Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Dolby Atmos

Samsung Galaxy S9 vs Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

You lot've heard about the two new Samsung phones, and you lot're wondering whether you should be plumping for the Galaxy S9 or heading northwards, into the heady territory of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Information technology'southward a tough one, equally the larger model is around 20% more expensive in most territories it'southward being sold in... and so is there enough there to justify the increase in cost, or would yous exist ameliorate just sticking with the smaller model?

Thankfully for you nosotros've been hands on with both, pored over the spec sheet and had a jolly good think near what each telephone represents - so here's what y'all need to know.

Read our hands on reviews: Samsung Galaxy S9 | Samsung Milky way S9 Plus

Pattern

OK, there's not a lot dissimilar between these two phones stylistically, as the same design language has (predictably) been followed between the two.

Both of these handsets off IP68 certification for dust and water resistance, pregnant yous can plunge them into water for ane and a half meters and concur them there for 30 minutes before wondering what y'all're doing with your life.

Both have the same rolling drinking glass blueprint at the sides of the phones, and both have the moved fingerprint scanner on the dorsum, beneath the photographic camera rather than alongside information technology. However, here's where nosotros hit the first big alter: the Milky way S9 Plus has two cameras, rather than one, then has a larger camera module on the dorsum.

In terms of dimensions, the Galaxy S9 is 147.7mm ten 68.7mm 10 eight.5mm and weighs in at 163g, where the Galaxy S9 Plus is 158.1mm 10 73.8mm x 8.5mm and 189g. As yous can see, the S9 plus is both longer and wider, every bit you'd expect, but not by a huge amount.

Both phones will come in the same three colors: Midnight Blackness, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple, with other variations for different regions.

Display

Both phones technically take the same display, a Quad Hard disk+ Infinity Display, using Samsung's Super AMOLED technology.

However, the Milky way S9 Plus is offer a half dozen.two-inch display, where the Galaxy S8 only comes with a 5.8-inch selection. You won't discover very much difference at all in the way they look, every bit the OLED applied science helps mask whatsoever loss in sharpness... it really depends which y'all similar property in your manus more.

The Super AMOLED display still impresses on both phones

Bone, power and specs

Both of these phones take identical power units running things: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset in the Usa that can run at upwards to 2.8GHz, and an Exynos 9810 octa-core option with four cores running at 2.7GHz and four at 1.7GHz in the variant for the rest of the world.

However, there are slight differences here, every bit the Galaxy S9 Plus has 6GB of RAM, where the S9 'standard' comes with only 4GB. And if yous want to pour more media into the mix, you're getting 64GB on the S9 and a much meliorate 128GB on the S9 Plus.

Y'all tin chuck upward to 400GB more on both phones through the microSD slot at the top of the phones though, so the expansion options means in that location'due south piddling to worry nigh here.

And in terms of the Android operating organization, given these are pretty similar phones you're getting Android 8 Oreo on both. And so that's something squeamish that y'all can tell your mother, correct?

The S9 Plus is the more powerful of the two phones

Camera and battery

Now we're onto a couple of the key differences between the two phones, and arguably the reason you lot'd pick the handset up.

Let's start with the camera - and it's pretty powerful on both of these phones. The new feature on the Galaxy S9 duo is the fact that the dual aperture characteristic offers the all-time of both worlds, with f/1.5 for those incredible low-light moments, merely a f/2.4 option for when you desire to be capturing the perfect scenario when the lighting levels are only fine.

Yet, where the Samsung Milky way S9 Plus comes into its ain is when you want to get a bit closer - without having to move. While it'southward got the wide-angle dual aperture lens, just like the S9, information technology also has a telephoto choice that's constantly zoomed a petty further into the action.

This means, just like on the Samsung Galaxy Note viii, the phone is capable of taking a wider variety of shots, and yous tin nevertheless run across what the wider choice looks like subsequently, if yous so wish.

There's also lilliputian to choose in their front end-facing cameras, with both sporting 8MP f/1.7 lenses.

In terms of the battery ability, you lot're getting a meaning upgrade on the Milky way S9 Plus cheers to the 3500mAh power pack in there, compared to the 3000mAh option in the Galaxy S9.

That equates to the difference between probably getting all-day battery life out of the S9, and almost definitely on the S9 Plus.

That said, we'd like to actually test the credentials of the latter as nosotros've establish with the Samsung Galaxy Notation viii, the battery life really isn't superb - so perchance Samsung has tuned that issue out.

Takeaway

So, that's all the key differences between the two phones, and it depends on what you lot want out of your phone.

Well, actually it depends on whether you tin afford the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus in the first place, as it'southward the 2nd almost expensive phone on the market later on the iPhone Ten, which isn't the virtually pleasant place to be.

Simply if you're OK with that, and then you'll need to consider a few things: do you mind the extra height and width? Would you really use the actress battery life, or would the added screen real estate annoy yous also much when reaching your thumbs beyond?

With the cameras: are you lot going to become the most out of the telephoto lens, or will yous be OK with the dual aperture sensor on the Galaxy S9 alone?

Going for the college-spec model always seems like the practiced idea, and with 6GB of RAM inside, y'all might enjoy that if yous really like taxing your telephone, but the lower-priced (only certainly not low price) handset isn't bad at all.

The Samsung Galaxy Note nine is due afterward this year

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Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning 3 decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Bear witness Alive equally well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid near stress direction, sleep tracking, heart rate variance besides as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Milky way or OLED Boob tube.