim else Samsung improvements on transfer is better now their cloud for secure data etc has additional functions

 

[erayser]

It’s not actually warm. It’s just completely off. It also looks hazy, as if the lens were smudged or something. It’s just a bad photo. They happen to the best of cameras sometimes.

Your other shots from both phones look good. What would make most people prefer the iPhone shots at casual glance or even after a closer look is that the iPhone shots have more contrast to them, which makes for a nice processed look. But if you decide later on that you want to apply your own processing, you’re going to end up with more artifacts and loss or distortion of details with those, at least in my experience.

With the Samsung photos there’s more that can be done to make the photos pop. The details are all there and you can decide which ones to bring out. Color can also be adjusted.

Mind you, I’m no photography expert. However, I spent several years restoring old family photos. My husband has even more experience at that with the newer apps and I’ve seen how he works and what photos hold up best under the editing and it’s actually the ones that look a bit plain, for lack of a better way to describe it. For many years iPhone photos were the ones to look plain but clean up nicely and Samsung ones looked heavily processed. Sometimes they still do but I’ve gotten many that were a joy to work with.

One important thing to keep in mind about a Samsung Phone camera is that you have the option to preserve your shots in both raw and jpeg when shooting in pro mode. That enables you to have even better editing results. I think you can do this in iPhone via apps but not in the current iPhone camera app itself. I certainly can’t do it on my 8 Plus. I don’t recall seeing the option on the iPhone X. It’s also not an option on the Pixel 2. However there are apps to enable it.

Thank you!!! I did not know there was a stock setting to save raw + jpg. Did a quick test to see if I can pull colors in from an under exposed raw file shot in very low lighting (dark living room). I went with a lower ISO instead of increasing shutter speed at a higher ISO for the test.

It appears I can pull most of the colors back in the center of the pic... not perfect, but good enough. The top and bottom seems to struggle. I thought it could be CA, but the top of the vase turns purple. Does this bother me? Not really since I wouldn't go this extreme in underexposing a picture. I'm just happy there is an stock setting to save a raw file. I wouldn't keep this setting on my phone. I have a Sony A7 riii that I use for pictures I shoot in raw. If I didn't have my A7 riii with me, and if the picture is important enough to shoot in pro mode... it's nice to have an easy setting to preserve a raw file on my s9+ for post processing.

Another thing I noticed, when I keep everything auto in pro mode...which does a pretty decent job, the raw file appears to have more dynamic range than the jpg file when I look at them in the picture gallery. I'd like to play with a raw file from iPhone X, but you're right... I would rather work a picture with less contrast in post processing.

 

[5105973]

Lol, this is why I only buy one phone.

I am carrying 3 currently. I've been playing with the S8+ and the iPhone SE recently as well.

I would love to put my main sim into the S9+ but I am not ready to stop wearing my Apple Watches anytime soon. So I will continue to juggle phones.

 

[Vegastouch]

View attachment 754792

I am carrying 3 currently. I've been playing with the S8+ and the iPhone SE recently as well.

I would love to put my main sim into the S9+ but I am not ready to stop wearing my Apple Watches anytime soon. So I will continue to juggle phones.

I understand. I don't like to wear watches so, less gadgets to worry about.
I did wear a watch to work for some years till I started bringing my phones to work with me,... and the watch was always the first thing I took off then I got home.
[doublepost=1521351704][/doublepost]The earbuds that come with the S9 are very comfortable for me. Sound pretty decent too.
Question, if you accidentally hit the tab Below too "use the whole screen" making you lose the back button, how do you reverse that not have it full screen in those pages?

 

[Tsepz]

Checkout this speedtest between S9+ and Note8, for the most part the S9+ is faster BUT in terms of RAM Management the Note8 still seems to be the phone to beat:

 

[LukinLedbetter]

A few questions for those of you with the S9+:

• How's battery life?
• How's portrait mode?
• Does OK Google work with the phone locked and screen off like on the pixel?

 

[maka344]

View attachment 754792

I am carrying 3 currently. I've been playing with the S8+ and the iPhone SE recently as well.

I would love to put my main sim into the S9+ but I am not ready to stop wearing my Apple Watches anytime soon. So I will continue to juggle phones.

How do you manage with 3 phones? Do they all have separate numbers etc? I am tempted just to have 2 phones, I love both the X and the Samsung offerings just as much.
[doublepost=1521374947][/doublepost]and where is @MRU these days?

 

[oldhifi]

It's already on sale? Jeez, I need to keep up.

Yes it was on sale at Verizon yesterday..

 

[Oohara]

How do you manage with 3 phones? Do they all have separate numbers etc? I am tempted just to have 2 phones, I love both the X and the Samsung offerings just as much.
[doublepost=1521374947][/doublepost]and where is @MRU these days?

He left the forum a few months back, there's a goodbye post somewhere.

 

[widgeteer]

Forgot that you can't use visual voicemail on an unlocked Sammy with VZW. Crap.

Circling back to this, what’s weird is my unlocked Pixel had visual voicemail on VZW no problem. I wonder why the block on Sammy.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

A few questions for those of you with the S9+:

• How's battery life?
• How's portrait mode?
• Does OK Google work with the phone locked and screen off like on the pixel?

• On my second day. Battery life seems equivalent to the Note 8 so far. I'll need a good week to really judge it. No complaints yet.
• I was just going to post on this. The S9+ portrait mode is much less finicky than it was on my Note 8. I only use it to get shots from both lens at once, don't really care for the portrait part. But it works as it should with minimal mistakes around the edges.
• Yes, OK Google works with the display off and locked. You can also set it to unlock your phone with your voice, although that's less secure.

 

[co.ag.2005]

A few questions for those of you with the S9+:

• How's battery life?
• How's portrait mode?
• Does OK Google work with the phone locked and screen off like on the pixel?

1. decent. almost a full day but need more work days with it
2. it's ok, but def not as good as my P2XL. My p2xl has spoiled me so much!
3. Yes! it did on the Note 8 too, but early stages of the S8 it didn't.