So, who's gonna get an S9?

[Alpha One Seven]

Would rather stick my finger in my eye than use a Samsung device, where they all look the same, have the same bloated UI and poor physical layout.

We have a Samsung microwave that's great, but I agree about their phones, not top of the line in my opinion.

 

[Zaap]

The X notch is really just a cheat. It's just a bezel that dips weirdly down into the phone's screen. Of course Samsung didn't copy it with the s9. (Although ASUS did.)

Having little to no bezel on the sides of the device makes perfect sense. Having zero top and bottom bezel- not as much, especially when it just means an imbalanced design and compromized position of camera and such.

Ideally, I'd much rather have a device with as thin as possible top and bottom bezel. The notch thing is so inellegant I can hardly believe Apple went with it.

As to the $300 vs. $1000 flagship debate: personally I looked extensively into what's available at lower prices with Android phones.

I was NOT impressed. First off, it struck me that to *really* compare, one actually had to spend $500-$600+ for a phone that really stood up well.

Often, by the time one has spent that money, you can get many flagships for similar cost using promotions, trade-ins, etc.

$300 and below choices to me are NOT in the same league. Sorry I know some want to believe so, but no thanks. I'm glad there are such devices- some people really don't need more than that. Just no pretense it really compares to my Note 8 for example.

 

[Ackmed]

And get more of the same? No thanks. Phones have become way overrated, I don't even carry mine around anymore, I leave it in the car when I am out and in the bedroom when I am home. That's close enough for me.
I have a Samsung and think it was a step down from my old HTC.

I leave mine in the car a lot, I just don't need it that much when out. My S3 lets me do most things I need, pay for things, get messages, etc. No I don't want to do in-depth things, but it works well enough when in the store.

That and I cannot have my phone at work. So there is at least 40 hours a week I don't have my phone. It stays in the car. Cant have my S3 at work either, which is really annoying, but whatever.

 

[aigomorla]

I prefer the note line over the S line, even over the S+ line.
I am a owner of a note 8, so i am gonna wait for a note.
However i will probably skip a generation, so it would be the note 10.

So i'm gonna pass.

My brother has a S8, he loves it, and i think he still says he will pass on the S9.
My mom is on a S7, and we are of Asian descent, so she says 7 (Western) and 8 (Asian) are lucky numbers, but 9 (Asian) is bad luck, so she is gonna wait for 10, or probably get a note 8 if they ever go on sale.

This is why i heard apple skipped 9, due to its superstitious nature.

 

[dawheat]

For those who are going to buy the phone outright, going through the samsung.com site, especially with an edu or employee discount, looks like the best deal. $750ish for the S9+ unlocked and $650ish for the S9 isn't crazy.

I'm debating between going with the above deal or sticking with the annual Next upgrade through AT&T using Best Buy ($100 off again). Since I upgrade every year for fun, I find that you don't save very much buying outright and selling it on swappa.

 

[quikah]

I prefer the note line over the S line, even over the S+ line.
I am a owner of a note 8, so i am gonna wait for a note.
However i will probably skip a generation, so it would be the note 10.

So i'm gonna pass.

My brother has a S8, he loves it, and i think he still says he will pass on the S9.
My mom is on a S7, and we are of Asian descent, so she says 7 (Western) and 8 (Asian) are lucky numbers, but 9 (Asian) is bad luck, so she is gonna wait for 10, or probably get a note 8 if they ever go on sale.

This is why i heard apple skipped 9, due to its superstitious nature.

9 is lucky in China. Homophone for long.

 

[dawheat]

9 is lucky in China. Homophone for long.

Ah I missed that in aigomorla's comment - I've also never heard 9 being considered unlucky since it's tied to longevity.

 

[aigomorla]

https://www.lingualift.com/blog/lucky-unlucky-numbers-japan/

The number four is considered to be unlucky because the word for four is shi (四/し) closely resembles the word for death shi (死/し). Likewise, the word for nine ku (九/く) sounds similar to the word for pain and suffering ku (苦/く).

My grandmother has always told us 4 and 9 is no no... :T
I guess its more closely tied to Japanese then Chinese.

I guess it carried over from a time when my grandmother was in Korea occupied by Japanese before WW2.

 

[dawheat]

I can't imagine anything having a StB ratio >10% higher than anything out at the moment and not having its screen fall off!

Some actual hard numbers on the difference in bezel size between the S8 and S9 devices - from sammobile:

Exactly how small are the bezels on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+? The top bezel on the Galaxy S9 is 8.18 mm, 0.48 mm narrower than the Galaxy S8. The bottom bezel is 6.96 mm, which is 0.76 mm smaller than its predecessor. The narrower bezels together make the Galaxy S9 1.2 mm shorter than the S8 while retaining the same display size.

The Galaxy S9+, on the other hand, has an 8.21 mm bezel at the top and 6.99 mm bezel at the bottom, resulting in 0.39 mm and 1.01 mm smaller bezels respectively compared to the Galaxy S8+. This makes the Galaxy S9+ 1.4 mm shorter compared to the S8+ even as the screen size remains the same.

 

[WelshBloke]

Are Samsung giving out free stuff with preorders? They usually do don't they?

 

[Oyeve]

Are Samsung giving out free stuff with preorders? They usually do don't they?

Yeah, I could use a fifth vr set.

 

[WelshBloke]

Yeah, I could use a fifth vr set.

I wouldn't mind a free gear fit 2 Pro thing!

 

[Oyeve]

I got my Note 8 to squeeze into the S8+ VR headset. Tight but it works. If they give a new one as a promo I'm sure it will work with the Notr 8 as well. I hope. But I already have the Note4 version, the Note 7 version and the S8+ version. So yeah, another one would be nice.

 

[ibex333]

Why would I get an S9? It's been definitively proven it's MUCH slower than iPhone 7, never mind iPhone 8 and X...

I don't want to "downgrade" I want to upgrade! I dont give a damn how nice that screen and camera are. If the hardware is shit, and the software is shit, then the phone is shit. Oh, and Bixby? WTF is Bixby?! I know what Siri is. It's tried and tested and it works.(sometimes) Bixby is garbage in comparison.

 

[WelshBloke]

Why would I get an S9? It's been definitively proven it's MUCH slower than iPhone 7, never mind iPhone 8 and X...

I don't want to "downgrade" I want to upgrade! I dont give a damn how nice that screen and camera are. If the hardware is shit, and the software is shit, then the phone is shit. Oh, and Bixby? WTF is Bixby?! I know what Siri is. It's tried and tested and it works.(sometimes) Bixby is garbage in comparison.

Sometimes people just try too hard!

 

[quikah]

https://www.lingualift.com/blog/lucky-unlucky-numbers-japan/

My grandmother has always told us 4 and 9 is no no... :T
I guess its more closely tied to Japanese then Chinese.

I guess it carried over from a time when my grandmother was in Korea occupied by Japanese before WW2.

4 is the same way in Chinese, sounds like death (though it is a different tone). 9 is jiǔ (九) while long is also jiǔ (久).

Quick search shows Korean treats 4 similarly, I didn't find anything on 9.

I am kind of tempted to buy an S9. I have always gone the value way, get a mid-range or old flagship for cheap, maybe it is time to buy a flagship. I currently have a Honor 8 which is decent enough, but it has some annoying bugs, and the camera is blah.

 

[Oyeve]

Why would I get an S9? It's been definitively proven it's MUCH slower than iPhone 7, never mind iPhone 8 and X...

I don't want to "downgrade" I want to upgrade! I dont give a damn how nice that screen and camera are. If the hardware is shit, and the software is shit, then the phone is shit. Oh, and Bixby? WTF is Bixby?! I know what Siri is. It's tried and tested and it works.(sometimes) Bixby is garbage in comparison.

Oh look, another one.

 

[lopri]

Why would I get an S9? It's been definitively proven it's MUCH slower than iPhone 7, never mind iPhone 8 and X....

Believe it or not my iPhone X is laggier than my S8. Apple's wretched execution of iOS updates and the mess of iOS in general have achieved something unimaginable not long ago.

After reading the timely preview of S9 by Andrei, I cannot help but think that SD845 is a more balanced SOC than the Exynos 9810. The phones themselves are well executed, it seems.

 

[Anubis]

Would rather stick my finger in my eye than use a Samsung device, where they all look the same, have the same bloated UI and poor physical layout.

you just described basically ever iphone as well

 

[ibex333]

Believe it or not my iPhone X is laggier than my S8. Apple's wretched execution of iOS updates and the mess of iOS in general have achieved something unimaginable not long ago.

After reading the timely preview of S9 by Andrei, I cannot help but think that SD845 is a more balanced SOC than the Exynos 9810. The phones themselves are well executed, it seems.

Believe it or not, my iPhone X is lightning fast. Never a single slowdown. The only issues with it are the stupid interface they did, the landscape mode issues and the omission of the home button. But I would still rather use it over Samsung due to superior speakers, call quality and overall speed.

 

[tsupersonic]

Well the S9 has 'stereo' speakers, so hopefully it sounds better. I will agree though iPhones generally sound better than Galaxy phones of the past.

 

[Raduque]

I am genuinely baffled, baffled I say, by anybody that requires or uses speakers in a phone for anything other than ringtones.

 

[Oyeve]

I am genuinely baffled, baffled I say, by anybody that requires or uses speakers in a phone for anything other than ringtones.

I agree. Speakers, imo, are more important on a tablet or laptop. On a phone, even on my note 8, it's just not a make or break thing. Sound quality will always be speaker phone quality no matter how many speakers are on it.

 

[bearxor]

I am genuinely baffled, baffled I say, by anybody that requires or uses speakers in a phone for anything other than ringtones.

I agree in public. My phone spends 100% of its time with the silent switch on.

In my house, I'll use the phone speakers quite often. The difference between a 6S and a 7 was pretty large with the addition of stereo sound.

 

[lupi]

I agree in public. My phone spends 100% of its time with the silent switch on.

In my house, I'll use the phone speakers quite often. The difference between a 6S and a 7 was pretty large with the addition of stereo sound.

I went from a BB to a S7E, and speaker performance was a notable downgrade.