I received my Lilac Galaxy S9+ yesterday and have had a day to play with it. I've been using the Pixel 2 XL as my primary phone since it came out and have an iPhone X as well to compare with.
I'll start off with the fingerprint sensor. It's better, but still room for improvement. Feels a tad too low on the S9+ (I hear the S9 feels better). I wish the sensor was a little bigger, it's a pretty small target to locate with your finger compared to the Pixel phones. And I still end up smudging up with bottom camera trying to locate the sensor right under it. I feel like the Pixel series nailed it with the larger sensor, circular design, and keeping it away from the camera. But it's still an improved over the S8+ and I find it much more usable than before. Plus there is a plethora of other ways to unlock your phone.
I turned on the Intelligent Scan today and gave it a try. This is definitely improved over the S8+ as well. I wear glasses and before it didn't work so great with them on and forget about trying it in the dark. Happy to report Intelligent Scan works in complete darkness with my glasses on. I'm impressed. I also love that it unlocks the phone and goes straight to the home screen. For some reason the iPhone X makes me swipe up after it unlocks, an annoying extra step in my opinion.
Even the PIN unlock seems better. Always bugged me that on Android I had to click OK after entering my PIN. The S9+ gave me the option to automatically unlock after entering my 4 digit PIN. Not sure if this is new, but first time I've seen it on Android (iPhone has always worked that way that I can remember).
I played around with Samsung's launcher. But then installed the Rootless Pixel Launcher.
https://www.xda-developers.com/rootless-pixel-launcher-google-feed/
This launcher mimics the Pixel 2 look and I felt more at home with it after using the Pixel and Pixel 2 XL for long time now.
I tried out Bixby. Then disabled it.
For some reason Microsoft Outlook notifications were not working the first day. I checked several places and notifications were on everywhere for it. Not sure what was up, but woke up this morning and was getting notifications from Outlook today. All other notifications worked fine right away.
Wish the volume rocker was lower and the Bixby button higher and out of the way.
Screen looks great, plenty bright for me so far. Speakers sound great, much better than the Pixel 2 XL speakers.
I bought a Dbrand skin. Applied it, then realized I was a billionth of a millimeter off and the skin edge rubbed uncomfortably on the left side of the phone. Ugh. Apparently there is no do-overs with skins (I tried). And Dbrand only shipped 1 skin (usually they send two versions of a back cover, but not with my S9+). Their customer service has been really good to me in the past, so I might see if they'll do anything for me.
For now, I bought the official Samsung Silicone case for $30. It's pricey, but what prompted me to spend the extra money is they have separate cutouts for the cameras, fingerprint sensor, and flash. Most other cases just have one giant ugly cutout for all of them. Aesthetically i think it looks nicer for the camera and flash to have separate cutouts. And functionally, I love the fingerprint sensor having a separate cutout so I don't accidentally finger the camera. Has a nice feel to it as well. I'm happy with the money I spent. Still may get another Dbrand skin when I feel like being more minimal.
I'm pretty happy with the S9+ so far. This will probably replace my Pixel 2 XL. At least until Android P comes out.