It almost feels like every major Samsung smartphone in recent history has been released with at least one major flaw and just to add to that cliché, new reports from several users on XDA forums are claiming that this time around, Samsung might need to fix the fingerprint scanner even before the phone has begun to sale officially! Apparently, quite a few of the S9 and S9+ units are exhibiting a strange issue where the fingerprint scanner stops responding completely and can only be fixed by rebooting the device. Let's hope that the issue is only software-related and can be easily fixed with an update, because if it isn't, then Samsung is going to have to suffer huge losses.

SamMobile has officially asked Samsung about the issue, but no reply has been provided yet. We will keep you updated about this, so stay tuned and hold off on buying the S9/S9+ for a while.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

At this point, it doesn't even feel like news anymore to report once again that Samsung's next flagship smartphone won't be sporting an under-the-glass fingerprint scanner because this is going on for more than a year now. Renowned KGI analyst and Apple leakster Ming-Chi Kuo has sadly declared this fact, although he had himself said earlier that Samsung would be able to pull it off with the Note 9. Apparently, the OEM can't do that at this moment, but incidentally, Vivo has already done it successfully with the Apex.

It is baffling for many as to why Samsung is unable to do it, especially since the only reasoning offered here by Ming-Chi Kuo was a vague explanation about the current gen sensors being unable to bring what Samsung needed to the table. It might have something to do with the fact that the latest under-the-display sensors being incapable of working with an OLED display properly, but we don't know for sure.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung launched its latest flagship handsets last month at the MWC 2018 and the pre-orders have already opened up since March 6, although you will have to wait till March 16 to buy one from the store. But the question is, should you buy one? Let's try and find out.

Do You have a Galaxy S8/S8 Plus?

No, I am not going to tell you that the S9 and S9 Plus are not much better than their predecessors because frankly speaking, they most certainly are better in a lot of ways. However, the question is, are those added features significant enough for you to upgrade from last year's models? Well, it depends really! If you are someone who must have the latest and best phone, it's a no-brainer; buy the S9/S9 Plus because they do offer more. However, if you are someone who is looking for enough value to justify that upgrade, the answer becomes more complicated.

What Extra Features are You Really Getting?

On one hand, you do get a set of superb cameras with the S9+ that's significantly better than the single camera module on the S8 and S8 Plus, but on the other hand, you have the S9 with just a single camera, which might make you think twice about choosing the smaller device. The good news is that even the single camera on the S9 is better than the one on the S8, thanks to variable aperture and a self-adjusting lens. There's also the better-positioned fingerprint scanner, a more powerful processor, AR emojis, stereo speakers, front cam selfie focus for portraits and it supports super slow-motion (960fps at 720p). Even then, all that isn't quite enough to justify a switch unless you really want to. The stereo speakers are good, but they are nothing to write home about and the super slo-mo mode lasts for just a few secs and even at 720p, the camera needs a lot of light to capture decent footage. The Exynos 9810 and the SD 845 are both more powerful than the Exynos 8895 and the SD 835 from last year, but unless you are running benchmarks, you may never even notice the boost in speed during regular use. Other than the rear cameras, the rest of the features like AR emojis and selfie focus are just gimmicks as well.

Should You Get it Then?

They are still great contenders for becoming the phone of the year and if you have anything that's older than two-years, the S9 Plus is definitely worth the upgrade and then some, but at this point, the S8 and S8 Plus are still going strong and will keep going that way at least until the S10 comes out in 2019. In conclusion, we would say that if you have a S8 or S8+, wait till next year, but if you just have to upgrade now, go for the S9 Plus, because it makes more sense that way.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung is confident that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will outsell the S8 and S8+ everywhere, but will that really happen? It's only natural to expect that your current flagship handsets will outsell the previous ones, but if a report straight out of South Korea is anything to go by, that might be a harder task for the S9 this year. Apparently, the pre-order numbers for the S9 and S9+ are nothing to brag about for Samsung yet, since they are possibly the same as they were in case of the S8. However, what could be more alarming for the company is that the pre-order numbers could actually be even lower than it was for the S8 at this stage in 2017.

Keep in mind that these are unconfirmed facts and the S9 and S9+ pre-orders just opened up roughly two days ago. Let's wait until Samsung officially discloses the pre-order numbers before passing judgement on the S9's future!

Via: SamMobile

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

With each passing year, every company keeps hiking up the prices of their flagship smartphones and the Galaxy S line-up has never been an exception to that rule either. However, due to high import duties and a number of taxes applied on electronics goods by the Indian government, the price of the latest Samsung smartphones are usually a LOT higher than what they should be. This naturally led us to believe that the S9 and S9+ will sport exorbitant price tags with increments on the already hiked up pricing that we saw with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ last year in India. Surprisingly enough, Samsung pulled one over us by keeping the launch price at Rs 57,900 and Rs 64,900 for the S9 and S9+ respectively!

This is surprising because that's exactly the price at which the S8 and S8+ were launched last year. Of course, there are also the more costly, higher internal storage (256GB) variants for both devices at Rs 65,900 (S9) and Rs 72,900 (S9+), but to start at the same price as last year's models is definitely a smart and commendable move by Samsung.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)