Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 Performance - Work, Gaming, Battery

Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Samsung Galaxy A9 2018’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0	Honor Play	OPPO R17 Pro	Samsung Galaxy A9 2018	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Performance Score	7361	6475	5867	5379
Web Browsing	7695	6572	5966	5278
Video Editing	5499	5387	5195	4413
Writing	6649	5617	5324	5056
Photo Editing	13326	10740	8445	7427
Data Manipulation	5764	5331	4987	5147
Review Links	Honor Play Review	OPPO R17 Pro Review		Galaxy A7 2018 Review
Price Check	MY | US | UK	MY | US	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK

Even though the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 is a rather dated mid-range SoC, it held up admirably against the newer mobile SoCs. In fact, it was 9% faster than the Samsung Exynos 7885 used in the Galaxy A7 2018, and just 9% slower than the next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 used in the OPPO R17 Pro.

 

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

Next, we tested the Galaxy A9 2018’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited	Honor Play	Samsung Galaxy A9 2018	OPPO R17 Pro	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Gaming Score	31622	26082	15354	15354
Graphics	37351	29129	15788	15788
Physics	20576	19093	14005	14005
Graphics Test 1	208.9 fps	162.4 fps	136.5 fps	136.5 fps
Graphics Test 2	132.8 fps	103.8 fps	45.8 fps	45.8 fps
Physics Test	65.3 fps	60.6 fps	44.5 fps	44.5 fps
Review Links	Honor Play Review		OPPO R17 Pro Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review
Price Check	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK	MY | US	MY | US | UK

Despite its age, the Galaxy A9’s Snapdragon 660 has pretty good gaming performance. It is 70% faster than the OPPO R17 Pro‘s Snapdragon 710, and comes within 17.5% of the flagship-class Kirin 970 that powers the Honor Play smartphone. Not bad!

 

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Galaxy A9 2018’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0	OPPO R17 Pro	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018	Honor Play	Samsung Galaxy A9 2018
Battery Capacity	3,700 mAh	3,300 mAh	3,750 mAh	3,800 mAh
Battery Life	11 hours 54 mins	11 hours 25 mins	9 hours 56 mins	9 hours 13 mins
Review Links	OPPO R17 Pro Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review	Honor Play Review
Price Check	MY | US	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK

The problem with using an older 14 nm SoC like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 is the higher power consumption which results in a shorter battery life. Even though it has slightly more battery capacity, the Galaxy A9 2018 (MY | US | UK) has a shorter battery life than the two smartphones with 10 nm processors in this comparison :

• 43 minutes (7%) shorter than the Honor Play, with its flagship-class Kirin 970; and
• 2.5 hours (22.5%) shorter than the OPPO R17 Pro with its mid-range Snapdragon 710.

That said, 9 hours plus of battery life is nothing to sneeze at. Let’s remember – that’s over 9 hours running the benchmark non-stop. Its real-world battery life will be significantly longer

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Battery Recharging Performance

The Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 (MY | US | UK) comes with an adaptive fast charger with a power output of 15 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged the 3,800 mAh battery.

Recharging Speed	OPPO R17 Pro	Samsung Galaxy A9 2018	Honor Play	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Battery Capacity	3,700 mAh	3,800 mAh	3,750 mAh	3,300 mAh
Charger Output	50 Watts	15 Watts	18 Watts	7.75 Watts
Recharging Time	33 Minutes	91.5 minutes	92 mins	115 minutes
Recharging Speed	112 mAh / minute	41.5 mAh / minute	40.7 mAh / minute	28.7 mAh / minute
Review Links	OPPO R17 Pro Review		Honor Play Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review
Price Check	MY | US	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK	MY | US | UK

It took the Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 (MY | US | UK) just under 92 minutes to recharge its battery from 20% to 100%. Its 15 watt charger actually recharges faster than the Honor Play‘s 18 watt charger.

That is a battery life : recharging ratio of 6:1 – a good ratio. A rule of thumb – for one hour of battery life, charge it for 10.5 minutes.

The fastest recharging happened up to the 85% level. This took just 56 minutes. Then the recharging speed slowed down, and it took a further 35.5 minutes to top up the remaining 15%.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 – Our Verdict, Specifications, Where To Buy!

 

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