SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S9+ review: The 2018 big Galaxy — first dual camera and a variable-aperture lens.

SpecEagle Editorial·Mar 2018·$839
Overall
70/100
Class rank
#86 of 138
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

A 2018 flagship that pioneered the dual-aperture camera.

The Galaxy S9+ added a dual camera and a clever variable aperture. With no 5G and software support long ended, it is a legacy device today.

01Display

84/100

84/100 puts it above the 80-point average for flagship phones of 2018.

TypeSuper AMOLED, 60 Hz, HDR10
Size6.2 inches
Resolution2,960 × 1,440 px (529 ppi)
ProtectionGorilla Glass 5

02Camera

76/100

76/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2018.

Main12 MP, f/1.5–2.4 dual aperture, OIS
Telephoto12 MP, f/2.4, 2× optical
Selfie8 MP, f/1.7
Video4K @ 60 fps · 960 fps slow-mo

03Performance

64/100

64/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2018 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

ChipsetSnapdragon 845 / Exynos 9810 (10 nm)
CPU8 cores
GPUAdreno 630 / Mali-G72
RAM6 GB
Storage64 GB / 128 GB / 256 GB · microSD

04Battery

74/100

74/100 puts it above the 72-point average for flagship phones of 2018.

Capacity3,500 mAh
Wired15 W
Wireless9 W

05Build

82/100

82/100 puts it above the 79-point average for flagship phones of 2018.

06Value

66/100

66/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2018.

What works
  • First Galaxy S with a dual camera and 2× zoom.
  • Variable-aperture main lens — strong low-light for 2018.
  • Sharp QHD+ AMOLED; headphone jack and microSD.
  • IP68 build.
What doesn't
  • No 5G; stuck on Android 10.
  • Only 15 W charging.
  • 60 Hz display.
  • Discontinued.
Cross-shop it against
Pixel 2 (2017)
$649 · score 88/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 138-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .