Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Review – A Phone Filled with Fun and Useful Features

The estimated reading time for this post is 7 minutes

If you’re in the market for a new phone, you may want one with cutting-edge features, a high-quality camera, long battery life, and a headphone jack. You may also be looking for one that’s water-resistant, especially if the reason that you’re in the market for a new phone is that your old phone went for an unintended swim.

If those are the specs you want in a new phone, you should check out the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. Samsung’s latest larger phone runs Android Oreo 8.0 and has much to offer in both hardware and software.

Verizon Wireless loaned me the Galaxy S9 Plus to review.

S9 Plus Hardware

The phone is encased in glass, with Gorilla glass on the front and glass covered aluminum on the back. The phone Verizon provided for testing is Coral Blue and it also is available in Lilac Purple and Midnight Black.

The glass back does show fingerprints and smudges, but only in direct light. The design and build are elegant yet the phone feels sturdy in the hand.

Also on the back of the phone are dual cameras and a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is below the dual camera lenses in a location that is comfortable and convenient to use.

The hardware of the phone includes a speedy processor and an impressive amount of memory (6GB of RAM) so the phone responds instantly to commands. Even with dual apps running in Multi-Window split screen (see below), the phone runs smoothly, without lagging or stuttering.

Samsung has chosen to keep the headphone jack alive on the S9 Plus, unlike Apple on the iPhone and Google on the Pixel. Even though it has a headphone jack, the S9 Plus is water-resistant in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes, according to Samsung.

S9 Plus Screen

The S9 Plus blends the convenience of a large phone with maximum screen coverage and minimal wasted space. Samsung calls this screen Infinity Display and the phone can use this extra space to display two apps side-by-side in a feature it calls Multi-Window.

The screen wraps around the edges of the phone but, unlike some other phones I’ve tried in the past, the S9 Plus doesn’t seem to mistake my holding the phone for touch commands.

Apps fit on to the screen tidily, without bleeding onto the edges. Keyboards remain on the main part of the screen so typos aren’t caused by gripping the edges of phone.

At 6.2 inches (15.7 cm) diagonally, the screen is large enough to display images, video and text well while feeling comfortable in the hand. The screen is large enough you won’t be able to reach the entire screen with your thumb while holding the phone, unless you have an extraordinarily long thumb.

But size is not the only consideration of a phone screen. The S9 Plus has both quality and quantity of screen.

Samsung is known for its screen quality and the S9 Plus does not disappoint. The screen is bright with vivid colors.

In Settings, you can set the type of display you’d like to see from Basic to Photo to Cinema. If you’d rather not be bothered, you can set it to Adaptive so the phone changes the display based on what you’re doing with it.

In Cinema mode, the S9 Plus can show videos in HD to give the optimal display for watching videos in apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. But that mode also uses more power so keep an eye on the battery level if the immersive experience of the S9 Plus screen leads you to binge-watch your favorite videos for hours on end.

Storage

The S9 Plus comes with 64GB of storage and a MicroSD card slot. The slot lets you add a MicroSD card to expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 400GB.

Battery Life

The advanced features and high-quality screen can use a lot of power, so Samsung added a 3500mAh to give the S9 Plus up to 20 hours of video playback, 35 hours of talk time and 15 hours of 4G Internet connection, according to Samsung. The S9 Plus has enough power for 4 days of standby time, according to Verizon Wireless. The phone charges via a USB-C cable and wirelessly.

In my testing the standby time exceeded 4 days, though I was not logged into many apps and had not set up notifications. Under heavy use, the phone’s battery noticeably depleted, though dimming the screen helped preserve the battery.

The S9 Plus offers a helpful and easy way to extend the life of the battery with its Device Maintenance feature. In the Device Maintenance section of Settings you can see whether any apps are draining your battery and fix any issues your phone may be having with apps running in the background or being battery hogs.

If you find the phone low on battery, you’ll appreciate its quick charge feature. With both wired and wireless charging, you can use quick charge to get a full or partial charge rapidly.

Camera

A key consideration when buying a phone is the quality of the camera. Samsung has given the S9 Plus a powerful camera filled with features. The good news is that this camera is easy to use for beginners and those who don’t want to bother with the advanced features, and sophisticated for those who want the flexibility of custom settings.

The rear camera has two 12MP lenses, giving the camera the ability to zoom in and add depth for better photos. The front camera is 8MP for taking selfies.

The S9 Plus camera has a wide variety of settings, including food, panorama, pro, live focus (short video), auto, super slo-mo, AR emoji and hyperlapse. The phone is also filled with fun filters and editing features so you can alter the image after you take it..

If you just want to start using the camera and don’t want to bother with the advanced settings, set it to Auto and begin taking shots.

I tested the camera in bright sunlight, shade and at sunset. The camera performed well and let me focus in on a subject, blurring the background for a professional effect.

You can check out the unedited photos I took with the S9 Plus at this Flickr album:

You can also see the album at the Flickr website: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Sample Photos.

Software

The S9 Plus will have a familiar feel to those who have previously used Samsung phones. For example, you can swipe from the right edge of the screen to reveal helpful shortcuts. Swipe down from the top of the screen to easily access settings and notifications.

Swiping up from the bottom of the screen reveals a menu bar with a back button, virtual home button and a recent button to show open apps.

The S9 Plus has the Always On feature that gives you information on the home screen when the phone is in sleep mode. You can change what information is shown or turn Always On to off in Settings.

Logging Into the Phone

The S9 Plus gives you many choices for logging into the phone. You can use a password, fingerprint scanner, facial recognition and/or iris scanner. Choose the one that works best for you.

AR Emoji

AR Emoji is a special feature where you can turn a photo of a face into a series of Live Action emoji stickers. Think of it like Bitmojis in GIF form that you can add to your text messages, email and more.

App Pair

If you have a pair of apps you frequently open together, such as YouTube and Chrome, you can add an App Pair shortcut for them so they both open side-by-side on your screen with a single tap. (Note that not all apps work with App Pair.)

Visit the Samsung Multi-Window and App Pair Help Page to learn how to set up this helpful feature.

Bixby Digital Assistant

The S9 Plus comes with a physical button on the left side dedicated to launching Bixby, Samsung’s digital assistant similar to Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant.

Press and hold the Bixby button to ask it a question. You must be logged into your Samsung account to use Bixby.

Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is available from Verizon Wireless for $929.99 with 64GB of storage in:

• Lilac Purple
• Coral Blue
• Midnight Black

Your Thoughts

Which features of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus are the most compelling for you? Would you use all the features of its camera or do you prefer its easy Auto mode? Which apps would you pair in App Pair?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!