Samsung Galaxy S9+

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Pros & Cons

You won't find a bigger and better Android phone than the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, thanks to its oversized 6.2-inch curved screen and low-light-defeating dual-lens camera. Sure, it looks exactly like last year's S8 Plus, but it does fix the fingerprint sensor location (it's now center-aligned on the back) and speakers (now stereo). The new AR Emoji mode is overrated, though, and its higher price is tough to justify. This is for people who want the biggest screen and the best camera on one phone.

Pros Cons
  • Impressive low-light camera
  • Better-placed fingerprint sensor
  • Loud stereo speakers
  • Not all that different to S8 Plus
  • AR Emoji mode is overrated
  • Pricey for 0.4 in of extra screen

Review

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus just launched and it's the most advanced big phone you can buy today thanks to its oversized screen and superb cameras, even if it all looks identical to last year’s S8 Plus.

Without dramatic changes to the design, it’s only an iterative update to the S8 Plus – but it’s an iterative update to an Android phone that’s been sitting near the top of our best phones list for the past 11 months. That’s important to remember.

We’ve tested the Galaxy S9 Plus for several weeks now, and its low-light photos and big screen are the two most obvious highlights. It’s still Samsung’s grandiose 6.2-inch curved ‘Infinity’ display that will sell you on this more expensive phone over the 5.8-inch Galaxy S9, but both handsets have an improved 12MP camera that boasts a f/1.5 maximum aperture.

This is the first camera phone with such a wide aperture, giving the S9 and S9 Plus low-light and noise-defeating powers that, in many situations, are more advanced than those of even the Google Pixel 2, our previous best phone camera.

The S9 Plus benefits from rear dual-lens camera, too, giving it the same telephoto capabilities as last year’s Note 8 (the S9 has one lens on the back). Its primary lens can also capture super-slow-motion video at 960 frames per second if you’re serious about video and, if you’re not, uses its 8MP front-facing camera to paint your face with AR Emoji props and masks. It's Samsung's spin on Apple's Animoji, but don't get too excited about it. It's rather unimpressive, unlike the rest of the phone.