9 features we love about the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

While Samsung might have momentarily lost their grip on the smartphone market in Africa (to Chinese Group, Transsion which targets the lower-end of the smartphone users and are slowly moving upwards) they still remain the dominant brand for smartphones.

Every year, Samsung has consistently produced high-end smartphones that compete favourably with rivals like the iPhone and other flagship Android smartphones. The past two years have seen the introduction of new Android phones like the Google Pixel and the Essential phone by Andy Rubin (Co-founded Android before Google bought it).

According to a report done by TechAdvisor’s Chris Martin, the Samsung Note 8 & S8 took the number 1 and 2 spots for best phones of 2018 alongside OnePlus5T, Google Pixel 2, LG V30, Apple iPhone X and more respectively.

Yet, the team at Samsung will not rest on their oars, infact they are under pressure to continue to deliver superior products that will regain the trust of consumers after their fire-prone Galaxy Note 7. As a result, recover the loss made on the recall of 2.5 Million units of the Note 7.

With the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ they are looking to make a statement globally.

One key focus while building the S9 and the S9+ was to re-imagine the way consumers communicated and expressed themselves with the world via their smartphones.

For DJ Koh, president and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics;

“The way we use our smartphones has changed as communication and self-expression has evolved. With
the Galaxy S9 and S9+, we have reimagined the smartphone camera. Not only do the Galaxy S9 and S9+
enable consumers to shoot great photos and videos anywhere, it’s a smartphone that’s designed to help
them connect to others and express themselves in a way that’s unique and personal to them.”

However, part of their messaging on YouTube positions the Samsung S9/9+ as an enterprise phone (“phone for the mobile workforce”) which they claim is at 2 billion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRflz-I4KE&feature=youtu.be

We have compiled a list of nine (9) Samsung S9/9+ features which showcases their commitment to the goal of re-imagination (Phone, camera, and entertainment-wise).

9 things we love about the S9/9+

We have broken these down into 4 categories, viz; Lifestyle & Enterprise, Camera system, User Experience & Identity management and Entertainment.

Lifestyle and Enterprise-wise

1. Improved connectedness:

The S9/9+ is touted as the first smartphone to have the SmartThings app. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be the central hub to manage every facet of the connected lifestyle at home, at the office or on the go. The SmartThings app will be introduced with the Galaxy S9 and S9+ and will connect to other Samsung and non-Samsung devices.

Now, you don’t need to move files from your laptop (where you do the bulk of the creation) to mobile (where you review and edit) and then back to laptop (for presenting) again just to present. Using Samsung’s DeX technology*, you can just place your S9 on the DeX Pad and it will project unto the big screen.

The DeX Pad is a new docking system that allows users to easily connect the Galaxy S9 and S9+ to a larger monitor, keyboard, and mouse to expand the mobile experience. Particularly, useful for Full-screen gaming and Presentations.

Users can also transform the Galaxy S9 into a touchpad.

*Please note, the DeX Tech is sold separately from the phone. It comes with an HDMI Adapter, a Data Cable and a Wall Charger

Camera-wise

Given the YouTube reviews, the Samsung S9/9+ boast a fully re-imagined camera SYSTEM. Here are a few things about it.

2. Super Slow-motion:

I did a little experiment with my Google Pixel’s slow-motion feature (can only go 120FPS and 240FPS) compared to the 960FPS of the S9/9+ (the phone can also shoot at 240FPS, but that’s not the focus here). There I manually uncovered that it takes 3.75seconds to play a 1-second video in 120FPS. And it took about twice the time to play a video in 240FPS. See table 1.

Table 1: Showing the Frame-per-second of mobile videos with their corresponding real-time seconds

Therefore, following the geometric progression, I estimated that at 960 FPS it would take about 8 minutes for a 1-second reel of a video saved in Super Slow-mo on the S9/9+.

After capturing the Super Slow-mo video, users can select background music from 35 different options or add a tune from their favorite playlist. Like, this is a whole movie the S9 is facilitating.

Perhaps, in the future, like we have seen iPhoneography, the act of creating photos with an iPhone, where the images have been both shot and processed on the iOS device, we’ll see more Samsungography, where photos, and videos would be shot with the Samsung S9/9+ device. A time where your favourite videographer uses a Samsung to cover your wedding and produce an executable video file which he then burns to a CD.

What’s more interesting is that the S9 takes these really slow videos while maintaining a high quality, 720p. Of course, not as high as their 240FPS, which they do at 1080p. 

Note: 1080p (aka 1920×1080 pixels) – is the holy grail of HDTV

With this powerful features, it is unsurprising that users can also easily create, edit and share GIF files with a simple tap in the S9/9+.

3. Low Light Camera:

It’s common knowledge that Good lighting is the secret to any great photo. But often, photos are taken in
less-than-ideal lighting conditions and most smartphone cameras have a fixed aperture that can’t adjust to low or bright lighting environments. This results in grainy or washed out pictures.

This is particularly the case in Africa and countries where we have dark-skinned people and low-light photos don’t come out great. Transsion, the leading smartphone brand in Africa, recognised this and optimised their phones for the African Market. Current Vice President, Arif Chowdhury explains:

…The traditional camera was not optimised for the African consumer because often, for those with darker skin, the photos don’t come out well especially in low light. We did research using over 10,000 photos of African consumers to create a special algorithm to optimise the camera to attract 30% more light on the darker face. We call this ‘Africa Focus’…

Similar to the way the iris of a human eye expands and contracts, Samsung’s Dual Aperture (F1.5 / F2.4) automatically lets in more light when it’s dark and less light when it’s too bright, thereby making the photos come out crisp and clear.

4. AR Emoji

The S9/9+ lets users create an emoji that looks, sounds and acts like them.

Me: So, animoji?

Them: AR Emoji.

AR Emoji uses a machine learning algorithm, which analyzes a 2D image of the user and maps
out more than 100 facial features to create a 3D model that reflects and imitates expressions,
like winks and nods, for true personalization. AR Emoji shares users’ real-life emotions not only
in the video but also with a range of stickers and uses a standard AGIF file format so users can share
their emojis across most third-party messaging platforms.

After this user has taken a photo, she will then be required to choose her gender (Male/Female), I imagine this might cause uproars within the genderless and non-binary community. So Samsung, will probably have to accommodate that in future version releases or stick to what they have.

I think the AR Emoji’s are quite cool and similar to SnapChat’s Bitmoji!

5. Bixby

Samsung’s intelligence platform, integrated into the camera, uses augmented reality and
deep learning technologies to provide helpful information about a user’s surroundings.

Me: So, Google lens?

Them: No, AI-powered visual detection assistant, Bixby

With real-time object detection and recognition, Bixby instantly generates information directly on top
of the image that the camera is pointing at. Users can translate foreign languages and currency
in real time with Live Translation, learn about their surroundings, purchase products seen in the
real world and track calories throughout the day.

Caveat: Voice Command recognizes English (U.S.), Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
Not all accents, dialects and expressions are recognized. Voice command works with a select, growing list of Samsung and third-party apps. 

User Experience and Identity-wise

6. Placement of the FingerPrint Scanner

Dear S8 users, please raise your hands if you have erroneously placed your finger on the camera instead of the fingerprint scanner.

With the S9, Samsung has attempted to fix the user experience by placing it under the camera. While this is somewhat of an improvement over the S8, which was placed by the side of the camera, it could have been better.

For instance, the Pixel isolates the camera to the top right and places the fingerprint scanner closer to the center of the phone. This way, I have never made the mistake of smudging my camera with my thumbprints.

7. Biometric Authentication

Complementing the fingerprint authentication, the S9/9+ utilises a combination of Face and Iris scanner to unlock user’s devices. Unlike in the iPhone X that does a Face ID recognition. This leads to improved security and it’s quite new to the Samsung train of devices (the S8 had iris scanner technology but not facial ID).

Entertainment-wise

8 Stereo speakers!

Many times at a house party, you want to play light background music your smartphone will be your first point-of-call, but wait, is it loud enough?

The Samsung S9/9+ utilises stereo speakers tuned by AKG. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ also support Dolby Atmos, giving the effect of 360-degree sound.

So whether you are watching #BlackPanther or streaming Drake’s God’s plan, the sounds come through clear, crisp and rich in quality.

9. Improved Infinity Display

The Galaxy S9/9+ audio experience is complemented by Samsung’s Infinity Display. While this is not new and exclusive to the S9, the bright Super AMOLED Infinity Display has virtually no distracting notches. What’s more? It adapts to sunlight, thanks to the contrast enhancement on the S9.

Conclusion

In summary, there are other exciting features of the Samsung Galaxy S9/9+ many of which they carried over from the S8. But we decided to highlight 9 of them as our custom is (we did, 8 things to love about the Samsung S8).

Our overall perception is that the Samsung S9/9+ did not disappoint and it will give other OEMs a run for their money and research in 2018.

In love with the phone already?

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be available starting on March 16, 2018 in select markets and will be offered

in Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Coral Blue and a new hue, Lilac Purple. Pre-orders are rumoured to start March 2.

Other things being equal, what colour of the phone will you like to get? We just might be doing a giveaway, who knows?