Buy it, but not now. Is it worth buying the Samsung Galaxy S9
The South Korean electronics manufacturer, represented by Samsung, is actively catching up with Apple on all fronts, including the payment system, smart watches, smartphones and tablets. There is even a Galaxy S7 on the American market, which is quite surprising, because the Apple corporation should know better what Americans need, because this is its home market.
Many users may have the impression that Samsung products are top-end and best solutions, not only in terms of technical equipment, but also software, especially since in Russia there are branded showrooms of the South Korean company in almost every shopping center, and Apple has never acquired even one single retail Apple Store on the Russian market.
In fact, this is far from true, and Samsung smartphones, tablets or watches cannot be considered the best among their analogues on Android (TizenOS). We tried to collect five main reasons why it is better not to buy smartphones and tablets under the Samsung brand.
Reason 1: Samsung smartphones and tablets tend to fall in price quickly. At the start of sales, a top-end phone can cost about 59,000 rubles, and after six months its purchase will cost 35,000 rubles. For comparison, the iPhone usually never gets cheaper until the new generation is released, and if this happens, the difference between the old and new prices is no more than 5,000 rubles.
Reason 2: How to recognize a Samsung smartphone in a crowd? Yes, it’s very simple, because the South Korean manufacturer is not shy about putting its logo on both sides. There will always be its logo above the screen of any phone from this company, just like on the back cover. To be honest, putting your logo on the front side of a smartphone in 2016 is at least stupid, because the buyer is unlikely to forget who the manufacturer of his phone is. Not everyone can stand seeing the same logo every day.
Reason 5: Despite the fact that Samsung positions itself as the leader in the Android smartphone market, the company does not bother to release new firmware for phones already on sale in a timely manner. Just look at the fact that it was updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow virtually within five months after the release of this firmware for Nexus devices. It often happens that Samsung smartphones are not updated to new firmware at all, since the company simply does not care about them.
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Is it worth buying the new Galaxy S9 and S9+? Is it worth upgrading your Galaxy S8 to the most new model? How is the S9 line different from the S8? Let's answer these questions here and now...
The new line is actively discussed by bloggers and the media. Some have already had the opportunity to study the new product more closely. Today we want to look at all the key changes implemented in the smartphone and understand whether the company’s technologies have undergone global processing or whether the functionality of the Galaxy S9 is a competent marketing job by Samsung. More details about all the advantages and disadvantages of the smartphone, as well as a comparison with top models of other brands, are laid out in just ten points.
For everything else, the quality and focusing speed are all excellent and we can say that the phone is one of the best tools for video recording.
Bixby
Bixby is behind Google Assistant
Bixby is Samsung's smart assistant that has access to phone features and settings that its rivals can't boast, but it still needs a huge amount of work in terms of voice recognition and knowledge base. These shortcomings become apparent when you try to use Bixby next to the fast, knowledgeable and excellent Google Assistant, the ubiquitous Alexa on Amazon Echo products, and even Apple's Siri.
We're hopeful that Bixby's capabilities will improve over time, but for now, it's best to disable the Bixby button entirely and use a different assistant.
Fingerprint scanner
More comfortable, but still too small
The odd placement of the fingerprint scanner next to the camera on the S8 series was the phone's biggest irritant. In the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung developers corrected this error. The fingerprint scanner is now located under the camera in a much smarter location, but it's still not the most ideal option. The scanner itself is a little smaller than the average, and there's still the possibility of accidentally touching the camera lens, but it's better than before.
Among the additional security features, the Intelligent Scan option has appeared, which combines the use of iris recognition and facial recognition. The protection is still crude, has a fairly high throughput and is not very reliable, like the good old fingerprint scanner. In this regard, competing 3D scanning on the iPhone X is safer.
Sound
New dual front speakers sound amazing
Last but not least, the sound quality of the Galaxy S9 has improved significantly. Currently, the smartphone is equipped with two stereo speakers: one is located at the bottom, and the second is integrated into the speaker. Playback is great - a huge improvement over last year's S8. Most flagship phones have similar high-quality speakers (iPhone 8 and iPhone X, Pixel 2 series and others), so the Galaxy S9 didn't take the lead, but it's still nice to see these improvements.
The set includes AKG headphones, which have also received improvements. Smarter design and better sound, plus a braided cable that's less tangled.
Bottom line
After analyzing the innovations in the new Galaxy S9, we can conclude that there are still small improvements, but they are not radical changes or the result of a major overhaul. Therefore, if you own a Galaxy S8, you probably shouldn't think about upgrading your smartphone to the S9 version, since the changes are minor. However, it's still up to you to decide!
IN retail stores the gadget will cost from 70 thousand to 90 thousand rubles, depending on the amount of memory. For the domestic market it is currently available in three colors - black, indigo and copper. Will Samsung's new flagship be in demand?
- Galaxy Note is not a mass model that claims to be popular in pieces; it is a model that appeals to its specific audience. This audience knows what they expect, what they love about this line, and they will be sympathetic to some price increases, including those obviously associated with a jump in the exchange rate.
- Do Russians buy expensive smartphones today?
- Russians generally always buy expensive smartphones. It is clear that any jump in the exchange rate of the national currency causes emotional noise and for some time leads to a slowdown in sales, especially in the middle segment. I’m not sure that this slowdown applies specifically to the top department with the most expensive models. Once the initial shock passes, Russians, as a rule, return, we can judge from all previous stories, to their usual consumption pattern. In this sense, a smartphone, as an element of conspicuous consumption, as the thing that people show, as the thing that speaks about the image of the owner, turns out to be in the top spending of a Russian.
Business FM conducted a mini-survey of entrepreneurs: what phone do you use and why? Are you interested in the new Samsung product?
Thus, the president of the Russian Jewelry Art company, Andrei Ananov, lacks the key functions of the iPhone:
“It’s not that I’m comfortable running my own business, but what I have is quite enough for me. The point is not that for me a thousand dollars is not a lot of money, it’s just of no use. Let's say, recently my family and I came from the forest, brought porcini mushrooms, I photographed them on my iPhone, and sent them to my loved ones. This is convenient for me, but I do it once a month, the rest of the time it just lies there. Second convenience: checking email. I’m talking to you on a plastic Samsung push-button phone that’s 200 years old, it’s a shame if it breaks, its functions are quite enough for me.”
Entrepreneur Ivan Klabukov does not plan to switch from Galaxy Note 8 to a new flagship:
“Since we are making a mobile application, I need both iOS and Android for my work. The main phone is iOS, and I'm testing on Android. Galaxy None 8 is great because you can take notes on it. I haven’t found any reason for myself to switch to Note 9. Everything that they presented in the ninth version is not very different from the eighth, so I won’t switch.”
“I use the iPhone 5 SE because it's the last phone Steve Jobs had a hand in design that actually has the distinctive design cues of an iPhone rather than a Chinese point-and-shoot device. I am quite satisfied with its internal filling. I'm not ready to pay a thousand dollars for a Samsung Note 9, because I absolutely don't like the abundance of Google offers, photos and videos that come out. In terms of hardware, Samsung simply tore up the iPhone, that’s 100%, but as for software, Google needs to improve its Android, it’s shameful in itself.”
According to research company IDC, Russians are spending more on smartphones than in pre-crisis 2014. In the first quarter, analysts noted an increase in sales on the Russian market mobile phones costing from 200 to 300 dollars.
The Korean company, the leader in the gadget market, together with flagship smartphone Galaxy Note 9 introduced the world to smart watches Samsung Galaxy Watch. The new product has almost all the necessary functions, and also offers one of the best navigation throughout the operating system.
But this device is not without its drawbacks: the Bixby assistant leaves much to be desired, Samsung Pay still doesn’t work for us, and the gadget itself often provides a lot of data without telling us what to do with it. However, the positives of the Galaxy Watch outweigh the negatives. I tried to know about all the pros and cons of this smartwatch and here is my opinion.
Samsung Galaxy Watch has a classic design
The updated Galaxy Watch is not much different from the company's previous models. Samsung still sticks to the traditional round dial design. The strap mounts are angled downwards, minimizing the gap between the watch and the wrist. On the right side of the case there are two textured elongated buttons.
One of the features of the Samsung Galaxy Watch is its rotating bezel, which, when rotated around the screen, makes sounds similar to the opening of a safe lock. This great way navigation and interaction with the OS, it allows you to see all the information on the screen without blocking your view with your finger. But, for most functions you will still have to use the touch display.
Samsung smartwatches come in two variants: 46mm silver and 42mm black and rose gold. The 46mm model uses 22mm straps, while the 42mm version uses 20mm. Standard silicone straps are more comfortable to wear, although I decided to replace them with leather ones; it took no more than 30 seconds. The updated Galaxy Watch is IP68 protected, shockproof and can withstand immersion to a depth of 50 m.
Both models are very comfortable to wear, but even the 42mm version will be quite large and heavy for small wrists. The strap on the smaller model is too big, the watch rotates freely around the wrist, even after attaching it to the outer hole. If you are worried about whether this smartwatch will suit you or not, I recommend going to your local store and trying it on before purchasing.
Bright and clear screen
46 mm Samsung model The Galaxy Watch has a 1.3-inch display, while the smaller version has a 1.2-inch display. Both screens have a resolution of 360x360 pixels and are made using Super AMOLED technology. The colors are sufficiently bright and rich, all content is easy to read even in bright light, which is crucial for mobile gadgets. The display is protected on top by Gorilla DX+ glass from Corning.
Good performance and Tizen OS
Samsung has equipped the updated Galaxy Watch with its own 1.5 GHz energy-efficient Exynos 9110 processor with two cores, which, according to the company, extends operating time. There are 768 MB here RAM, A operating system runs on Samsung Tizen 4.0 interface.
There are no performance issues with the Samsung Galaxy Watch. Of course, if you turn the display bezel all the way to the right very quickly, you may notice a little hiccup, but for the most part the interface works smoothly and quickly.
Tizen's interface is quite nice and intuitive to use. The left side of the watch face is where notifications are, showing notifications from 20 random apps by default. You can swipe up to delete them or tap on one for further interaction. On the right side of the watch face are widgets. They can either be deleted or the order changed as desired. Swipe down to access settings. Pressing and holding the top button gives access to Samsung Pay. Pressing the bottom button opens the application menu, and double-clicking on it allows you to ask Bixby a question. However, Bixby's capabilities are more limited here than on Galaxy phones.
The My Day feature lets you see your daily routine, including calendar events, reminders, and more. Spotify integration has also been improved, making it easier to download, play and manage your playlists. The Galaxy Watch 2018 lets you respond to emails, app messages, and calls. Samsung offers large selection proprietary software out of the box, including a collection of fitness apps including Endomondo, MapMyRun and UA Record.
Using the Samsung Galaxy Watch with an iPhone is a bit limited. Text messages, phone calls and alerts in social networks, you can only read or reject. If you accept an incoming call, the answer will automatically switch to your smartphone. Samsung Pay won't work here, and you won't be able to access paid apps from the Galaxy Apps store.
Sports exercise tracking
Samsung Galaxy Watch allows you to track up to 39 types of exercise, 21 of which occur indoors. This smartwatch can automatically detect exercise activities such as walking, running and cycling. Data tracking is what the Galaxy Watch does best. All achievements are displayed on the screen, there is no need to open the Samsung Health app on your phone.
The built-in heart rate sensor is quite accurate and matches comparisons with the Apple Watch. The gadget automatically checks your heartbeat every 10 minutes, and the results are saved in Samsung Health. Unfortunately, the new Watch doesn't warn you if your heart rate is too high, like the Apple Watch does. At a certain moment, this could save someone's life.
The built-in GPS is accurate and can be used to build and track routes, but, unfortunately, iPhone users will not be able to use it. The device can also track the number of flights of stairs. Sometimes the results are accurate, but in most cases the indicator is overestimated.
Sleep and stress monitoring
With Samsung Galaxy Watch you can track your sleep and its quality. The results are surprisingly accurate, measuring actual sleep time, light sleep, restlessness, and time spent sitting still. But there is one drawback here. The gadget does not provide detailed information about all the numbers in the results. Yes, my sleep is 91% efficient, but what does that mean? There is also no way to compare the data with average sleep indicators depending on age.
The same can be said for the new voltage tracking feature. Other than analyzing the data, there is no explanation or guidance as to what I should do to reduce my stress levels.
Battery life
The 46mm version of the Galaxy Watch has a 472mAh battery, I managed to reach a maximum of four days battery life, with almost all functions working.
The 270mAh battery on the 42mm model reached 79% by the end of the first day. By the end of the third, the figure had dropped to 18%. However, this model was connected to an iPhone, so I didn't use as many features as the 46mm version connected to an Android phone. Those who will also be using the Samsung Galaxy Watch with an Android device will be able to squeeze out just over two days on a single charge.
I'm more than happy with the battery life. There is no need to recharge gadgets every day.
Is there a better alternative?
For iOS users, yes - Apple Watch. They are better integrated for iPhone and provide much more wide range functions.
Fitbit Versa can show notifications coming to your phone (you cannot interact with them), have excellent opportunities for tracking activities, four-day battery life and cost less than $200 (RUB 13,600).
Bottom line
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a great, versatile smartwatch with good battery life that's great for Android users.
Is it worth buying?
Yes. The Galaxy Watch is an excellent smartwatch that looks good and tracks your activity as well as your heart rate.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ have become smarter and faster than their predecessors, and their cameras have also improved. However, this still does not mean that these smartphones are good choice for you. Starting from March 16, the devices will go on sale (early mailing out of pre-orders began on March 9), and we have collected in this material the main advantages and disadvantages of the flagships to make it easier for you to decide.
Let us immediately note that selfiemoji (aka AR Emoji) are not mentioned in this material, since this function, as they say, is not for everyone. Samsung has already commented that their development is not related to Animoji, and we are inclined to believe this. But whether you like them or not is a matter of taste.
PROS: The first smartphone with variable aperture
At the presentation of the flagships, much attention was paid to their cameras - and the biggest feature here, undoubtedly, was the variable aperture - Samsung called this technology Dual Aperture. This allows the aperture to open as low as f/1.5 or f/2.4, depending on lighting conditions. Without going into too much detail, let's just say that f/1.5 captures 28% more light than f/2.4. As a result, you can shoot in dim lighting (like a restaurant) without using a flash and still get reasonably bright photos. In addition, the camera has dedicated memory for noise reduction, which also works to improve photos taken in low light.
PROS: Improved slow-mo
Yes, yes, again about the camera. Everything looks better in slow-mo, and the new Galaxy S9 can shoot 1080p video at 960 fps for stunning results. Any, even the simplest action becomes super dramatic and cinematic when filmed like this, and that's cool. Another plus is that the Galaxy S9 is able to start shooting not according to a regular timer, but when the motion sensor is triggered.
PROS: The fastest Android smartphone
Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, the new Galaxy is the fastest Android smartphone. In particular, in the Geekbench benchmark, which takes into account the overall performance of mobile devices, the Galaxy S9+ scored 8,295 points. By comparison, the Google Pixel 2 XL scored 6,282, while Samsung's other flagship, the Galaxy Note 8, scored 6,564.
The S9+ also performs well in video processing tests. In particular, the smartphone was used to transcode video to 4K. The device took 32 seconds to process a 2-minute video, which is 30 seconds faster than the Pixel 2 XL, and a minute and a half (!) faster than the Galaxy S8. At the same time, the new product managed to bypass Apple with difficulty: the iPhone X took 42 seconds to complete the same task. And this is considering that the company from Cupertino has not yet shown its 2018 flagship.
PRO: Augmented reality makes everything better
Bixby Vision is smarter than ever, giving the user a range of new features. For example, you can now point your camera at a sign in a foreign language and see its translation (54 languages are available). There is also a virtual makeup function: it allows you to see how lipstick of a certain shade or another will look on your (and not only) face cosmetic product. It can be used from both the front and main cameras. Unfortunately, so far the function of recognizing dishes and ingredients works only once and for all and definitely needs improvement - but it was declared as experimental.
PROS: Thinner frames, brighter screen
The Infinity Display on the Galaxy S8 already looked almost frameless, but in the Galaxy S9 the Koreans managed to reduce the frames even further. This makes the smartphone a little more comfortable to use with one hand, but let's be honest: the difference is not that noticeable, and people with small hands should still wait or pay attention. Overall, finding a great model in 2018 - but let's be honest, that's not the case with the Galaxy S9. It’s also worth noting that the Super AMOLED display is even brighter than it was on the Galaxy S8, and there were no problems with saturation in the previous generation.
PROS: Stereo speakers
If you thought the sound on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was too quiet, you're definitely not alone. Fortunately, Samsung listened to users' opinions and added long-awaited stereo speakers to the Galaxy S9 - developed jointly with AKG. They are about 1.4 times louder than the speaker in the S8, and support Dolby Atmos - this technology creates surround sound (of course, if the source audio file allows it).
PROS: Blazingly fast LTE
During testing, it turned out that LTE in the Galaxy S9 is almost twice as fast as in the iPhone X. An application from Speedtest.net was used for the measurement, both devices used SIM cards with the same settings from the same operator (T-Mobile). In particular, the Galaxy S9 averaged 71.6 Mbps download speeds and 10.1 Mbps upload speeds. For comparison, for the iPhone X these figures were 48.8 Mbit/s and 7.7 Mbit/s, respectively. Galaxy also performed better in downloads short videos and publishing photographs on the Internet.
PROS: Excellent price-performance ratio
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are significantly cheaper than the iPhone X - and this is considering that the latter was released back in November last year and actually belongs to the previous generation of flagships. In particular, the Galaxy S9 in Russia costs 59,990 rubles, for the Galaxy S9+ you will have to pay 69,990 rubles, and the iPhone X in its minimal modification still costs from 79,990 rubles to 91,990 rubles for versions with 64 and 256 GB of storage, respectively.
PROS: 3.5 jack in place
Although in 2018 there are fewer and fewer manufacturers that continue to produce smartphones with a headphone jack (and have already joined the enemy camp), lovers of wired headphones can breathe freely: in the new “Galaxies” the coveted jack is in place. It’s difficult to say whether the Koreans will abandon it in the S10 (or whatever they call it), but in the coming year Samsung fans won’t have to switch to Bluetooth or buy adapters.
PROS: Convenient location of the scanner
While the camera is undoubtedly an innovative and important improvement in the new flagships, and the speakers are better and louder, you may not want to pay for this if you already have last year's flagship in your hands. Most of the S9's features are more flashy gimmicks than real important and necessary improvements.
If you compare the Galaxy S8 and S9, and do not pay attention to the camera, it will be difficult to point out the differences. Both devices have a glass back and aluminum on the sides, and the display size and resolution are also identical. Yes, the Galaxy S9 is undoubtedly a great smartphone, but it may be worth taking a closer look at the Galaxy S8.
CONS: 2018 trends did not reach S9
As the first major flagship of 2018, the Galaxy S9 has one major flaw: it doesn't respond to this year's trends. Most likely, over the course of the year we will see a number of innovations that will become the norm for every flagship. We already have an idea about some of them. In particular, Qualcomm announced last year when Snapdragon smartphones would receive support for in-display fingerprint scanners. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S9 came out a little earlier and did not have time to pick up this technology, which will certainly dominate the top smartphones of the year. Samsung also continues to hint at the release of a foldable smartphone (presumably called Galaxy X). If this does happen, the Galaxy S9 will likely be forgotten quickly. In other words, history with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X may repeat itself.
CON: Intelligent Scan is not secure enough
You can unlock the Galaxy S9 and S9+ using the new Intelligent Scan system, which combines face and iris scanning. It works quite accurately, but you need to hold the smartphone at eye level, which is not always convenient. Face ID, by comparison, works from almost any angle. Additionally, Intelligent Scan isn't yet secure enough to support Samsung Pay purchases, so you won't be able to avoid using the fingerprint scanner anyway.
CONS: Samsung delays updates
Almost a year has passed since the release of Android 8 Oreo, and the Galaxy S8 update to this version began only last month. To access the new features that Google adds to its firmware, Galaxy users have to wait too long. Yes, security updates arrive quite often, but the gap between the release new version Android on Pixel and top-end Galaxy is too big. There is a good chance that the Galaxy S9 will suffer the same fate and will only receive Android P in next year, although its announcement should take place in May.