The Galaxy S9 and S9+: What are the highlights?

The Galaxy S9 is going to be launched in exactly a week's time at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, but most rumors and leaks suggest that there won't be too many differences in-between the Galaxy S8/S8+ and the Galaxy S9/S9+ this year. So, is that true? Well, as far as design language and display goes, they are almost going to be identical from the outset, but there will definitely be a lot of upgrades, so we will discuss the most significant ones next.

A Shift towards Apple

Previously, the difference between a Galaxy S Plus and the regular Galaxy S was only of size, but starting from 2018, the S9+ will sport an exclusive dual camera setup while the S9 will have to stay content with a single rear camera. If this reminds you of Apple's marketing tactics, you are not the only one to think so! The good news is that both the S9 and the S9+ will sport at least one camera with f/1.5 aperture, which means that both phones will offer superb lowlight photography options to its users.

More Power but Same Memory

There will likely be a 6GB RAM/128GB storage option for the S9+ later on in certain parts of the globe, but Samsung is sticking with its 4GB RAM/64GB storage model initially.

Stereo Speakers

If rumors are to be believed then the Galaxy S-series will likely sport two speakers for the first time this year.

3D Emojis

Apple's Animojis have gained a lot of popularity recently, in spite of seeming ridiculous at first and Samsung will probably launch an enhanced version of the 3D emojis with the S9.

Relocated Fingerprint Scanner

Surprisingly enough, neither Samsung nor Apple could get the under-the-display fingerprint scanner to work with their phones, but Vivo did! In any case, the good new is that the S9 and S9+ will have full sized, rear-mounted fingerprint scanners just below the camera/cameras at the back, instead of the misplaced, tiny fingerprint scanners that only helped to smudge the camera on the S8, S8+ and the Note 8 last year.

The Exynos Version Might be Significantly More Powerful

If the latest Geekbench tests are to be believed, then the Exynos 9810 which will be powering the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the international variants will be quite a bit more powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. The difference may not feel like anything too significant during less-demanding activities, but it will likely still be felt during gaming.

If you have a Galaxy S8 or S8+, do you think these upgrades are enough to make you upgrade again this year, or are you going to skip a generation?

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)