Being the largest manufacturer of Android devices makes Samsung the center of attention at the MWC 2018. Since the Galaxy S9 and S9+ were hands-down the most anticipated Android devices of the year, it’s no surprise everyone is constantly talking about it right after the unveiling.
The South-Korean tech giant has been more than vocal to showcase the improved camera and the brand new dual-camera setup on the larger variant. But when you look at the fine print of the details on the Galaxy S9, you find out the things Samsung kept mum, probably because they don’t want you to know or think about that.
We’ve dived deeper to see what’s beneath the surface, and here are 8 things that Samsung didn’t tell you about the Galaxy S9.
1. Thickest Galaxy since the Galaxy S3!!
We like our smartphones to be sleek and slim, which is why the curved glass panel on the Galaxy S7 Edge was so popular. While the curved panel makes it seem sleeker than most smartphones, Galaxy S9 (8.5 mm) is the thickest flagship device from Samsung since the Galaxy S3 (8.6 mm) from 2012. It is 0.5 mm thicker than its predecessor the Galaxy S8, and a considerable 1.3mm thicker than the Galaxy S6.
2. Heaviest Galaxy flagship ever!
While a couple of millimeters can be ignored, the fact that Samsung has been bulking up the flagship series over the years has not gone unnoticed. Weighing in at 163 gm, the newly released Galaxy S9 is 11 gm heavier than the Galaxy S7, and almost 33 gm heavier than the Galaxy S4 from 2013.
3. No Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box
When you cash in for a flagship device, you expect the latest software from Android to come baked it. Since this is Samsung we are talking about, you get Android 8.0 Oreo on the new Galaxy S9 and not the latest Android 8.1. While the entire Google Pixel lineup already sports the Android 8.1 version, your shiny new Galaxy S9 still runs 8.0, but we hope an update to 8.1 is in the cards and may roll out soon.
4. Same UX as the Galaxy S8
Android 8.0 on the Galaxy S8 also brings Samsung Experience 9.0, which is the souped-up version of TouchWiz. The latest Galaxy S9 also comes with the same UX, meaning that the device will most likely be identical to the Galaxy S8. Since there is not too much on the hardware side of things to differentiate between the two, you’d hope that Galaxy S9 would come with some unique software elements. Wallpapers are different, though, for what it’s worth!
5. Battery size remains the same!
One weak point for mobile devices, in general, has been the mediocre screen-on time, and Galaxy S9 doesn’t improve on it. The 3000mAh would last most people during the day, but when you consider that the battery capacity has remained the same for the past two generations, you start to wonder why Samsung can’t put in a 4000mAh battery like the one in Oppo F3 Plus.
6. No improvements in Fast Charging via cable
Fast charging features on modern devices are the only way to counter poor battery life, but Samsung isn’t the best in the business at it yet. Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 technology has been out for more than a year now, but the Galaxy S9 boasts only Quick Charge 2.0, which is the same standard that the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S7 had.
7. No Burgundy Red variant
From the Xiaomi Mi A1 to the OnePlus 5T, most major Android OEMs have released their very own red color variants. And we expected Samsung to follow. However, there was no Galaxy S9 Burgundy Red color spotted this time around, although the Lilac Purple and Coral Blue colors are prettier than ever!
Will you be holding on to these points, or get yourself one of the best Android devices of the years anyway? Let us know in the comments section below.
