While the Note 9 is not yet officially out in the country, there will be some things that you still want to consider this other flagship phablet from Samsung Philippines. This is our own take on Samsung Galaxy S9+
Before this, we can only choose between the S9 and the S9+ so the dual main cam was the star of the show so we took this one outas our main driver for a few weeks
Unfortunately, there was no important OTA update that came to us with this latest version as of June 2018. With it's high-end Exynos processor and revitalized Samsung Experience UI, everything that we did just to try this phone to slow down just frustated me for a good reason. It was damn fast for multitasking
Display? It was a surefire top-notch (without the notch) especially when you are into multimedia with some rare 21:9 videos and 4K, it was a pleasure for your eyes with with it's Quad HD+ display.
Connecitivity? Definitely no letdowns in calls, texts, mobile data, NFC and GPS. The only thing that I do not like that others are not discussing about it, having the plastic-based hybrid sim card/micro SD tray which is a bit unfair especially that you are paying for a premium device
Battery of 3,500 mAh, this phone lasted for 15 hours and 45 minutes in our video battery rundown test. Using it for as a daily driver with heavy usage and around 6 hours of screen on time gives me between 1.25 to 1.5 days which is pretty good for the brand
In case you need those benchmark numbers, we have it with this phone with latest version as of June 2018
On extras, I had time on using the AR Emoji which is quite perfect when I used the Disney Frozen pack as Olaf. Yeah even my eye gestures got this phablet right which you to be conscious on using it on either photo and video. I already posted a sample on my Instagram account which you can check it here
The dual pixel, dual main cameras of Galaxy S9+ are something to check out on this. From 1x to 2x zoom and bokeh mode, S9+ was a perfect auto shooter on the rear cameras. One letdown for me especially if you are into manual shooting, this phone will disappoint you. For selfies, the auto mode was also great. There is a lil patience needed if you will gonna want to have a clean selfie focus as even for a flagship device, it still took the device a few seconds for it to process
Samsung Galaxy S9+ rear camera samples
Normal to 2x zoom camera samples
Portrait mode
Selfie to selfie focus camera comparison
Yup the Note 9 is around the corner but compared to S9+, it has the same Exynos SoC and you will be loosing just a bit 500 mAh battery, half the internal storage and bit smaller at 6.2 inch display. It already dipped down on it's pricing (based on their listing of Aug. 2018 on Samsung PH's official store on Lazada - it goes down to only Php 47,000+ compared to Note 9's Php 55,990 SRP) . If you want a almost no-miss photo and video shooter, phablet that can be used on one-hand and fast in any given task, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ is for you. Defintely not a bit for me as I badly need a full-pledged manual mode in a smartphone. I will gonna give 4.5 out of 5
