Samsung maintains the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tradition as it presents the latest Galaxy smartphone-- the S9 and S9+, a handset featuring what the company claims is the most advanced camera yet.
The S9 should be very familiar to S8 owners, since it features the same 18.5.9 format display, curved sides and glass front and back. The display uses a 2960 1440 resolution Super AMOLED panel, and measures 5.8-inch in the S9 and 6.2-inch in the S9+. A lot of other hardware features remain identical, such as the 3.5mm jack and hardware buttons, including the one used to summon the unloved Bixby assistant.
One notable change from the previous generation is the location of the fingerprint scanner, since it has been moved to below the camera. Another is the speakers, which Samsung claims are stereo, offer 40% louder sound and come complete with Dolby Atmos audio. Inside the IP68-rated body are a Snapdragon 845 processor (or the latest Exynox chipset in some territories), 4/6GB RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot and 3000/3500mAh battery with fast charging.
However the feature Samsung is pushing most at MWC is the camera. It has a single lens in the S9 and a dual-lens in the S9+, and is the first from Samsung with a mechanically adjustable aperture able to switch between f/1.5 or f/2.4 modes. The camera also features a 12MP sensor with 2nd generation dual-pixel autofocus promising 30% better low light performance and slow-motion video recording at up to 960fps (at 720p resolution).
The second lens in the S9+ is similar to the dual camera system of the Note 8, and allows for "Live Focus" portrait-mode blurring. On the front-facing camera side, the most notable addition is "AR Emoji," essentially the Samsung take on the Apple Animoji able to animate a custom 3D character by tracking the user's face.
The OS of choice is Android 8.0 with some Samsung additions such as a redesigned Bixby app and Knox 3.1 security with 3 biometric authentication options, iris, fingerprint and facial recognition. Both phones are compatible with Google Daydream View VR headsets and DeX, the system turning the smartphone into a PC complete with monitor, keyboard and mouse.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ ship from March 2018 in black, gray, blue and purple colours.