Every year, Samsung Galaxy S/Note series smart phones can be said to be the flagship mobile phone, but we have really heard the word "mobile phone king" for too long. Not only the media is tired, but also the users are tired. In fact, not only Samsung, but also the whole mobile phone industry has shown some fatigue. Although there is N% performance improvement every year, this can not be the reason for users to change phones in the mobile phone market with excessive performance. "Performance improvement" has long been unattractive.
Because the article is long, let's talk about the conclusion first. This year's Samsung S9+, as usual, has not made much changes. It is still a regular performance upgrade, shooting upgrade, no changes to the screen, and the charging is still a slow 12W fast charge. On the whole, this Samsung S9+gives the author the impression that it is a relatively regular upgrade.
Evaluator version: Korean 256GB Purple Galaxy S9+
Specifications
SoC：Exynos 9810
Memory: 6GB
Storage: 256GB UFS 2.1
Screen: 6.2 "2960x1440
camera:
12 million pixel wide-angle main camera (variable aperture F/1.5 F/2.4 1.4 μ m, equipped with optical anti shake, supporting 960fps 720P slow motion shooting)+12 million pixel telephoto sub camera (F/2.4, equipped with optical anti shake)
8 million pixels in front, f/1.7
Battery capacity: 3500mAh
Others: rear fingerprint unlocking/iris unlocking/face unlocking, Dolby panoramic sound dual speakers, Android 8.0, IP68 waterproof and dustproof
appearance
In addition to the screen size, the front panel of the Galaxy S9+is very similar to that of the Galaxy S8+. The screen parameters are the same. They are both 6.2 inch 18.5:9 screens and 2960x1440 resolutions.
Although Samsung has added a purple color scheme to the regular sales version this time, although it is said to be purple, only the back and border remain purple, and the front panel is still black. This kind of "purple" is not thorough enough, which is why the author has always recommended that you buy the black version of Samsung. Samsung's color matching is always inconsistent on the front panel, but it is not completely inconsistent. For example, last year's Note 8, S8 and this year's S9 series of front panels were all black in the conventional color matching, while the previous S7 used the same color on the front and back panels in white, blue and gold.
If the color matching of the front panel cannot be consistent with the overall color of the fuselage, the whole machine will feel disharmonious. This may be because the use of different color matching of the front panel will increase the cost. In fact, the black front panel is always the favorite. A good example in the industry is Sony. If you look at Sony's mobile phones, you will find that almost all of Sony's mobile phones with different colors have kept consistent color matching, and the whole color sense comes out at once.
The mobile phone still has the function of iris recognition. In addition, there are LED signal lights, cameras, light sensors, and so on. The rich hardware modules create a wealth of functions, but also make more and more openings at the forehead of the mobile phone.
It is worth mentioning that the Galaxy S9+is the first Samsung flagship mobile phone with dual speakers. In addition to the regular speakers at the bottom, the earpiece of the S9+is also used as a speaker, which forms a dual speaker with an upper and lower structure.
In terms of appearance, the biggest change of Galaxy S9+is the back, which not only changes the location of fingerprint identification area, but also adds an additional camera. Although the main camera of S9+is a variable aperture, it does not set a mechanical device to adjust the aperture. If you want to switch between F/1.5 and F/2.4, you need to adjust it in the professional mode of the mobile camera.
The supplier of fingerprint sensor has been changed to Taiwan's Shendun, and the specific model is ET510
The other layout of the fuselage, including card slot and key position, is no different from the previous generation. The Korean version we got only supports a single card, mobile+Unicom dual network, and supports a TF card expansion of up to 400G.
The 3.5mm headphone connector is still reserved at the bottom
In terms of accessories, there are still dual unit dynamic headphones for AKG, USB Type-C cable (USB2.0), and the charging is still 9V 1.67A. The attached charger supports QC2.0 and Samsung AFC fast charging standards, and the body supports QC2.0, Samsung AFC and PD standards.
On the left side of the phone are the volume adjustment key and the Bixby voice assistant key
screen
Basic mode
Cinema mode
Photo mode
Galaxy S9+screen test data:
Contrast: infinite Default color temperature: 6600K
Manual maximum brightness: 380nits Automatic global maximum brightness: 630nits Automatic local maximum brightness: 950nits
Basic mode: 95.8% sRGB color gamut, 104 color average color level 3.9
Photo mode: 86.9% Adobe RGB color gamut, 104 color average color accuracy 2.9
Cinema mode: 98.4% DCI-P3 color gamut, 104 color average color level 4
From the test data, the Super AMOLED screen of S9+is above average in quality. In fact, you will feel that it is not different from the screen of Note 8 and S8. In short, this is a screen that people can enjoy at ease.
system
In terms of system, Samsung Galaxy S9+adopts Android 8.0, and its overall operation interface is the same as that of S8 series. Sliding up hides virtual keys, sliding down notification bar, and negative 1 screen interface. Because the S9 series still uses a full screen of 18.5:9 this time, after the adaptation of S8 and Note 8, the current apps can basically be perfectly adapted. Since our S9+is a Korean version, the system has its own set of Google services.
Due to the improvements made on this generation of S9 series cameras, we can see that it supports freezing time shooting (960fps slow motion) and dynamic shooting, while the F/1.5 and F/2.4 apertures are adjusted in the professional mode of the camera.
AR Emoji
Samsung Dynamic Cute Pat Sticky Face
S9+added the Anemoji expression similar to iPhone X this time - AR emoji, which Samsung dubbed "Dynamic Cute Shot" in Chinese. Unlike iPhone X, the dynamic cuteness shot is placed in the camera, and users can use the front and rear cameras to shoot. Samsung's dynamic cuteness shooting supports "sticky face". Users can take a selfie, make the system recognize the face and glue out a personal 3D cartoon head.
Samsung's sticky face does not have unique recognition. That is to say, after you glue out a face, it can also capture the expression of others and show the effect through your cartoon head.
Samsung's sticky face is not necessarily alive. For example, the author took a photo of Luo Yonghao on the computer screen at random, and it can also paste a Luo Yonghao according to this photo. However, because the S9+shooting screen content will have moire lines, it also sticks out the moire lines, making this Luo Yonghao's face look strange.
After the user sticks out a cartoon face of his own, the system will automatically generate some fixed gif expression packages and automatically save them in the album. The actions of these expression packages are fixed. If you change a face, all the above expressions will be redone with another cartoon character.
In fact, the author is not sensitive to the Anemoji of iPhone X and the dynamic cuteness of Samsung. This expression pack function is far less than Jacky Cheung and Xiong Maotou for me (Mo Changyou). In fact, facial expression bags are not made for people to use, especially in China, facial expression bag chat can be said to be a profound art. A person who is good at using facial expression packs to chat can gain a higher social status in complex online social networking, and even win everyone's respect. In China, facial expression packs must be able to fully display users' immediate emotional expression, which is in line with the psychological mood of users in the current Internet age. Excellent facial expression packs are often suitable for a variety of chat scenarios, and exist as a panacea, while those popular facial expression packs must also have some "connotation".
performance
Without exception, S9+uses two different SoC versions, Snapdragon 845/Exynos 9810. Because Snapdragon 845 is a common version, this time we chose the Korean version of Exynos 9810 to run the score test. But in fact, the author does not want to talk much about "running points" here. After you have used many mobile phones, you will find that running points is really mysterious. It is like a hoax. Why my mobile phone is the highest running points every year, but it still gets stuck? There is no reason. This is the best Android phone in the world.
Here is an optimization problem, and this optimization is still aimed at the optimization of different apps, so you will find out what will happen to this Snapdragon 845, why this one can't get stuck, and so on. It seems that this is not always the case, it is the case in specific scenarios, and so on. It seems that it is not the case that there are many people, but it is the case that it appears near a certain coordinate. So in fact, you should know that among the top SoCs, the key to deciding whether to get stuck or smooth is not running points, but optimization (including the optimization of the system itself and the adaptation optimization of the app developer for the machine).
Exynos 9810 adopts the structure of 4 * M3 core+4 * A55 core. The maximum frequency of M3 core is up to 2.7GHz, and the maximum frequency of A55 core is 1.79GHz. In fact, the Exynos 9810, which had been touted for so long and came out about half a year later than the A11 bionic on the iPhone 8, still lost to the A11 bionic in terms of race points. However, as we said just now, among the top SoCs, running a score does not mean the final result. It is more optimization that determines your machine's stuck and process. However, do you think that a Korean version of the Android Galaxy S9+can surpass the iPhone 8/8 Plus/X in optimization? Since we don't have a Snapdragon 845 on hand, we use the engineering version of Snapdragon 845 for simple comparison. The score is for reference only.
camera
Although the Samsung S9+has replaced a main camera sensor this time, the basic parameters of the sensor are the same as those of the previous generation, which are 1/2.55 μ m and 1.4 μ m. Its main camera and secondary camera are equipped with optical anti shake, and the secondary aperture of S9+, Note 8, and iPhone X is F/2.4.
Samsung S9+has adopted a special variable aperture camera, with the highest aperture of F/1.5 and the small aperture of F/2.4. Although there seems to be a big gap between the aperture values of the two, there is an illusion of "Wow, the weak light of F/1.5 is good for taking pictures". In fact, the main aperture of Note 8 also has F/1.7. The Samsung S9+has an additional F/2.4 aperture for taking pictures under sufficient light, because it can slightly improve the analytical power of the sample (really just a little).
By default, the camera of Samsung S9+has an automatic aperture, that is, between F/1.5 and F/2.4, We can force the F/1.5 aperture on in the professional mode of the camera In addition, other ISO, shutter time and white balance are still automatic. This effect is no different from taking pictures in automatic mode, but we have forced the use of F/1.5 aperture.
This photo evaluation still uses the current emperor level photo phone for comparison, Galaxy Note 8、iPhone X、Google Pixel 2XL。
Here, I first give my conclusion, Compared with Note 8, S9+has little difference in the main photography, and it can basically be considered that the two are at the same level. Some of our pictures are magnified to 300~500% for comparison, and we need to look carefully to find a little difference.
Daytime (main photo)
As the top of the mobile phone photo circle, these mobile phones are really difficult to compete in a well lit daytime scene. Because of the sufficient daytime light, there is no difference in pixels. The sensors are also top level, and their differences in focusing speed and resolution are really small. However, it is worth mentioning that the Pixel 2XL does have more noise than the other three bits, which is more obvious in weak light.
Although it is difficult to compare, we can still see the difference of imaging color between them in the daytime scene. The iPhone X has high color saturation and rich color. Note 8 and S9+are relatively "light". This color difference comes from the algorithm and their automatic white balance. Because the difference is small, it can not be used as a standard to judge the pros and cons. It depends on what kind of imaging color style the user likes.
It is worth mentioning that due to the sufficient daytime light, the automatic mode of S9+uses F/2.4 aperture. In the same scene, we also tried to forcibly open F/1.5 in professional mode to compare the difference between the two. After zooming in to 300~500% of the original image, we found that the difference between the two is very small.
Night (main photo)
Pixel 2XL's camera algorithm tends to increase the analytical power of the image, weaken the smear, but will increase the noise. In this group of samples, the imaging effects of the two Samsung models are basically the same. The smearing is heavy, the iPhone X is slightly weaker, and the Pixel 2XL is the weakest. However, the Pixel 2XL is the strongest among them (in fact, it is also invisible).
This is a night sky office building scene that the author (mo changyou) likes to take in the photo evaluation. In this group of samples, The imaging performance of four mobile phones in the night sky is relatively similar However, if you just want to focus on details, the order of advantages and disadvantages is Note 8>S9+>iPhone X>Pixel 2XL. However, it is surprising that the Pixel 2XL, which is the last one to like smearing, also performs fairly well here. It can be seen that Pixel 2XL has strict requirements for scenes that can trigger large area smearing algorithms, such as this pure color night sky.
This is a set of street light anti glare scenes. The samples of two Samsung and Pixel 2XL show obvious glare, while the iPhone X shows very slight glare, which is the best performance.
In the group sample, the road sign was illuminated by the red light of the nearby building, and the black green road sign was obviously red. You must notice that the road sign of the two Samsung prototypes is the most red, but this is because the exposure of the two Samsung prototypes is high, so the red part is also increased. Although the two Samsung models have a thick smear algorithm, the characters on the road signs can still be clearly displayed here. But a closer look shows that the fonts of the two Samsung models are somewhat distorted, which is also the part that was injured by the smear algorithm.
This group of samples can well reflect the daubing algorithm of four mobile phones. In the article, the author (Mo Changyou) has always emphasized daubing. The two Samsung's daubing algorithm is the heaviest, followed by the iPhone X, and the Pixel 2XL's daubing algorithm is the weakest. Note that the part blocked by the column has a black shadow. The photographing algorithm here may mistakenly think that this is a solid color area for smearing, so we can see that the font behind the black column will be smeared, and the font resolution of this place will decline. The font display of iPhone X and S9+in this area is not so clear.
S9+main camera F/1.5 contrast F/2.4
Left: F/1.5 Right: F/2.4
Left: F/1.5 Right: F/2.4
Left: F/1.5 Right: F/2.4
The main camera of S9+can be adjusted to F/1.5 and F/2.4 aperture. In the environment with good daytime light, the F/2.4 aperture is basically used for automatic photography, while at night it is F/1.5. In the daytime, we entered the professional mode and adjusted it to F/1.5 aperture to take a picture and compare it with F/2.4. We found that the gap between the two is very small. However, if F/2.4 has enough daytime, it can really improve its resolution slightly compared with F/1.5 (it can be said that the eyes are very good). This can still be seen when it is magnified to 300%. For ordinary users, This gap can still be ignored. Whether it is F/2.4 or F/1.5 will be left to the algorithm. It is not a problem that users should worry about when taking photos.
Photo summary: In the photo part of this evaluation, the basic conclusion is that the main photography of Note 8 and S9+is the same level, and their weak light photography performance is as always superior to Pixel 2XL and iPhone X. It is worth mentioning that the photographing experience of the four mobile phones, iPhone X, Note 8, and S9+, is similar. The focus is fast, the imaging is fast, and there is basically no problem of view taking delay. The Pixel 2XL is a little worse. There is a delay in taking pictures in some low light scenes. And because the Pixel 2XL can only play its best role in HDR+enhancement mode, we have turned on HDR+enhancement mode in the process of taking pictures, However, when HDR enhancement mode is enabled, each image of the Pixel 2XL requires a certain amount of photo processing time, which will reduce the photo taking experience. In fact, even if we are in the automatic HDR mode of the Pixel 2XL, the Pixel 2XL will choose HDR processing in most cases in the low light part at night. This photo processing time is still unavoidable. But if HDR is turned off, the imaging effect of the Pixel 2XL is not good.
Condensation time shooting (960FPS slow action)
This time, S9+added a 960FPS 720P condensation time shooting in terms of video recording. Although it can directly shoot 960FPS, it can only shoot 960FPS for 0.2 seconds. During specific shooting, the user can select two modes.
Single shot: just like your normal video recording, it can only record for 2.2s at most. Record 1s (240FPS)+0.2s (960FPS)+1s (240FPS) in three processes. When you play the video, S9+will automatically split the 0.2s (960FPS) video into 6-second (32FPS) video for you to play slow motion, that is, it will eventually become an 8-second video.
Multiple recording: after clicking the recording button, the 240FPS 720P will be recorded all the time. If the user wants to record 960FPS in the middle, he must click the red circle button, and then the recording will stop after 0.2s of recording. A total of 20 0.2s (960FPS) recordings can be made in this recording. During playback, the 0.2s will also be split into 6s (32FPS) for playback.
In addition, there are manual mode and automatic mode for freezing time shooting. The manual mode is the same as the ordinary video recording. Click it to start recording, while the automatic mode will start recording after you click the record button and recognize that there is an object moving.
Because this 960FPS has high requirements for the cache in CMOS, we can see that both Sony and Samsung support 960FPS, but the recording time is very short.
Endurance&Charging
Both S8+and S9+use 3500mAh batteries, and there is a 2% gap between them after a 2-hour endurance test. In fact, due to different processor versions, certain differences do occur. Compared with the 8895 version of S8+, S9+has 1% more power, which may even be caused by errors. In fact, the battery and screen parameters are the main reasons that affect the endurance when the system is OK (without disorderly brushing). No matter how much the 3500mAh battery is optimized, it is also 3K5, so it is expected that the endurance of S9+will basically maintain the level of S8+, but S9+is still the top endurance of the current flagship models.
S9+charging curve
Since the Note 7 "exploded", Samsung has been very conservative in charging, Both S8 and S9 generations are equipped with 9V 1.67A charging heads (supporting QC2.0 and Samsung AFC fast charging standards). In fact, neither S9 series nor Exynos 9810 version of Snapdragon 845 even supports QC3.0 fast charging. Only QC2.0, AFC and PD fast charging are supported, and the charging power rate is only about 12W.
In the actual test, we started from 5% and only charged 12% in 10 minutes. If we change to some mainstream models of domestic brands, when the battery is extremely low, we basically charge 2% in 1 minute, and we can charge 20% in 10 minutes. So don't have too many illusions about the fast charging of S9+. The fast charging of S9+is really unhappy.
summary
Although the author (Mo Changyou) thinks that this S9+is just a conventional upgrade, However, there is no denying that the current S9+is still a member of the machine king team in such a mobile phone market environment. However, for those who want to upgrade their mobile phones, the author really does not recommend that Note 8 and S8 users upgrade to S9+. On the one hand, the upgrade of this generation is too conventional, and on the other hand, the current S9+is too expensive.
We Love to play computer games The Korean Samsung flagship is often used for evaluation because it is an Exynos processor. In actual use, the author does not recommend that you buy Korean Samsung. One is that the Korean version of the system comes with a set of Google services. If you want to use it well, you must swipe the machine (you must select a good swiping package, otherwise there will be a lot of small problems). At the same time, SAMSUNG Pay cannot be used, nor does it support dual card and dual standby.
