Samsung Galaxy S9

[5105973]

Well, it’s been a good ride. All the best to you all. Decided to call it a MR forum career since I decided to move on permanently with my next phone purchase. I’ll be going S9+ Coral Blue unlocked. Was a joy discussing different products and features with everyone. Take care and enjoy your S9/S9+ phones. No more iPhone purchases for me for awhile too. Hope the S9+ is a great phone and I can use it for years to come.

Congratulations! But I hope you drop in to share anything interesting you learn about your new phone. It would be kind of weird to not see you anymore.

I still have so much to learn. I just got my new Gear Fit Pro handcuff. Jeez it's different wearing a fitness band. I worry it's going to be fragile. It's so plastic. An Apple Watch it most definitely is not. It cost a bit like one though. I probably could have gotten it cheaper waiting for a deal or applying rewards points. But I wanted it right away in time for a trip where I plan to do a lot of walking and exercise. I did a ton of work today as part of volunteer work I do. I wish I had it on today to measure all the brownies I burned off!

There's apparently a lot of faces I can download for it.

I'll just stick with the stock face for now. Ooh a call just came in. So notifications do work on it.

I am really looking into the possibility of going all in on this S9+ as my main phone.

My poor kid has an iPhone 7 Plus that's a year old and it along with her ipad mini 4 are all screwed up. She's not getting important texts from her classmates. She's missed invitations to get togethers. One of her friends thought she was being snubbed by my daughter. What a mess. I want to move her over to Android but she is too dependent on FaceTime with these friends.

Apple better get their stuff together. A year old iPhone that is used sparingly should not be having the issues it's having. Sorry I'm rambling. I need coffee.

 

[Klyster]

Well, it’s been a good ride. All the best to you all. Decided to call it a MR forum career since I decided to move on permanently with my next phone purchase. I’ll be going S9+ Coral Blue unlocked. Was a joy discussing different products and features with everyone. Take care and enjoy your S9/S9+ phones. No more iPhone purchases for me for awhile too. Hope the S9+ is a great phone and I can use it for years to come.

You don't have to leave do you?

 

[5105973]

I asked for her opinion so my teenager said my new Samsung fitness band, Gear Fit 2 Pro Smart, looks like a McDonald's toy or a band that amusement parks give out if you buy a day pass. I'm inclined to agree. But it works nicely so far. I just wish it didn't look so cheap. And bulky. It sticks up pretty far, too.

But functionally it's what I want...so far. It is getting all call and text and email notifications nicely so far and my canned replies are going out like they are supposed to. It also gives me the weather, which I definitely want. And it has been tracking my steps fairly well. Functionality seems good. Features and user interface are very nice.

It's just awkward looking. But it's still more comfortable than the Samsung watches I had. It's not too big for my wrist or heavy or bulky feeling. It just looks bulky.

I really appreciate that the display turns on easily when I turn my wrist. My Apple watch drove me nuts today. I needed to see the time but my hands were dirty so I didn't want to touch the display. It took few attempts to wake the display up to see it.

I'll have to see what the impact on battery life will be.

In other news, mg S9+ passed the "dad test". I heard him fine and he heard me fine. He's the one who always complains he can't hear me when I call him from my iPhone. Speaker phone worked great, too.

 

[Vegastouch]

You’ve got to be joking if that’s a real world test. No one in the right mind would be loading app after app like that. If you really do that with your phone, then good on you. The Samsung is the phone for you. If you look at the entire history of pc/laptop performance testing no one has ever tested this way. Not sure why suddenly for mobile phone this stupid method of testing has become popular. It is retarded.

The tests that anandtech runs were real world tests that simulate how users actually use their phones. I.e the PCMark tests as well as speedometer for web performance. Speedometer is endorsed by Apple and google to test web performance at a system level.

also a real video encoding test here where the iPhone was 4x faster than the s9 (snapdragon)
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-s9-s9-plus,review-5198.html

But who cares about a speed test? The average user sure doesn't. They want a phone that they like and just want it to work. Nobody cares about benchmarks or video of a tiny iPhone 4 vs. S9. I know I sure don't and I know the iPhone 4 (which nobody wants today) doesnt do anything close that the S9 will do. The iPhone X is still missing features that I like.
Bench marks, anandtech... Those are for geeks, not average everyday users.

 

[PhoneMe1]

Who's having this problem? sold my note 8 but don't want a S9 if it cant even make phone calls.


http://piunikaweb.com/2018/03/26/galaxy-s9-users-around-the-globe-reporting-call-dropping-issue/

 

[Vegastouch]

Who's having this problem? sold my note 8 but don't want a S9 if it cant even make phone calls.


http://piunikaweb.com/2018/03/26/galaxy-s9-users-around-the-globe-reporting-call-dropping-issue/

I haven't had either of those issues.

 

[kkh786]

Who's having this problem? sold my note 8 but don't want a S9 if it cant even make phone calls.


http://piunikaweb.com/2018/03/26/galaxy-s9-users-around-the-globe-reporting-call-dropping-issue/

I may have had some issues related to this but just put it to poor network coverage.

Couple off times during last two weeks, I have had drop calls but it was during driving through town. I had assumed it was while driving through black spots my calls dropped.

Hmm.. the plot thickens..

Will keep an eye on it.. hopefully it is a software fix.. as I have got rid of the IPhone and don't need the hassle of exchanges etc.

 

[yui4]

I was getting a proximity sensor error coming up. I assumed it was a fault but according to xda it is caused by having the accidental touch in your pocket or bag feature ticked in settings!

 

[Fille84]

You don't have to leave do you?

When you find the right phone for you, you leave, rule nr1. Everyone knows that

 

[Klyster]

When you find the right phone for you, you leave, rule nr1. Everyone knows that

I guess I'd have to leave annually then

 

[Macalicious2011]

I'm shocked by the sheer volume of S8 and S8 Plus models that are being dumped on eBay because their owners have "upgraded" to the S9. Sure the camera is better but the difference isn't night day.

Why sell a fantastic phone for £450 only to sign a plan for an incremental upgrade that will cost £1,512 over 2 years?

 

[5105973]

Who's having this problem? sold my note 8 but don't want a S9 if it cant even make phone calls.


http://piunikaweb.com/2018/03/26/galaxy-s9-users-around-the-globe-reporting-call-dropping-issue/

When I called my dad yesterday, we had a conversation for over an hour. There was a few seconds at the beginning of the call where it did seem to go silent. But I tested both regular and speaker phone features and it worked fine. I’m not completely sure if that moment of silence is what is being discussed here or if my dad was in fact being quiet. I will pay better attention next time. I’m using an AT&T Snapdragon 845 version.

The call quality was good, but I got better clarity with my unlocked HTC 10 and my HTC-made Pixel 2.
[doublepost=1522326112][/doublepost]

I'm shocked by the sheer volume of S8 and S8 Plus models that are being dumped on eBay because their owners have "upgraded" to the S9. Sure the camera is better but the difference isn't night day.

Why sell a fantastic phone for £450 only to sign a plan for an incremental upgrade that will cost £1,512 over 2 years?

I have an S8 Plus and to me the improvement is worth it. I’m not just noticing a much better camera with improved stereo audio, but a less distracting curvature of the display (came to intensely dislike the one on my S8+) and a better fingerprint sensor placement and performance. I’m noticing much better performance that lacks the lag and stutter I got on the S8+ very early on.

I also had a pink stained display on the first phone and the new one is flawless. However I know that’s not a problem all of the S8 Plus phones had. But it was irritating and I’m glad to be able to run basic display mode again on the new phone. I had to run the last one on Adaptive mode to be able to use the “fix” that Samsung issued. Even then, there was always a faint hint of pink around.

I do still have my S8+ though. It was my S7 Edge that I traded away for the S9+.

 

[kkh786]

Seems there is a fix on the way for the call issues..

https://www.sammobile.com/news/new-galaxy-s9-update-now-available-in-more-markets/

 

[5105973]

Seems there is a fix on the way for the call issues..

https://www.sammobile.com/news/new-galaxy-s9-update-now-available-in-more-markets/

Oh good! I’m not sure my phone has the problem but I’m glad to see Samsung was on top of the issue for those that are having it. Interesting that there is a fix for wallpaper quality. I did see some gradient banding in some of the wallpapers I tried. I thought that was just the fault of the artist but maybe there was an issue there.

This is the most excited I’ve been about a phone in a long time. And I was super excited about my Pixel 2. Which I am still using.

I’m testing out my new wearable because having a reliable wearable for notifications is important to me. I’m needing to test out battery life on the phone and the wearable itself and how they work together. But I admit I’m finally contemplating making the switchover to the S9+ next school year.

I don’t think I’ll be upgrading to an S10 or Note 9 unless I find myself running into trouble with the battery not lasting me, especially as it ages a bit. That’s the one last point on which I can see a need for refinement, to suit my needs and wants, at least. It could use more juice. I just don’t know if I really want to upgrade for that. I do have easy access and opportunities for fast charging top offs most of the time. There are some days I don’t, though. I need to see how it plays out more as I decide how I want this all to go.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

I just got my S9+ today and got it all setup to replace my old laggy s7 edge work phone. So using it with my Note 8 side by side, I can tell the S9+ is no doubt faster. I like that it feels lighter too. I got the Coral Blue color and with a Spigen Neo Hybrid Blue case, it really looks sharp! I charged it this morning to full around 9am, and it only went down to 89% since that time! My Note 8 is down to 50%. It seems the battery is definitely better or the processor is more efficient. Very impressed to say the least. It does seem better than my iPhone X I had in speed.

 

[PhoneMe1]

Can get a S9 plus 64GB new sealed for $950, retail is $1350 here, with 2 cases worth $100. Made $200 profit on selling my Note 8. Decisions. Have an X too for work.

 

[5105973]

After 12 hours off the charger with extremely light use my S9+ is down to 78 percent. I purposely avoided using it as much as possible to see if using the Bluetooth fitness band puts a significant strain. My Screen on time has been 59 minutes and that was me setting up my fitness apps.

My next goal is to see if I can figure out how to get Bixby to help me figure out and log my calorie consumption. It identifies food for me and I did log it in one day. It seems to now think I eat spaghetti every day as a result of that one log in. Er, at least I think it does. I keep getting nagged that I went over my calorie limit even though I only logged my meal once since I got this phone.

The last two days I practically starved because I had to work outside the home while suffering an autoimmune flareup. I can't both eat and work during a flare-up. I have to choose, which is fine because I'm trying to lose 15 pounds anyway. But my S9+ was still scolding me about overeating. So I need to figure out how to get all of this working properly.

Oh and this Gear Fit 2 Pro is kind of funny about nagging me to move. The Apple Watch is so polite and cheery "Time to move". The Samsung buzzes my wrist and basically has this attitude of "You've sat down long enough, don't you think. Get up off your fat assets and move!" It shows an icon of a tennis shoe with zzzzzz's coming from it. I feel so scolded that I don't dare ignore it.

This band is eminently functional so far, but it doesn't fit me well. It slides around and is either too tight or too lose and it's ungainly looking. It's on my dominant hand and sticks out a lot, so it's going to get bonked against stuff. I should have ordered a display protector for it.

And I should have ordered the all black one. Black and red looks too conspicuous and weird like I tied a small bandana around my wrist. I am giving myself a week with it and see how it goes. It's going on spring break with me.

 

[torana355]

The S9's performance is soooo good and those stereo speakers have really enhanced the experience as I watch a lot of youtube on my phone. I cant find a fault with this phone, I think a 4000mah battery would be the only thing I would change. I think anyone coming from anything older then an S8 is going to be seriously impressed.

 

[Puddled]

So I passed by my local samsung store today and nipped in to see the new S9 and S9+

Some initial observations

*meh. Smartphones have become a mature technology. The S9 is practically identical to the S8.
* The + isn' needed surely? The S9 is huge as it is lol.
*It is exceedingly well built.
*I don' like the edge screen or the 2:1 ratio. I much prefer the physical shape of my S6.
*Does everything my S6 does

It is a nice phone, very nice and im sure I would be thrilled with it, but running apps side by side, my S6 wasn' significantly slower, the speaker wasn't significantly weaker and the apps were not any different.

I found it to be similar to comparing a 2018 Lexus to a 2015 Lexus. In other words, not much difference in real use.

I'm growing old lol.

 

[torana355]

So I passed by my local samsung store today and nipped in to see the new S9 and S9+

Some initial observations

*meh. Smartphones have become a mature technology. The S9 is practically identical to the S8.
* The + isn' needed surely? The S9 is huge as it is lol.
*It is exceedingly well built.
*I don' like the edge screen or the 2:1 ratio. I much prefer the physical shape of my S6.
*Does everything my S6 does

It is a nice phone, very nice and im sure I would be thrilled with it, but running apps side by side, my S6 wasn' significantly slower, the speaker wasn't significantly weaker and the apps were not any different.

I found it to be similar to comparing a 2018 Lexus to a 2015 Lexus. In other words, not much difference in real use.

I'm growing old lol.

Im a bit surprised by your take on this. The S9 is leaps and bounds better then the S6 in almost every area. I guess at the end of the day as long as a phone can make phone calls and run the same apps thats all that matters and spending money to upgrade is a waste for many people, understandable. For me personally the S9+ has added greatly to my overall experience coming from the S8+

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

It is a nice phone, very nice and im sure I would be thrilled with it, but running apps side by side, my S6 wasn' significantly slower, the speaker wasn't significantly weaker and the apps were not any different.

I found it to be similar to comparing a 2018 Lexus to a 2015 Lexus. In other words, not much difference in real use.

I'm growing old lol.

Disagree with you on the speaker. When comparing the S9+ speaker side by side to the Note 8 and S8, the speaker is a huge difference better. Even when I would use my finger to cover one of the S9+ speakers, it's still a noticeable improvement.

 

[Vegastouch]

Agree, the speaker is a big improvement over any Samsung phone.

 

[Puddled]

Agree, the speaker is a big improvement over any Samsung phone.

Don't forget that the S6 isn't waterproof so the speaker isn' hampered by that. I believe the S7 and 8 speakers were hobbled a bit in this regard.

 

[Vegastouch]

Don't forget that the S6 isn't waterproof so the speaker isn' hampered by that. I believe the S7 and 8 speakers were hobbled a bit in this regard.

Call it hampered if you want but it still sounds better than any speaker they have had. It has stereo speakers.

 

[5105973]

On the road now. Battery is draining faster than I'd like.

I got an app that lets me use the FM tuner to listen to local radio stations. It only has one station available for some reason, fortunately it's a decent pop station I listened to most of my younger life. It's fun listening to music with the old fashioned radio static like I did until my late 20's.

And there's no way I'd seek out Selena Gomez on streaming services. But running across one of her songs on the radio let me know I could like her music if I give it a chance. Lol, I never want to get stodgy like my dad who still thinks The Rolling Stones are a bunch of young hooligans who ruined proper rock music.

This phone is almost like a Swiss Army Knife. It has a little bit of everything I never knew I would want in a phone but am glad to discover I have. I guess other Samsungs had FM radios in them but I didn't know until recently from a stray comment I ran across but now I am starting to understand the people who bemoan the loss of the IR blaster. It's this sort of crazy little stuff that makes Android phones so cool. I am really sad there's a trend to Applefy them so much. I hope Samsung keeps on thinking different.