Tag Archives: Dual Aperture Camera

Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) Review – Editor’s Choice!

With a sleek Infinity-O design, and a plethora of new features under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) smartphone is the culmination of ten generations of Galaxy S evolution.

Let’s take a closer look at the Galaxy S10 five months after its launch, and see why it still deserves our Editor’s Choice Award!

Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) Models

Samsung announced two variants of the SM-G973 :

a base model with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage
a higher-end model with 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage

Samsung Galaxy S10 Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is available in six colour options, although not all colours will be available in all countries.

Prism White
Prism Black
Prism Green
Prism Blue
Flamingo Pink
Canary Yellow

In our early media preview though, they only had the S10 Plus in Prism White (left) with the S10 in Prism Black (right).

Samsung Galaxy S10 Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) was made available for pre-order from 22 February until 28 February, followed by general availability on 8 March, at these price points :

8 GB + 128 GB : $899.99 / £799 / €899.99 / RM 3,299
8 GB + 512 GB : $1,149.99 / £999 / €1,099.99

Here are some current direct sale links (prices accurate as of 29 July 2019) :

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8 GB + 128 GB, Prism Black : $661.00 | £596.99 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 128 GB, Prism White : $654.44 | £611.99 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 128 GB, Prism Green : $695.00 | £610.00 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism Black : $829.90 | £789.00
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism White : £789.00
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism Green : £789.00

Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) Up Close!

Before its availability on 8 March 2019, Samsung arranged an exclusive hands-on session. Here is our hands-on video of the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) smartphone!

On the left side, you will find the Volume control buttons, as well as the dedicated Bixby button.

The Power button is located on the right side. Samsung repositioned it higher in the new Galaxy S10 smartphones, ostensibly to avoid accidental presses.

The hybrid SIM tray is located at the top, together with a second microphone port (for noise cancellation).

Thankfully, Samsung retained the 3.5 mm audio port while they squeezed the S10 thinner – at just under 8 mm.

Everything else is the same as the Galaxy S9 – a USB Type C port, a microphone port and an AKG-tuned speaker at the bottom.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Performance + Display Features

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New Flagship Exynos / Snapdragon Platforms

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) runs on either the new Samsung Exynos 9820 (worldwide), or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 (United States) platforms.

The Samsung Exynos 9820 has a triple-cluster architecture with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) (like the Kirin 980). Samsung says that it will deliver these performance advantages over the Exynos 9810 :

20% better single core performance,
15% better multi-core performance, and
40% better power efficiency
7X faster AI performance

Built on the 8 nm LPP FinFET process technology, it also boasts 10% lower power consumption, compared to the last generation 10 nm LPP process.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, on the other hand, is fabricated on the 7 nm process technology., which should deliver similar power savings.

It also uses a triple-cluster CPU architecture, and comes with an Adreno 640 GPU and an X24 LTE modem that supports Cat20 download and uploads.

More Memory + Storage!

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) comes with 8 GB of LPDDR4x memory, and either 128 GB or 512 GB of internal flash storage.

And if that’s not enough, they have a hybrid SIM slot, where the second SIM slot can support a microSD card of up to 512 GB in capacity. If you don’t need the extra storage, you can use two nano SIM cards at the same time.

A hybrid SIM tray is generally good enough for most people. But if you need to use two SIM cards, you better opt for higher internal storage, because there is no way to add a microSD card.

Infinity-O Display

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) features a large 6.1-inch display with 1440 x 3040 pixels and a 550 ppi pixel density.

It actually has a higher pixel density than the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (US | UK | MY) because it packs the same number of pixels into a smaller display.

The display uses the new Infinity-O design, with a round hole for the front camera. This allows Samsung to deliver a screen-to-body ratio in excess of 90%.

Functionally, it works like a right-sided notch, with the area adjacent to the notch reserved for notifications.

Ignoring the notification area, the main display area has a WQHD+ resolution of 1440 x 2960. However, the Galaxy S10 defaults to a Full HD+ resolution to reduce power consumption and extend battery life.

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Dynamic AMOLED Panel

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) uses the next-generation Dynamic AMOLED panel that is HDR10+ certified.

This is literally the best smartphone display in the industry right now, capable of producing 100% of the DCI-P3 colour range, with a maximum brightness of 1200 nits.

This Dynamic AMOLED panel was also engineered to reduce blue light by 42% without changing how colours appear. This would make for more comfortable viewing with less eyestrain, especially at night.

Gorilla Glass 6 + Gorilla Glass 5

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is said to be protected by the latest Gorilla Glass 6, but that’s not entirely accurate.

It is protected by Gorilla Glass 6 in the front; but only has Gorilla Glass 5 covering its back. This is true even for the premium models with a Ceramic back.

In case you are wondering, Gorilla Glass 6 is about twice as tough as Gorilla Glass 5. It will withstand over 15 drops from a height of 1 meter on a rough surface.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera + Photography Features

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) boasts a new front camera that pairs a 10 MP Dual Pixel sensor with a wide, bright f/1.9 aperture and a 80° viewing angle.

Dual Pixel is an autofocus technology that uses the dual photodiodes in every pixel on the image sensor for phase-detection autofocus.

This allows for faster and more accurate focusing, because it uses many more autofocus pixels, instead of just a few dedicated pixels (usually less than 5% of the total).

However, it lacks the 8 MP depth sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (US | UK | MY), which allows for accurate software bokeh effects and Live Focus capability.

In the back, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) features a triple camera system, which consists of :

a 12 MP dual-aperture camera (f/1.5 and f/2.4) – 77°, Dual Pixel, OIS
a 16 MP ultra wide-angle camera (f/2.2) – 123°, 0.5X optical zoom
a 12 MP telephoto camera (f/2.4) – 45°, 2X optical zoom, OIS

Look at how useful the three cameras are in aiding your creative composition :

Note that only the main dual-aperture camera, and the telephoto camera (both with 12 MP sensors) support optical image stabilisation (OIS). The new ultra-wide angle camera does NOT support optical image stabilisation.

This is important when you take videos, because you will lose optical image stabilisation if you switch to the ultra-wide camera. Your video will still be stabilised by electronic image stabilisation though.

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HDR10+ Video Recording

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) not only comes with a HDR10+ certified display, it also has the ability to record HDR10+ videos!

HDR10+ is an improved version of the HDR10 standard. It maintains the 10-bit colour depth of HDR10, but replaces its static metadata with dynamic metadata. This improves the dynamic range by allowing the brightness boundaries to be adjusted on a frame-by-frame basis.

However, please note that HDR10+ videos recorded on the Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) will only display properly on devices and TVs that support HDR10+, like the 2018 Samsung QLED TV range.

Samsung says that you can convert HDR10+ videos into non-HDR videos using its Gallery app. However, the functionality does not appear to be included in current version of their Gallery app. Enabling HDR10+ video recording also disables the more-efficient HEVC format.

Later in the review, we will show you what happens when you try to display or view HDR10+ videos on a platform or display that does NOT support HDR10+.

Improved Super Slow-mo

Like the Galaxy S9 Plus and the Galaxy Note9, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) supports Super Slow-mo, which allows you to record 720p video at 960 fps. It has been improved though, with Samsung doubling its recording time from 0.2-0.4 seconds to 0.4-0.8 seconds.

The Super Slow-mo videos can be instantly edited, with a random selection from preloaded choices. Or you can use your own music / songs. You can also create a GIF from the recorded video, with three style of looping – reverse, forward or swing.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Security | DeX | Battery | IP68 | Ergonomics | Memory + Storage

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Ultrasonic In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

One of the Samsung Galaxy S10’s killer feature is its new in-display fingerprint sensor.

In-display fingerprint sensors have already been introduced in smartphones like the OPPO R17 Pro, but they use optical sensors that basically take pictures for a 2D profile.

The new in-display fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) uses ultrasonic pulses to take 3D profiles of the user’s fingerprints. This allows it to be more accurate and secure.

In our tests, it proved to be surprisingly good. You just need to learn to press a little harder for the sensor to detect your fingerprint.

The bad news is – Samsung dropped the pressure sensor and feedback for the virtual Home button. So you will need to tap twice on the Home button to activate it.

Iris Scanner + Intelligent Scan Removed

With the introduction of the ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner, Samsung removed the iris scanner. It was also removed to minimise the size of the punch hole in the display.

And with the iris scanner gone, there was no need for Intelligent Scan, which was first introduced in the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. Intelligent Scan, as you may recall, combines the iris scanner with facial recognition for faster identification in both bright and dark conditions.

Built-In DeX Capability

While not mentioned at all by Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) has built-in DeX capability, that was first introduced in the Galaxy Note9.

This mean it does not require a separate DeX Station or DeX Pad accessory. All it requires is a simple USB-C to HDMI adaptor or cable! It does not even require a Samsung-branded adaptor (looking at you and your MFi bullshit, Apple!) – ANY USB-C to HDMI adaptor or cable will do.

After you use the USB-C to HDMI adaptor or cable to connect the Galaxy S10 to a TV or monitor, you just need to link a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use it like a PC. Best of all – you can continue to use your Galaxy S10 Plus while Samsung DeX is running!

Battery + Charging

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) comes with a 3,400 mAh battery, which supports QuickCharge 2.0 fast wired charging and Wireless PowerShare capabilities.

The Wireless PowerShare feature is particularly cool and useful. It allows the Galaxy S10 Plus to function as a wireless charger for any Qi-certified device!

However, its recharging speed is slow, so it’s really only useful to recharge the Galaxy Buds or the Galaxy Watch on a regular basis; and other smartphones in an emergency.

Although we expected Samsung to improve its fast charging technology, the Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) maintains the Quick Charge 2.0 fast wired charging, with the standard 15 watt Samsung fast adaptive charger.

This is frankly pretty dinky compared to the OPPO R17 Pro with its 50 watt SuperVOOC charging technology.

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IP68 Dust & Water Resistance

Like the Galaxy S9 Plus, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is IP68-rated for dust- and water-resistance. Best of all, you don’t have to prepare it in any way before you dunk it into water!

Officially, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) can withstand complete immersion in water up to 1.5 m in depth, for up to 30 minutes. That means you can take it for jogs in the rain, or reading in the bathtub. Heck, you can even take it for a swim!

There are some caveats though. The IP68 rating applies to a specific set of test conditions : 15-35 °C, 86-106 kPa, 1.5 metre, 30 minutes. Water may enter and damage the Galaxy Note9 if it is exposed to “water moving with force“, like running water from a tap or waterfall, or ocean waves.

In other words, this is not a waterproof phone like the Oukitel K10000 Pro or the Kenxinda ruggerdised smartphones. It is IP68 water-resistant, so you need to be gentle with it.

You can read more about this in our article – The Samsung IP68 Engineering Explained.

The Ergonomics

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) has a slightly smaller display size and battery capacity than the Galaxy S9 Plus, but is significantly smaller, thinner and lighter!

In fact, it is about the same size as a 5.2-inch smartphone like the HTC 10!

That said, this is still a two-handed device, because of its height. If you prefer to use only one hand, you can turn on the One-handed mode option.

Its Dynamic AMOLED display is incredible. To see how much better it is, you need to compare it side-by-side with the already impressive Super AMOLED display used in the Galaxy S9 Plus and the Galaxy Note9. In particular, compare them in bright sunlight.

The main display area with its non-standard 18.5:9 display ratio means you will have to live with some pillarboxing – a black bar on each side of a movie. The extra wide display will come in handy in games though.

Available Memory + Storage

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) base model comes with 8 GB of LPDDR4x memory. It has roughly more bloat than the Galaxy S9 Plus and the Galaxy Note9.

However, it comes with 2 GB more memory, so you still have a whopping 4.5 GB (56%) of free memory to use!

The base model also comes with 128 GB of internal flash memory, of which 107 GB is free to use. This is enough space to store about 24,000 photos, or 13 hours of 1080p videos, or 5 hours of 4K videos.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Photo Samples

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Photo Samples

Samsung brought over the excellent 12 MP dual-aperture camera from the Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Galaxy Note9.

Powered by the superb 12 MP Samsung ISOCELL Fast SAK2L3 sensor, it is capable of automatically or manually switching between the f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture.

The maximum 12 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio, with 4032 x 3024 pixels, and a file size of between 3 MB and 5 MB.

Here are 10 high-resolution unedited samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

There is no doubt that this is still one of the best smartphone cameras in the market, even though it was introduced a year ago.

You can see the intricate detail of the pepper seeds, the flower pollen, and mushrooms even without zooming in!

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It also did a great job of bringing out the colour of the subject matter. Every colour is accurately rendered and automatically “amped up” by AI algorithms. If you do not like the increased vividness though, you can turn off the Scene Optimiser feature.

The f/1.5 aperture naturally creates a very narrow depth of field, with a nicer bokeh effect. But if that’s not enough, you can use its Live Focus feature which allows you to create really awesome bokeh for the background.

No doubt, the Live Focus bokeh is artificially created, but the dual camera design allow for precise separation of the subject from the background. Live Focus also allows you to adjust the amount of bokeh for the background.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Video Samples

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Video Samples

Like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is capable of recording 4K videos from both front and back cameras. Samsung removed the 10 minute time limit for 4K recording, but there is still the 4 GB file size limit.

Video Sample #1 : Piano (1080p)

In this video, you can see the amount of detail the sensor captures, even at just 1080p. You can also see how well its OIS capability worked, even when we switched between the main camera and the telephoto camera. Its ultra-wide camera does not support OIS, but has good EIS capability.

There was a slight lag switching between the cameras, but otherwise, the image quality was fantastic. We love how well it controlled the exposure. You can see right into the store in the back, which is usually blown out in other cameras.

The Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY), sadly, does not support Hi-Res Audio recording, and its noise cancellation could really be much better. We hope Samsung will look at adding context-aware noise cancellation, and perhaps a third microphone next to the rear cameras.

Video Sample #2 : Piano (4K)

The resolution at 4K is incredible. You can clearly read the store directory in the background, and later, make out the prices of the Baskin Robbins takeaway cartons!

Samsung also solved the focus seeking issue we noted when we reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Price Check), which uses the same dual-aperture main camera.

There was, however, some auto-focus issues with the telephoto lens (which does not have a Dual Pixel sensor), and the OIS was slightly less effective at this high resolution.

Video Sample #3 : Piano (1080p with HDR10+)

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) uses the same camera as the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (US | UK | MY), and they both support HDR10+ video recording.

However, many devices still do not support HDR10+. Neither does YouTube. So check out what happens when you try to view a HDR10+ video on a non-HDR10+ platform.

Video Sample #4 : Piano (4K with HDR10+)

Just like with the earlier 1080p video, this HDR10+ video appears washed-out when viewed on a device or platform that does not support HDR10+.

Note that this is not a criticism of the HDR10+ video recording. The videos look great on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (US | UK | MY). We are just demonstrating what happens if you try to view them on non-HDR displays.

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Video Sample #5 : Street Market (1080p)

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) uses the same camera as the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (US | UK | MY), with the same OIS and EIS capability.

So we recycled the samples from the Galaxy S10+, which demonstrated excelled image stabilisation.

Video Sample #6 : Street Market (4K)

Its image stabilisation capabilities were not diminished with the higher resolution. Overall – very good OIS and EIS performance.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Performance, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Samsung Galaxy S10’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0	HUAWEI Mate 20	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy S9+	Samsung Galaxy Note9
Performance Score (Average)	10215	7898	5590	5557
Web Browsing	10960	8696	6037	5763
Video Editing	6047	5518	5332	5410
Writing	12506	8895	4713	5421
Photo Editing	20262	11621	6847	5898
Data Manipulation	6514	6194	5253	5316
Review Links	Mate 20 Review		Galaxy S9+ Review	Galaxy Note9 Review
Price Check	US \| UK \| MY	US \| UK \| MY	Price Check	MY \| US \| UK

The Samsung Galaxy S10’s Exynos 9820 greatly improved on the mediocre work performance of the Exynos 9810 used in the Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Galaxy Note9.

However, it still falls behind the Kirin 980 that powers the HUAWEI Mate20.

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Galaxy S10’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited	HUAWEI Mate 20	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy Note9	Samsung Galaxy S9+
Gaming Score	61595	55597	42598	42489
Graphics	72523	70216	51199	49852
Physics	40327	32161	26825	28009
Graphics Test 1	386.2 fps	389.8 fps	330.2 fps	308.6 fps
Graphics Test 2	266.4 fps	250.9 fps	167.9 fps	167.0 fps
Physics Test	128.0 fps	102.1 fps	85.2 fps	88.9 fps
Review Links	Mate 20 Review		Galaxy Note9 Review	Galaxy S9+ Review
Price Check	US \| UK \| MY	US \| UK \| MY	MY \| US \| UK	Price Check

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) was 31% faster than the Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Galaxy Note9, and 10% slower than the HUAWEI Mate20.

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Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Galaxy S10’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0	HUAWEI Mate 20	Samsung Galaxy Note9	Samsung Galaxy S10 (WQHD+)	Samsung Galaxy S9+
Battery Life	12 hours 19 mins	10 hours 15 mins	9 hours 32 mins	9 hours 5 mins
Review Links	Mate 20 Review	Galaxy Note9 Review		Galaxy S9+ Review
Price Check	US \| UK \| MY	MY \| US \| UK	US \| UK \| MY	Price Check

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) has a slightly smaller battery size than the Galaxy S9 Plus, but lasted almost 30 minutes (5%) longer.

Battery Recharging Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with an adaptive fast charger with a power output of 15 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged its 3,400 mAh battery.

Recharging Speed	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy Note9	Samsung Galaxy S9+	HUAWEI Mate 20
Battery Capacity	3,400 mAh	4,000 mAh	3,500 mAh	4,000 mAh
Charger Output	15 Watts	15 Watts	15 Watts	22.5 Watts
Recharging Time	78 minutes	107 mins	95.5 minutes	118 Minutes
Recharging Speed	34.9 mAh / minute	29.9 mAh / minute	29.3 mAh / minute	27.1 mAh / minute
Review Links		Galaxy Note9 Review	Galaxy S9+ Review	Mate 20 Review
Price Check	US \| UK \| MY	MY \| US \| UK	Price Check	US \| UK \| MY

Despite using the same old 15 watt adaptive fast charger as the Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Galaxy Note9, the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) has significantly improved fast charging performance by about 17%.

Even though the Galaxy S10 has about the same battery capacity as the Galaxy S9 Plus, it fully recharged its battery 17.5 minutes faster.

This gives it an improved battery life : recharging ratio of 7.33 : 1. A rule of thumb – for one hour of battery life, charge it for 8 minutes.

The fastest recharging happened up to the 90% level. This took just 55 minutes. Then the recharging speed slowed down, and it took a further 23 minutes to top up the remaining 10%.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Verdict + Award, Price, Specifications Comparison

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Samsung Galaxy S10 – Our Verdict + Award

Despite Apple slacking on the job, Samsung continues to push the boundaries of smartphone technology. Perhaps, it’s the clear and present danger from HUAWEI. Perhaps it’s the fear of declining smartphone sales worldwide.

Whatever the reason – Samsung delivered another killer smartphone in the Samsung Galaxy S10!

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is, as we would expect, FASTER and comes with even more memory and storage than its predecessor. But that’s not why we think it’s a great smartphone.

They just packed a large 6.1-inch display, a 3,400 mAh battery, and an extra camera into a much smaller, thinner and lighter device! This is a remarkable feat of engineering.

We also want to salute Samsung for introducing the ability to record HDR10+ videos, although we have to point out that HDR10+ support is still limited. Samsung also seemed to have forgotten to add the ability to convert the videos.

But if you already have a TV or monitor that supports HDR10+, you can start creating HDR10+ videos with your Galaxy S10 Plus! And remember – HDR10+ is the future. It’s a matter of time before you upgrade to a HDR10+ display or television.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is not perfect, of course. Samsung still has not done much to improve its audio recording quality, even as they improved its audio output. And the relocated Power button always seems to be a thumb too far to press…

Its Wireless PowerShare feature is interesting and quite useful on-the-go. However, its slow recharging speed means its utility is largely limited to small devices like the Galaxy Buds and the Galaxy Watch. Recharging other smartphones is painfully slow, and should be relied on only in emergencies.

But its few faults are testament to the full decade of evolution behind its development. We continue to be impressed by each iteration of the Galaxy family, and the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) is, in our opinion, a worthy successor to the excellent Galaxy S9.

There is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S10 is a truly great smartphone, and worthy of our Editor’s Choice Award! Great job, Samsung!

Where To Buy The Samsung S10?

Here are some current direct sale links (prices accurate as of 29 July 2019) :

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8 GB + 128 GB, Prism Black : $661.00 | £596.99 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 128 GB, Prism White : $654.44 | £611.99 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 128 GB, Prism Green : $695.00 | £610.00 | RM 3,299
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism Black : $829.90 | £789.00
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism White : £789.00
8 GB + 512 GB, Prism Green : £789.00

Samsung Galaxy S10 Specification Comparison

Here is a specification comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S10 (US | UK | MY) versus the larger Galaxy S10 Plus and the smaller Galaxy S10e.

Specifications	Samsung Galaxy S10+	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy S10E
Display	6.4-inch curved edge display - Dynamic AMOLED with HDR10+ - 1440 x 3040 pixels (495 ppi)	6.1-inch curved edge display - Dynamic AMOLED with HDR10+ - 1440 x 3040 pixels (550 ppi)	5.8-inch flat display - Dynamic AMOLED with HDR10+ - 1080 x 2280 pixels (438 ppi)
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 6 (front) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (back) IP68 dust + water resistance	Corning Gorilla Glass 6 (front) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (back) IP68 dust + water resistance	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front + back) IP68 dust + water resistance
Operating System	Android 9.0 with One UI	Android 9.0 with One UI	Android 9.0 with One UI
Platform	Samsung Exynos 9820, or Qualcomm Snapdragon 855	Samsung Exynos 9820, or Qualcomm Snapdragon 855	Samsung Exynos 9820, or Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Memory	12 GB / 8 GB LPDDR4x	8 GB LPDDR4x	6 GB LPDDR4x
Storage	1 TB / 512 GB / 128 GB microSD card (up to 512 GB)	512 GB / 128 GB microSD card (up to 512 GB)	128 GB / 256 GB microSD card (up to 512 GB)
Front Cameras	Selfie Camera - 10 MP Dual Pixel sensor with f/1.9 lens Depth Sensing Camera - 8 MP sensor with f/2.2 lens	Selfie Camera - 10 MP Dual Pixel sensor with f/1.9 lens	Selfie Camera - 10 MP Dual Pixel sensor with f/1.9 lens
Rear Cameras	Triple Camera System - 12 MP dual aperture main camera (f/1.5 and f/2.4) - 16 MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2) - 12 MP telephoto camera (f/2.4)	Triple Camera System - 12 MP dual aperture main camera (f/1.5 and f/2.4) - 16 MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2) - 12 MP telephoto camera (f/2.4)	Dual Camera System - 12 MP dual aperture main camera (f/1.5 and f/2.4) - 16 MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2)
Connectivity	4G LTE WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 USB Type C	4G LTE WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 USB Type C	4G LTE WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 USB Type C
Fingerprint Sensor	Ultrasonic In-Display Sensor	Ultrasonic In-Display Sensor	Embedded into Power button
Battery	4,100 mAh battery	3,400 mAh battery	3,100 mAh battery
Dimensions	74.1 mm wide 157.6 mm tall 7.8 mm thick	70.4 mm wide 149.9 mm tall 7.8 mm thick	69.9 mm wide 142.2 mm tall 7.9 mm thick
Weight	175 g 198 g (Ceramic)	157 g	150 g

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The OPPO R17 Pro Smartphone In-Depth Review!

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The OPPO R17 Pro is only the third smartphone to feature a dual aperture camera, after the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note9. But is that all that is unique about it?

In our comprehensive review, we will take a close look at the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) , and show you why we gave it our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

Updated @ 2019-01-22 : Added a new Corning Gorilla Glass 6 section and new information in other sections. Also added two new battery recharging speed comparisons.

Originally posted @ 2019-01-05

New Design, New Focus

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) is quite unlike previous OPPO smartphones. Instead of focusing on its selfie capabilities, it now focuses on its rear camera, boasting a new dual-aperture main camera paired with a secondary telephoto camera.

It also features a very premium design, with a large waterdrop display with as well as a new 3D misted glass design for its chassis. OPPO even opted to embed the fingerprint sensor into the display!

OPPO R17 Pro Price + Availability

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a recommended retail price of RM 2,699 / ~US$ 643 / ~£499. It was made available for purchase on 1 December 2018.

Here are some direct purchase links :

United States : US$ 838.88
Malaysia : RM 2,699

Unboxing The OPPO R17 Pro

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) comes in a very premium purple box. Quite a step above their previous models.

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Once you fully unbox theOPPO R17 Pro (MY | US), you’ll find the following items :

One OPPO R17 Pro smartphone
One OPPO R17 Pro TPU bumper case
One OPPO R17 Pro User Guide + Information Guide
One 50 watt OPPO SuperVOOC power adaptor
One OPPO SuperVOOC USB Type C cable
One pair of earphones
One SIM tray ejection pin

Next Page > The OPPO R17 Pro Up Close, Specifications + Setup

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The OPPO R17 Pro Up Close!

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a large 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels.

But thanks to its thin bezels, and water drop notch, it is not a particularly large device.

It is protected by the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 6, and has a 3D misted glass back with a beautiful colour gradient.

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 platform using Android 8.1.0. It comes with a whopping 8 GB of LPDDR4x memory, and 128 GB of internal flash memory.

All that is powered by a large 3,700 mAh battery, in a chassis that is only 7.9 mm thick, and weighs just 183 grams.

OPPO R17 Pro Specifications

Specifications	OPPO R17 Pro
Display	6.4-inch AMOLED display - 1080 x 2340 pixels (402 ppi) - 91.5% display-to-body ratio
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 6
Operating System	Android 8.1.0 with ColorOS 5.2
Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
Processor	2 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 Gold cores (2.2 GHz) 6 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 Silver cores (1.7 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Adreno 616
Memory	8 GB LPDDR4x memory
Storage	128 GB internal flash storage No microSD card slot
Front Camera	25 MP Sony IMX576 sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear Cameras	Dual Aperture Camera - 12 MP Sony IMX362 sensor with f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures - Optically stabilised (OIS) with dual-tone LED flash Telephoto Camera - 20 MP sensor with f/2.6 lens ToF Camera - 43,200 pixel sensor with LED NIR pulsed emitter
Connectivity	4G : LTE WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band) Bluetooth 5.0 USB : USB 2.0 Type C
SIM Support	2 x nano SIM cards Dual SIM, Dual Standby capable
NFC Capability	Yes
OTG Capability	Yes
Fingerprint Sensor	Built Into Display
Other Sensors	E-Compass, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, G Sensor
Battery	3700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery - supports 50 W SuperVOOC fast charging
Dimensions	74.6 mm wide 157.6 mm tall 7.9 mm thick
Weight	183 grams
Colour Options	Radiant Mist / Emerald Green

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How To Setup The OPPO R17 Pro

Here’s a quick guide on how to setup the OPPO R17 Pro smartphone :

Next Page > OPPO R17 Pro Key Features

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Waterdrop Notch + Thin Bezels

Like many top-of-the-line Android smartphones trying to one-up Apple’s notched design, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) features a small “waterdrop notch“.

Also known as a raindrop or dewdrop notch, it gives you a much larger notification area on both sides.

Together with the thin bezels, the waterdrop notch allows the OPPO R17 Pro to deliver an astounding 91.5% screen-to-body ratio. This maximises the display size without increasing the size of the device.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 710

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) runs on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, which is a 10 nm mobile SoC. it has eight Kryo 360 cores with an Adreno 616 GPU, a Spectra 250 ISP, a Hexagon 685 DSP and the X16 LTE modem.

It has a 2+6 cluster architecture with two high-performance Kryo 360 Gold cores (based on the ARM Cortex-A75) running at 2.2 GHz, and six Kryo 360 Silver cores (based on the ARM Cortex-A55) running at 1.7 GHz for less intensive tasks.

The Snapdragon 710 offers 20% better CPU performance and 35% better GPU performance than the Snapdragon 660, with 30% lower power consumption. It also has twice the AI performance!

Large Storage But No Expansion Option

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) comes with a large 128 GB storage capacity, but there is no expansion option. It only has a single tray for two nano SIM cards.

Although 128 GB should be more than enough for most users, it would have been nice if OPPO had made it a hybrid SIM slot instead. This would have given those who don’t need a second SIM slot, the option of using it for a microSD card.

The microSD card is also useful for another reason. The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) is not water-resistant, so storing your recorded photos and videos on the microSD card protects them, in case you accidentally drop your phone into water… or let a car run over it.

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In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

Fascinatingly, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor. This gives you the convenience of a front fingerprint sensor with a large display.

It’s surprisingly quite accurate and fast to use. But in case you need more login options, you can use a passcode and/or facial recognition.

Next Page > The OPPO R17 Pro Cameras

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The OPPO R17 Pro Front Camera

The R17 Pro (MY | US) continues OPPO’s tradition of high-resolution selfie cameras. It boasts a 25 MP front camera built around the Sony IMX576 sensor, and a bright f/2.0 lens.

The f/2.0 lens allows for better low-light performance, which is important since the R17 Pro does not have a front LED flash. It also supports real-time HDR, which will greatly increase the dynamic range of your selfies.

This 25 MP front camera takes photos with a resolution of 5760 x 4312 pixels, and a 4:3 aspect ratio. But despite its very high resolution, the front camera is limited to recording 1080p videos.

Three Cameras? Or Two?

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has what appears to be three cameras at the back. Yet OPPO only mentioned two cameras, so what’s the deal with the third camera? Let’s break it down for you…

Dual Aperture Main Camera

The main camera is a dual aperture camera that is eerily similar to that to Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note9 smartphones. Built around the 12 MP Sony IMX362 sensor, it automatically switches its aperture between f/1.5 and f/2.4 depending on the lighting condition.

This allows for better pictures in low-light conditions, while allowing for greater depth of field in bright conditions. We will share some photo samples with you later, but you can also check out the amazing photos we took in Sydney and the Blue Mountains!

The Sony IMX362 is also a Dual Pixel sensor, which is an autofocus technology that uses the dual photodiodes in every pixel on the image sensor for phase-detection autofocus. This allows for faster and more accurate focusing, because it uses many more autofocus pixels, instead of just a few dedicated pixels (usually less than 5% of the total).

The main camera also supports 3-axis optical image stabilisation, which compensates for hand shake in three dimensions.

2X Telephoto Camera

Like the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note9, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a 2X telephoto camera with f/2.6 lens. However, instead of using the same 12 MP sensor as the main camera, they opted for a higher resolution 20 MP sensor.

Here are some comparisons to show you the utility of the telephoto camera :

Time-of-Flight Camera

The third camera is a ToF (Time-of-Flight) camera.

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Paired with an LED emitter that sends out pulses of invisible near infra-red light, its sensor captures the reflected light to create a 3D map of objects and their distances.

Its 43,200 pixel sensor does not allow for very detailed 3D profiles, and from what we understand, the system is limited to a range of about 3 meters.

So its utility is probably limited. Perhaps why OPPO did not mention it in their website at all.

Next Page > More OPPO R17 Pro Features

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3D Misted Glass Design

The OPPO R17 Pro‘s case has an etched surfaced that OPPO calls 3D misted glass. It has a satin-like feel that is resistant to fingerprint smears.

The Radiant Mist case, in particular, is really a sight to behold, with its beautiful blend of blue and purple hues.

The satin-like surface will feel a little slippery, but that’s not going to be a problem if you use its bundled bumper case. We love how the bumper case is coloured, and actually complements the hues.

Corning Gorilla Glass 6

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) is not just beautiful, it’s also very tough. In fact, OPPO claims that it is the first smartphone in the world to be protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6!

According to Corning, this 6th-generation Gorilla Glass is up to twice as tough as Gorilla Glass 5. It can tolerate 15 consecutive impacts on a rough surface from a height of 1 meter without breaking!

SuperVOOC Battery

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The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has, not one, but two batteries – each with a maximum capacity of 1850 mAh. This gives it a total of 3,700 mAh (14.24 Wh).

This bi-cell battery design is necessary to support SuperVOOC fast charging. The special 50 Watt SuperVOOC charger and cable it comes with, will recharge its battery about 10X faster than an ordinary USB charger.

In fact, OPPO says that a 10 minute charge will bring the battery from 0% to 40%. We will put it to the test later in this review…

Ergonomics

Despite its slightly larger 6.4-inch display, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) is physically smaller than the Samsung Galaxy Note9! Of course, one may argue that it’s not a true 6.4-inch display due to its display notch… even though it is a small waterdrop notch.

Its curved edges make it a better fit in the hand, and the back surface has a silky-smooth feel. But as advertised, it is resistant to fingerprint smears.

The AMOLED display is really brilliant. The colours are more vivid, and it is brighter under sunlight, than typical LCD displays. The FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels though is a non-standard 19.5:9 display ratio that will result in some pillarboxing when you watch movies.

Available Memory & Storage

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) does not allow monitoring of the available system memory, but this workaround showed that with a clean system, it has 5.46 GB of free memory.

This is just over 68% of its 8 GB memory, and is more than enough to run several memory-guzzling apps at the same time. However, it does point to a considerable amount of bloat.

There is also A LOT of storage space for you to use, because you can’t just pop in a microSD card for extra storage. The OPPO R17 Pro comes with 128 GB of internal flash storage, with about 105 GB of free space.

That is enough space to store about 28,000 photos, 23 hours of 1080p videos, or 4.5 hours of 4K videos.

Next Page > OPPO R17 Pro Camera Performance – Photos

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OPPO R17 Pro Camera Performance – Photos

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a main 12 MP camera that automatically switches between the f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures.

The maximum 12 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio, with 4032 x 3024 pixels, and a file size of between 3.5 MB and 5 MB.

Here are eight full-resolution unedited samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

We have more samples in our separate article – OPPO R17 Pro Photos Of Sydney + The Blue Mountains!

The resolution and detail of the OPPO R17 Pro‘s main 12 MP camera is really amazing. Download the original photos and expand them to see how much detail it captured.

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Like the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note9, it was especially good at night or low-light shots, capturing details in the shadows that is just not possible with other smartphone cameras.

But watch out when it switches to the f/1.5 aperture. It makes for great low-light performance, but it naturally creates a very narrow depth of field. You must be careful in framing the shot, or focusing on the subject, or it may end up out-of-focus.

You can take advantage of the wider f/1.5 aperture in manual mode too, to create a nicer bokeh effect for portraits.

Its ToF camera seems to be used as a depth sensor, to help the main camera separate the subject from the background. This allows it to apply a software bokeh effect to the background in the Portrait mode.

Next Page > OPPO R17 Pro Camera Performance – Video Recording

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OPPO R17 Pro Camera Performance – Video Recording

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) can record not just 1080p videos, but also 4K videos. Surprisingly, its front camera can only record 1080p videos even though it has a much higher-resolution sensor.

Video Recording Test #1 : Piano Performance (1080p)

In this video, watch carefully when we switch between the main camera and the telephoto camera, and back. You will see that while the main camera is stabilised, the telephoto camera is not.

The audio range is surprisingly rich and balanced. However, it has rather poor noise cancellation capabilities, which means you will record a lot of background noise.

Video Recording Test #2 : Piano Performance (4K)

When we switched to 4K, we immediately noticed a drop in the main camera’s stabilisation capabilities. It is still optically stabilised but no longer electronically stabilised. Basically, it performs just like the telephoto camera.

Video Recording Test #3 : Xmas Carnival (1080p)

This 1080p video recording shows the effectiveness of the main camera’s OIS and EIS capabilities. While rather impressive, it could do with a little fine-tuning.

You may note some jerkiness when we pan the R17 Pro. It means the EIS has been overly optimised for static shots. It needs to be “loosen” for better stabilisation while walking.

Video Recording Test #4 : Xmas Carnival (4K)

When you record in 4K, there is basically no electronic image stabilisation. You can literally feel every step we took.

But note too how much detail it captures, and how well it adjusts to changing lighting conditions.

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Video Recording Test #5 : Street Market (1080p)

Again, this shows just how stable the video is at 1080p. But note the presence of wind noise. OPPO should look at adding wind reduction capabilities to the R17 Pro.

Video Recording Test #6 : Street Market (4K)

Because the flooring is not entirely flat in the street market, this video will show you just how much of a difference EIS makes in a video recording.

Next Page > OPPO R17 Pro Performance – Work, Gaming, Battery

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the OPPO R17 Pro’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 S9	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Performance Score (Average)	7361	6475	5618	5379
Web Browsing	7695	6572	5357	5278
Video Editing	5499	5387	5265	4413
Writing	6649	5617	4673	5056
Photo Editing	13326	10740	7560	7427
Data Manipulation	5764	5331	5616	5147
Review Links	Honor Play Review		Galaxy S9 Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review
Price Check	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 is impressively fast. It was just 12% slower than the Honor Play‘s Kirin 970, and 15% faster than the Exynos 9810 used in the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

Next, we tested the OPPO R17 Pro’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited	Samsung Galaxy S9	Honor Play	OPPO R17 Pro	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Gaming Score	39588	31622	15354	15354
Graphics	45577	37351	15788	15788
Physics	27116	20576	14005	14005
Graphics Test 1	267.9 fps	208.9 fps	136.5 fps	136.5 fps
Graphics Test 2	157.2 fps	132.8 fps	45.8 fps	45.8 fps
Physics Test	86.1 fps	65.3 fps	44.5 fps	44.5 fps
Review Links	Galaxy S9 Review	Honor Play Review		Galaxy A7 2018 Review
Price Check	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US	MY \| US \| UK

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 performed as well as the Exynos 7885 used in the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018. This means it is about 40-50% as fast as flagship SoCs in 3D games.

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the OPPO R17 Pro’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 S9
Battery Capacity	3,700 mAh	3,300 mAh	3,750 mAh	3,000 mAh
Battery Life	11 hours 54 mins	11 hours 25 mins	9 hours 56 mins	9 hours 6 mins
Review Links		Galaxy A7 2018 Review	Honor Play Review	Galaxy S9 Review
Price Check	MY \| US	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) did very well in this test, delivering almost 12 hours of battery life!

That is about 2 hours (20%) longer than the Honor Play, which has a similarly-sized battery.

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Battery Recharging Performance

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) comes with a 50 watt SuperVOOC power adaptor and cable. But while you can use any other USB Type C cable, it is important that you use the special SuperVOOC cable.

Using Standard USB Cable

Without SuperVOOC	Honor Play	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018	Samsung Galaxy S9	OPPO R17 Pro
Battery Capacity	3,750 mAh	3,300 mAh	3,000 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	18 Watts	7.75 Watts	18 Watts	50 Watts
Review Links	92 mins	115 minutes	108 Minutes	199 minutes
Price Check	40.8 mAh / min	28.7 mAh / min	27.8 mAh / min	18.6 mAh / min
Review Links	Honor Play Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review	Galaxy S9 Review
Price Check	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US

With an ordinary USB Type C cable, it took us 199 minutes (3 hours, 19 minutes) to fully recharge the R17 Pro. That means it charges roughly as fast as a 5 watt USB charger…

Using SuperVOOC Cable

With SuperVOOC	OPPO R17 Pro	Honor Play	Samsung Galaxy A7 2018	Samsung Galaxy S9
Battery Capacity	3,700 mAh	3,750 mAh	3,300 mAh	3,000 mAh
Charger Output	50 Watts	18 Watts	7.75 Watts	18 Watts
Recharging Time	33 minutes	92 mins	115 minutes	108 Minutes
Recharging Speed	112 mAh / min	40.8 mAh / min	28.7 mAh / min	27.8 mAh / min
Review Links		Honor Play Review	Galaxy A7 2018 Review	Galaxy S9 Review
Price Check	MY \| US	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK	MY \| US \| UK

With the bundled SuperVOOC cable, it only took us less than 33 minutes to fully recharge the R17 Pro! Amazing!

SuperVOOC is roughly 3X faster than fast chargers used in other smartphones. For example, it took the Honor Play 92 minutes to fully recharge its similarly-sized battery using an 18 watt fast charger.

This gives the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) an incredible battery life : recharging ratio of 21.5 : 1. A rule of thumb – for one hour of battery life, you just need to charge it for 3 minutes!

The downside though is that if you forget to bring the SuperVOOC cable, the R17 Pro will recharge half as fast as other smartphones.

Next Page > OPPO R17 Pro Verdict + Award, Full Specifications

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Our Verdict + Award

After the gimmicky OPPO Find X, we were pleasantly surprised by the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US). It may not run on a flagship-class processor, but it is definitely a much better device.

Like the Find X, the R17 Pro has a large and beautiful 6.4-inch AMOLED display, albeit with a waterdrop notch. On the plus side, it has better Gorilla Glass 6 protection.

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) is their first smartphone to feature a dual-aperture camera. That is far more useful and practical than the pointless sliding camera in their Find X flagship device.

It takes great photos, automatically switches its aperture to deliver the best photos for the lighting condition. We sure are glad we took it on our trip to Sydney and the Blue Mountains!

It also takes great 1080p videos, with the the ability to switch between the main and telephoto cameras. However, it’s a pity that 4K videos, and videos recorded by the telephoto camera, are not stabilised.

The new in-display fingerprint sensor may seem to be a gimmick, but it’s not. It’s surprisingly quite accurate and fast, and is practical to use.

We LOVE its SuperVOOC flash charging capability. It only takes just 33 minutes to recharge the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) from 20% to 100%. But if you forget to bring the SuperVOOC cable, it will take 6X longer to recharge, making it twice as slow as other smartphones…

We also need to point out the lack of a microSD card slot. Sure, the R17 Pro has a large storage capacity, but we would like the option to add storage, or keep our photos and videos on a microSD card.

That said, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) offers a great combination of leading-edge features in a beautiful package, and an attractive price point. It certainly did well enough to earn our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Great job!

Where To Buy The OPPO R17 Pro?

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a recommended retail price of RM 2,699 / ~US$ 643 / ~£499. It was made available for purchase on 1 December 2018.

Here are some direct purchase links :

United States : US$ 698.88
Malaysia : RM 2,699

OPPO R17 Pro Specifications

Specifications	OPPO R17 Pro
Display	6.4-inch AMOLED display - 1080 x 2340 pixels (402 ppi) - 91.5% display-to-body ratio
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 6
Operating System	Android 8.1.0 with ColorOS 5.2
Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
Processor	2 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 Gold cores (2.2 GHz) 6 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 Silver cores (1.7 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Adreno 616
Memory	8 GB LPDDR4x memory
Storage	128 GB internal flash storage No microSD card slot
Front Camera	25 MP Sony IMX576 sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear Cameras	Dual Aperture Camera - 12 MP Sony IMX362 sensor with f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures - Optically stabilised (OIS) with dual-tone LED flash Telephoto Camera - 20 MP sensor with f/2.6 lens ToF Camera - 43,200 pixel sensor with LED NIR pulsed emitter
Connectivity	4G : LTE WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band) Bluetooth 5.0 USB : USB 2.0 Type C
SIM Support	2 x nano SIM cards Dual SIM, Dual Standby capable
NFC Capability	Yes
OTG Capability	Yes
Fingerprint Sensor	Built Into Display
Other Sensors	E-Compass, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, G Sensor
Battery	3700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery - supports 50 W SuperVOOC fast charging
Dimensions	74.6 mm wide 157.6 mm tall 7.9 mm thick
Weight	183 grams
Colour Options	Radiant Mist / Emerald Green

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OPPO R17 Pro Photos Of Sydney + The Blue Mountains!

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The OPPO R17 Pro boasts a new dual-aperture camera that promises to match the Samsung Galaxy Note9, and Samsung Galaxy S9+ smartphones.

To test it out, we took it on a trip to Sydney and the nearby Blue Mountains. Check out the photos we took with the OPPO R17 Pro!

Updated @ 2019-01-18 : Corrected a few mistakes, and added more details.

Originally posted @ 2018-12-29

Don’t forget to read our OPPO R17 Pro Smartphone In-Depth Review!

The OPPO R17 Pro Cameras

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a 25 MP front camera with a Sony IMX576 sensor and f/2.0 aperture.

In the back, it boasts a new dual camera setup that is similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note9 and Galaxy S9+.

Its secondary rear camera though is a higher resolution 20 MP telephoto camera with f/2.6 aperture.

In addition to the hardware, the R17 Pro also features the OPPO AI Ultra-Clear Engine, which automatically optimises the captured image to deliver the best possible output.

How We Tested In Sydney + The Blue Mountains

While many Instagrammers and social media influencers touch up their photos to create more stunning posts, we wanted to show you the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) can deliver without editing or filters.

This is important because a good graphics editor can turn even a terrible picture into a work of art. But how many of us are good at editing photos, or even have the time to do it?

So we intentionally used the OPPO R17 Pro the way most users would – with automatic settings, and no artificial lighting or setup. This would also let us evaluate just how effective the AI Ultra-Clear Engine is in delivering a great final output.

Sydney Central Railway Station

The Sydney Central Railway Station is the largest train station in the state of New South Wales, and is a heritage building.

The OPPO R17 Pro’s mechanical aperture will automatically switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4, depending on the lighting condition. This allows to adapt to changing ambient light. ensuring better low-light pictures while ensuring highlights are not blown out in bright conditions.

Next Page > Photos Of The Blue Mountains!

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Three Sisters + Jamison Valley

The Three Sisters are a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains, right next to the town of Katoomba.

The three rocks, known individually as Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m), tower over the lush Jamison Valley.

We took these pictures with the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) at around sunset.

Katoomba Cascades

The Katoomba Cascades is a small segmented waterfall that feeds into the main Katoomba Falls waterfall. It’s a great place for a picnic and pictures (because it’s relatively safe to climb).

Scenic Railway

The Scenic Railway is the most exciting ride in Scenic World, the main tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains.

We took two videos of the Scenic Railway with the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) to test its 4K UHD video recording capability. Check them out :

At Scenic World, you also get to check out the Three Sisters and Jamison Valley, from the east. The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) delivered really great results in this picture.

Even though it was really bright, it automatically stopped down to the f/2.4 aperture, eliminating glare and giving it greater depth of field. Look at how rich the colours are.

Incidentally, the Blue Mountains isn’t really blue in colour. It got its name from the blue haze that is created from sunlight reflecting off dust, water vapour and the oils from the eucalyptus trees that blanket the area.

Next Page > Photos Of Sydney Harbour!

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Circular Quay

For all cruises and cross-harbour ferries, the Sydney Circular Quay is where most of the action is.

Fast ferries to Parramatta and Manly, as well as the various wharfs in the area, provide an affordable and scenic way to enjoy Sydney.

It is also close to The Rocks and other tourist attractions, including the Customs House and Darling Harbour.

Sydney By Ferry

Catching the many Sydney ferries is an AWESOME and highly affordable way to take in the sights. Here are some great views from the Taronga Zoo.

The ferries also stop at Luna Park, to the north of Sydney Harbour.

The Sydney Cross-Harbour Ferry, in particular, will bring you under the Harbour Bridge…

And past the famous Sydney Opera House!

The ferries are rather unstable platforms because they go really fast, but this was not a problem for the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US), as the pictures show. That’s because both of its rear cameras are optically-stabilised.

Darling Harbour

The nearby Darling Harbour is also a great place to visit.

The ICC Sydney (International Convention Centre) is just unique for its architecture, there are also some interesting buskers showing off their skills along the harbour side and nearby park.

Next Page > Photos Of The Sydney CBD

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OPPO R17 Pro Photos Of The Sydney CBD

Exploring the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) is extremely easy using train. Then all you need to do is wander around on foot.

The most popular stations are Central, which is located close to Chinatown and Paddy’s Market, or Circular Quay, near many tourist attractions like the Harbour Bridge and The Rocks.

Just behind the Circular Quay, you will find the Sydney Customs House, and the Sydney Gateway Plaza.

Sydney boasts a mix of fresh bold architecture and grand old Victorian architecture.

Only in Australia will you find the LGBT flag flying high on top of a town hall, with a Christmas tree right underneath it. We present to you – the Sydney Town Hall!

Thanks to the magic of perspective, the Sydney Tower Eye appears shorter than we expected…

No trip to Sydney is complete without a stop in Chinatown, and Paddy’s Market for souvenirs and food!

Even as it gets dark, the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) does not fail to deliver really great pictures. Its camera automatically switches to the wider f/1.5 aperture for more light.

It also helps that OPPO used the excellent Sony IMX362 sensor, which boasts large 1.4 µm pixels and Dual Pixel autofocus capability. This lets it focus faster and take better pictures in low-light conditions.

We especially like the photo above. It is actually a very hard scene for smartphones to handle. But the OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) did a great job of controlling the highlights of the bright background, while bringing out the details of the darker foreground.

Next Page > The Harbour Bridge + The Rocks

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Photos Of The Harbour Bridge + The Rocks

A short distance northwest of the Circular Quay is The Rocks, a historic tourist destination at the south end of the Harbour Bridge.

There is a famous weekend market, called The Rocks Market, that usually opens from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

At the end of The Rocks Market is the Dawes Point Park, located right UNDER the Harbour Bridge!

Don’t forget to check out the Create NSW building right next to The Rocks Market. It houses the Museums and Galleries of NSW, The Australian Ballet and the Sydney Art Exchange.

At the end of the Dawes Point Park, you will find the Dawes Point Battery, a heritage artillery fortification. Many boys (at heart) have pretended to shoot at passing boats using the cannons on display here.

Walk down from Dawes Point Battery to Dawes Point (on the left) and the Hickson Road Reserve (on the right), and you will have the opportunity to take some great shots of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

Where To Buy The OPPO R17 Pro

Impressed with the OPPO R17 Pro’s photographic capabilities? You can grab one for just RM 2,699 / ~US$ 643 / ~£499! Here are some direct purchase links for your convenience :

OPPO R17 Pro : RM 2,699 | US$ 698.88

Don’t forget to read our OPPO R17 Pro Smartphone In-Depth Review!

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The Official OPPO R17 Pro Launch + Showcase!

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With a little help from Malaysian singer and actress Min Chen, OPPO launched and showcased their latest smartphone – the OPPO R17 Pro, which features a dual-aperture camera!

Check out the full OPPO R17 Pro launch event, including a live performance and an interview with Min Chen herself!

Updated @ 2018-11-28 : Added details about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710.

Originally posted @ 2018-11-23

The Official OPPO R17 Pro Launch

The OPPO R17 Pro launch event had the tagline “Seize The Night” because its new dual-aperture camera includes a very wide f/1.5 aperture which is great for low-light photography. Check out the official tech briefing by OPPO Product Manager, Ken Ng, at the R17 Pro launch event.

And here is a summary of the OPPO R17 Pro’s key features :

Gradient Colours

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) introduces a new “three colour and bi / quad-direction” gradient design. They added a light-condensing layer to allow light to flow on the surface of the body.

Large Display

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a large 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, and Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection. Thanks to its raindrop notch, it offers a 91.5% screen-to-body ratio.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 710

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) boasts the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, which is a 10 nm mobile SoC. it has eight Kryo 360 cores with an Adreno 616 GPU, a Spectra 250 ISP, a Hexagon 685 DSP and the X16 LTE modem.

The Snapdragon 710 offers 20% better CPU performance and 35% better GPU performance than the Snapdragon 660, with 30% lower power consumption. It also has twice the AI performance!

Low-Light Photography

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a 25 MP front camera with a Sony IMX576 sensor and f/2.0 aperture. In the back, it boasts a new dual camera setup, that is similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note9 and Galaxy S9+.

The main rear camera is a 12 MP Sony IMX362 shooter with dual-aperture – f/1.5 and f/2.4 – exactly like the dual-aperture camera of the Samsung Galaxy Note9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. Its secondary rear camera though is a higher resolution 20 MP telephoto camera with f/2.6 aperture.

50 Watt SuperVOOC Technology

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) also boasts OPPO’s SuperVOOC technology which allows for fast charging at up to 50 watts using a bi-cell battery design. That allows you to recharge the R17 Pro from 1% to 40% in just 10 minutes!

OPPO R17 Pro Price + Availability

The OPPO R17 Pro (MY | US) has a recommended retail price of RM 2,699 / ~US$ 643 / ~£499.

It will be available for pre-order starting 23 November 2018, with a free Neo Smartband worth RM 389 / ~US$ 93 / ~£72. Delivery and retail sale will take place from 1 December 2018 onwards.

Here are direct purchase links :

OPPO R17 Pro : RM 2,699 | US$ 838.88

Bonus : Min Chen Live Performance + Interview!

Love Min Chen? You’re in luck! Watch her perform live, and check out her interview!

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples From Our Taipei Trip!

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We were one of the fortunate few in the world to receive the new Samsung Galaxy Note9 smartphone right after its big reveal. One of the first things we did – take it out for a trip to Taipei! Enjoy our Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo samples from Taipei, and see for yourselves just how awesome both its front and main cameras are!

Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 1)

Day 1 : Preflight

We flew to Taipei in the morning of 16 August, taking a quick selfie before boarding our flight. There was no preparation, just a quick shot. Joshua at the back didn’t even realise we were taking a selfie!

The Samsung Galaxy Note9‘s front camera has an 8 MP sensor and f/1.7 lens. Unsurprisingly, it did a great job of making sure everyone’s faces were well-exposed. No filters and no DSLR were required to take this instantly-Instagrammable Note9 photo.

Day 1 : Tamsui River

After we landed in Taipei, we took a bus over the New Taipei Bridge. While the bus was rumbling over it, I took this quick snapshot of the Tamsui River.

If you peek closely, you can see some reflections off the window, but otherwise, a nice scenic shot to kickstart our Taipei sojourn.

Day 1 : Stewed Pork Rice

The first thing we did in Taipei? EAT!

This is a traditional Taiwanese comfort food of stewed pork on rice, with assorted side dishes – soy-stewed eggs, tofu, and vegetables.

No filters were applied. Despite the yellowish lighting, the colour balance of this Galaxy Note9 photo was still quite good – the white rice was white, not yellowish.

Here is a close-up of the bowl of rice with minced stewed pork on top, with a slice of what is probably pickled radish. The stewed pork was so sinfully soft, and the sauce… utterly heavenly!

The minced stewed pork was not enough, so we ordered slices of stewed pork belly. It was EXQUISITE! The meat was so soft, it literally melted in our mouths!

Look at the detail captured by the Samsung Galaxy Note9‘s Dual Aperture camera. Remember – it only has a 12 MP sensor, but it’s an AWESOME sensor with large pixels. That’s why it takes such great detail with so little noise under less than ideal lighting.

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Day 1 : Ximenting

Ximenting is arguably the most popular tourist’s area for night shopping. Every night, and more so on weekends, it’s packed with people.

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) has a new Dual Aperture camera with an incredibly wide f/1.5 aperture. This gives it ⅓ stop more light than f/1.7 of its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Note8, and ⅔ stop more light than f/2.0 used in many flagship smartphones.

Hence, taking instant shots like this, without a tripod, is not a problem. Note the lack of motion blur in this Note9 photo, both from my hands and of the people walking past.

Why Rebrand when you can Debrand?

Not only was this brand name interesting, you can see the lack of motion blur from the car on the left and the motorcycle on the right. Thanks to its wide f/1.5 aperture, the Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) can take such photos at high shutter speeds in low-light conditions.

This is the Red House at night. It’s a stark contrast – dark exterior with a very bright interior. Yet the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) has no problem bringing out the best of both.

This is thanks to its built-in Auto HDR feature. It’s enabled by default, and kicks in when it detects a big difference in brightness. It basically takes three photos with different exposures in quick succession and merges them into one photo.

Next Page > Our Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 2 Part 1)

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 2 Part 1)

Day 2 : Ximenting

Good FREAKING HOT morning, Taipei! 😅😅

This Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo is a great example of its Auto HDR capability. I took this picture “blindly” because the sun was so bright, I could not even look at it.

Yet the Note9 photo turned out much better than anyone had any right to expect. Thanks to its Auto HDR feature, it managed to reduce the incredible intensity of the sunlight, and yet preserve the details in the shadows.

You can actually see both the sun AND people hidden in the shadow of the MRT station! Heck, even the blue sky and wispy clouds are clearly visible in such an intensely bright sky.

Day 2 : Marshal Zen Garden

The Marshal Zen Garden in Taipei is a really picturesque location. The following Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo samples were unedited (other than being cropped in Instagram) and had no filters applied.

The zen path to inner peace…

The detail the 12 MP Samsung ISOCell sensor captured is readily apparent, even in this reduced sized photo. In the original, you can make out the detail of the tiny leaves.

In such bright conditions, the Samsung Galaxy Note9‘s Dual Aperture camera switches to the f/2.4 aperture.

Again, this was a very hot day, with a scorching hot sun. Because it’s so bright, the Dual Aperture camera automatically switched to the f/2.4 aperture. This ensured that the mountains and buildings in the background would not be blurred out.

The Auto HDR feature also kicked in, keeping the highlights in full control, while preserving the details in the shadows. You can actually see the blue sky and white clouds in this Note9 photo. Yet you can also make out the details of the leaves and even the roof tiles in the shadows.

The stairway to zen…

If you want a dramatic photo to show your friends just how freaking hot it is, you need to turn off Auto HDR. Otherwise, you will end up with a nice well-lit HDR photo like this. 😁

Without Auto HDR, the rooftop would be brightly-lit, but you won’t be able to see the white dog at the bottom of the stairway, much less the large pot behind him.

Thanks to Auto HDR, you can see deep into the shadows at the bottom of the stairway. Heck, you can even see the tiny figurines hidden in the shadows of an alcove under the roof!

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These are two owl dolls at the Marshal Zen Garden. In the original Note9 photo, you can make out the fine details of their faux feathers.

Here is a close-up Note9 photo of another owl pair, this time in direct sunlight. It was VERY BRIGHT, yet the owls were perfectly exposed. There was very good control of the highlights, and you can see the intricate detail of these owl dolls.

Later in the evening, it started raining at the Marshal Zen Garden, which gave me the opportunity to capture this shot. Completely unedited (except for cropping), and certainly no filters were applied.

The Auto HDR feature kicked in this shot, and preserved both the bright floor lamps and the details of the floor planks and the rocks in the dark areas on the right side.

Next Page > Our Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples! (Day 2 Part 2)

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 2 Part 2)

Day 2 : Marshal Zen Garden Fine Dining

The Marshal Zen Garden has a fine dining restaurant. However, the restaurant has VERY DIM lighting. We didn’t expect very good photos, but the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) surprised us.

Note : These Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo samples were taken without flash or additional lighting support. Only some exposure adjustments were made, if necessary, but no filters were applied.

This is King Grouper jelly. In real life, it was so dark, you can barely identify the vegetables at the bottom!

Handmade tofu with Japanese dressing.

Look at how much detail the Samsung Galaxy Note9 managed to capture in such dim lighting!

In real life, you can barely make out that there is even a colour difference between the two mushroom slices.

This is Fried Shrimp Cake and Watermelon with Citrus Sauce.

The depth of field is appreciably narrow at f/1.5, so you need to be careful at what you want to focus on, especially in close-up shots.

The shrimp cakes were rectangular in shape, and arranged standing vertically on a watermelon cube. Focusing on them meant that the bottom of the plate, and the citrus sauce, looked slightly out-of-focus.

But look at how much detail the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) could record in such dim lighting.

Steamed King Grouper and Truffle with Seaweed Sauce

Again, the narrow depth of field means you have to be careful in what you focus on, but I think this Note9 photo turned out pretty well, especially considering the really dim lighting…

You can make out the detail of the vegetable stalk with fried shallots on top, and the rolled fish slice.

This is a plate of three pieces of Shaoxing chicken arranged on a rectangular plate.

The f/1.5 lens’ narrow depth of field is readily apparent – only the first piece is in focus. But it gives us a great opportunity to check out the bokeh quality of the background.

Remember – this is not software bokeh, but actual optical bokeh from the very large f/1.5 aperture of the Samsung Galaxy Note9‘s Dual Aperture camera.

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Normally, soups are not really exciting subjects to shoot. But this Green Papaya Chicken Soup came in a cute little clay pot, and hey, it turned out pretty nice!

I focused on the soup, so you can clearly see the oil micelles floating on top of the clear broth. In real life, I could only make out the piece of chicken, but in this Note9 photo sample, we can also make out the piece of radish at the bottom of the pot.

This is a plate of seasonal vegetables with red carrot sauce.

I’m impressed by the detail that we can make out in this Note9 photo – the criss-cross pattern on the cracker, the striations on the surface of the mushroom stalks, and even the tiny patterns on the slice of cucumber.

Finally, dessert – Orange Cheese Pie with Dragon Fruit.

Look at the detail and colour of the dragon fruit. It is really hard to get both right in the dim YELLOW lighting. The flesh of the dragon fruit is the perfect tone of white, and you can make out the individual seeds. Amazing!

Next Page > Our Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 2 Part 3)

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 2 Part 3)

Day 2 : Taiwanese Hot Pot

Late at night, we went for another Taiwanese favourite – the hot pot. It’s basically steamboat with a variety of soup options. Here, we have Mala (chilli oil) soup on the left half of the pot, and herbal soup on the right half.

Note how well the colour turned out. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) uses built-in AI algorithms (Scene Optimiser) to automatically identify the subject and apply the best colour correction to make sure the colours are correct and “pop”.

In the second hot pot, we had pickled vegetable soup in the left half… and scallop soup in the right half.

Again, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 had no problem getting the colours just right.

Look at the detail captured by the Samsung Galaxy Note9‘s Dual Aperture camera. You can see the striations of the muscle tissue in the foreground.

In this Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo sample, you can see the wisps of the evaporating dry ice, and the marbling of the meat.

This is the seafood platter. Look at how the colours “pop”, and how they accurately reflect real life colour. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) accurately identified this as “food”, and made the right colour corrections.

This platter has assorted beef innards. Completely different colour from the seafood platter but the Galaxy Note9‘s Scene Optimiser algorithms correctly identified them as food too.

Assorted meatballs on ice.

Note that these are quick shots, as we were all ravenous. A second or two to frame the shot, and that’s it.

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Quick shot of our hungry party! Notice the lack of motion blur. It’s not magic – the fast f/1.5 lens allows for faster shutter speeds.

Look at this slice of meat! It’s bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus!

Again, another quick shot without preparation. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) did a great job of bringing out the colour of the meat, while giving the background a nice bokeh.

This is ice-blended lychee vinegar in a unique metal cup… Delicious!

The f/1.5 lens is great for low-light conditions, but has a narrow depth of field. So you must make sure you focus on what matters, and live with a bokeh effect for the rest. Either that, or switch to the f/2.4 aperture.

Here is a selfie with the front 8 MP camera with f/1.7 lens. It did a great job of making sure everyone’s face was well-lit. But you will note that it’s not as wide as many selfie-focused front cameras.

Next Page > Our Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 3) + Summary

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples (Day 3)

Day 3 : Oyster Mee Sua

It’s another hot morning in Taipei, and it’s time for the Taiwanese breakfast of champions – oyster mee sua! Mee sua is a very fine salted wheat noodles, with a starchy consistency.

Look at the detail of the mee sua in the foreground, and the nicely blurred background of the guy serving another bowl of mee sua.

One thing about the Taiwanese… they’re so organised.

There is a bucket for leftovers; a tray for the cardboard bowls and a garbage can for everything else.

Cheers? Slurping oyster mee sua in the morning.

This was taken with Vyncent and Huang Jo (both in black t-shirts) in the shadows. But the Auto HDR feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note9 made sure their faces were clearly exposed.

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Our Galaxy Note9 Photo Samples Summarised

It is obvious by now that the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) is our favourite smartphone for mobile photography. It boasts the same excellent Dual Aperture camera as the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Price Check), with the ability to switch between the f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures.

The f/1.5 lens is incredibly useful – making low-light photography a breeze. Its narrow depth of field can get tricky, so you have to make sure you focus right in close-up shots. Otherwise, it’s smart enough to adjust the focus, shutter speed and aperture to make sure you get the perfect shot, even if it was a quick shot off-the-cuff.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note9 has an advantage over the already excellent Galaxy S9+ though. It boasts the new Scene Optimiser feature, which uses AI algorithms to identify elements of a photo. It then optimises the saturation, white balance, brightness and contrast.

Without a doubt – the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check) delivers the best mobile photography experience we have seen so far, out-of-the-box. No tweaks needed. The default Auto HDR and Scene Optimiser settings will take care of everything for you.

We hoped you enjoyed our Samsung Galaxy Note9 photo samples from Taipei, and they would prove to be useful in helping you decide on upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Price Check)!

For more on the Samsung Galaxy Note9, read our Samsung Galaxy Note9 In-Depth Review!

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 Low Light Performance Examined!

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The new Samsung Galaxy Note9 features a unique dual aperture camera, with a mechanical aperture. It is said to deliver superior photos and videos in low-light conditions. Let’s put that claim to the test, and examine the Galaxy Note9 low light performance!

Dual Aperture Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 dual aperture camera first debuted in the rare and expensive Samsung W2018 smartphone (available only in China), before Samsung introduced it in the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones.

This dual aperture camera has a mechanical aperture that lets you switch between an incredibly bright f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture for a deeper depth of field.

The f/1.5 aperture is the widest aperture so far in a smartphone, offering just over ⅓ stop more light than the f/1.7 aperture of the Samsung Galaxy S8‘s camera. This translates into better low-light photography with less noise.

Let’s put it to the test…

Samsung Galaxy Note9 Low Light Performance

There will be many examples of low-light conditions, so we attempted to try taking shots in near complete darkness.

In this test of the Galaxy Note9 low light performance, we took pictures of two Minions in almost complete darkness. On the left, you have a Minion in a black Darth Vader costume, and on the right, another Minion in a bright outfit.

Samsung Galaxy Note9 Low Light Example

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (US | MY Web | MY App) did remarkably well. You can make out the helmet outline of the Darth Vader Minion, and the colour of its lightsaber.

Its white balance is also good. The white t-shirt of the Minion on the right actually appears white. And you can see that it’s holding a red ball.

H Brand Low Light Example

This is a smartphone with a 16 MP PDAF camera paired with f/2.2 lens.

You can make out the Darth Vader Minion’s lightsaber, but not its colour.

You can see the red ball in the other Minion’s hand, but its t-shirt is yellowish in colour.

X Brand Low Light Example

This is a smartphone with a 12 MP PDAF camera paired with a bright f/1.75 lens.

The Darth Vader Minion is hardly visible, and if you stare hard enough, you can barely make out its lightsaber.

The t-shirt of the Minion on the right appears whitish, but you can barely make out its right arm… and you certainly cannot see the red ball in its right hand.

Summary

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The.Samsung Galaxy Note9 (US | MY Web | MY App) low light performance is obviously superior to the two other smartphones we compared it with. It is not just about how much more light its f/1.5 lens allows in, it also has a superior image sensor and image processing capability.

Its picture sample is not just brighter, it actually delivers colours that are not visible in the samples from the other two smartphones. Impressively, it managed to deliver very accurate white balance in such low-light conditions.

But wait.. that’s not all…

Samsung Galaxy Note9 Low Light Video Recording Performance!

Here is an example of a night dancing session at the Curve. The singers are on a well-lit platform, but the dancers are not lit by street lights. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 (US | MY Web | MY App) was not mounted on any gimbal.

Despite the changing brightness of the scene, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 (US | MY Web | MY App) did a great job of instantly adjusting the brightness of the subjects. This is not an easy feat when we switched focus to the dancers, because the background is much brighter.

What we ended up with is a happy balance of reasonably bright subjects without overly bright backgrounds. In fact, you can see right into the restaurant behind the dancers!

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Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus “Dual Aperture” Smartphone Review

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When pictures of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus first leaked, pundits criticised how similar it looked to its predecessor – the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. But the familiar facade hides a number of important upgrades. Find out why we think the new Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is the perfected Galaxy S8 Plus!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 & Galaxy S9+

Like the Samsung Galaxy S8, there will be two sizes – the Galaxy S9 (SM-960) with a 5.8″ display, and the larger Galaxy S9 Plus (SM-965) with a 6.2″ display. Here is a table comparing their specifications :

Specifications	Samsung Galaxy S9+	Samsung Galaxy S9
Model	SM-965	SM-960
Display	6.2" Super AMOLED Infinity Display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (529 ppi)	5.8" Super AMOLED Infinity Display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (570 ppi)
Operating System	Android 8.0	Android 8.0
System Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US) Samsung Exynos 9810 (Worldwide)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US) Samsung Exynos 9810 (Worldwide)
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - 8 x Qualcomm Kyro 385 (2.8 GHz) Samsung Exynos 9810 - 4 x Custom CPU core (2.9 GHz) - 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 (1.9 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - 8 x Qualcomm Kyro 385 (2.8 GHz) Samsung Exynos 9810 - 4 x Custom CPU core (2.9 GHz) - 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 (1.9 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - Qualcomm Adreno 630 Samsung Exynos 9810 - ARM Mali-G72 MP18	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - Qualcomm Adreno 630 Samsung Exynos 9810 - ARM Mali-G72 MP18
Memory	6 GB LPDDR4x SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR4x SDRAM
Storage	64 / 128 / 256 GB internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 256 GB)	64 GB internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera	8 MP sensor	8 MP sensor
Main Camera	Dual Camera System - Main Dual Aperture Camera with 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor, OIS lens with f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable apertures - Telephoto camera with 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor, OIS lens and f/2.4 aperture - dual-tone LED flash	Dual Aperture Camera - 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor with 1.4 μm pixels - OIS lens with f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable apertures - dual-tone LED flash
Super Slow-mo	Yes, 720p (0.2 seconds)	Yes, 720p (0.2 seconds)
Samsung Live Focus	Yes	No
Connectivity	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 150 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C Samsung Exynos 9810 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 200 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 150 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C Samsung Exynos 9810 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 200 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C
Iris Scanner	Yes, with IntelligentScan capability	Yes, with IntelligentScan capability
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, Rear-Mounted	Yes, Rear-Mounted
Bixby Button	Yes	Yes
Dust & Water Resistance	IP68	IP68
Audio	AKG-tuned Stereo Speakers 3.5 mm audio jack	AKG-tuned Stereo Speakers 3.5 mm audio jack
FM Radio	Yes	Yes
Battery	3,500 mAh lithium-ion battery 15 W Fast Wireless Charging Capability	3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery 15 W Fast Wireless Charging Capability
Dimensions	73.8 mm wide 158.1 mm tall 8.5 mm thick	68.7 mm wide 147.7 mm tall 8.5 mm thick
Weight	189 g	163 g
Available Colours	Midnight Black / Coral Blue / Lilac Purple / Titanium Silver	Midnight Black / Coral Blue / Lilac Purple / Titanium Silver

This time around, Samsung made more of an effort to differentiate the two models. The larger Galaxy S9 Plus not only comes with a larger battery, it also has more memory and storage options, as well as a dual camera system.

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 Colour Options

Samsung is making the Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) available in four colour options – Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, and Titanium Silver. However, not all of them will be available worldwide.

In Malaysia, only these three colours are available (at least initially) – Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Lilac Purple.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Up Close + Camera Features

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Up Close

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8 in design. They both boast the same glass and metal design, with an Infinity Display and IP68 dust- and water-resistance.

In most countries, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) is powered by the Samsung Exynos 9810, while in the US, it runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. It comes with 6 GB of LPDDR4x memory, and 64 GB of storage (with a 128 GB option in some countries).

Despite rumours that Samsung would be ditching the dedicated Bixby button and 3.5 mm earphone port, they will both still here.

The Front Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) retains the Galaxy S8‘s front camera with the 8 MP Samsung S5K3H1 sensor and an f/1.7 lens. It is capable of recording 4K videos at 30 fps, and has great low-light capability.

Its low-light capability will come in handy, as the front camera does not have flash support, not even screen flash. Still, we hope that Samsung will at least throw in screen flash, which costs nothing to add.

Dual Aperture Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) boasts a new dual aperture camera, that was first used in the rare and expensive Samsung W2018 smartphone (available only in China). This dual aperture camera has a mechanical aperture that lets you switch between an incredibly bright f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture for a deeper depth of field.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) has an additional telephoto camera that is not available in the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check). This camera has a 12 MP sensor, but lacks the Dual Pixel capability of the main camera, and is coupled to a f/2.4 lens.

This telephoto camera does not just give you a 2X zoom capability, it actually adds Live Focus and Dual Capture capabilities. You can also switch between the two cameras in the midst of recording a video, and because they both have OIS lenses, the video will be stabilised all the way.

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New Samsung ISOCELL Fast Sensor

Samsung used their latest ISOCELL Fast SAK2L3 sensor in the new cameras. This is a 12 MP sensor with large 1.4 µm pixels for excellent low-light performance.

The Fast designation means it comes with its Dual Pixel and Super PD capabilities. It also boasts a 3-stack FRS (Fast Readout Sensor) that allows high-speed captures of Full HD video.

The Dual Pixel technology is an autofocus technology that uses the dual photodiodes in every pixel on the image sensor for phase-detection autofocus. This allows for faster and more accurate focusing, because it uses many more autofocus pixels, instead of just a few dedicated pixels (usually less than 5% of the total).

Super Slow-Mo

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) supports a new Super Slow-mo feature, which allows you to record 720p video at 960 fps.

The Super Slow-mo videos can be instantly edited, with a random selection from preloaded choices. Or you can use your own music / songs. You can also create a GIF from the recorded video, with three style of looping – reverse, forward or swing.

The new ISOCELL Fast sensor, when paired with the Samsung Exynos 9810, is said to be fast enough to record slow-motion 1080p video at 960 fps / 4K video at 120 fps. However, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is not fast enough, so Samsung limited Super Slow-mo capability to ensure consistent experience worldwide.

There are other caveats too – Super Slow-mo is limited to 20 shots per video, with approximately 0.2 seconds of recording and 6 seconds of playback for each Super Slow-mo shot.

Next Page > Other New Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Features

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Bixby Live Translation

The original Samsung Bixby is capable of live translation, so a more accurate description of this new feature is AR (augmented reality) Translation.

In the original Bixby, the translation appears as a separate card. But in the new Samsung Galaxy S9 Bixby implementation, the translation appears as part of the image. Hence, our opinion that it should be called AR Translation.

In fact, it is smart enough to take note of the font and background of the text being translated, and render the translation as if it was the original text!

This is, without doubt, a truly useful combination of Bixby and augmented reality!

AR Emoji

This is arguably one of the coolest software features in the new Samsung Galaxy S9 camera system. You can use either the front or rear camera to take a picture of anyone, to create augmented reality emojis that look like your subject!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) will automatically create an avatar that looks like you, which you can customise to your satisfaction. They will also automatically create 18 stickers showing a range of different emotions for you to use in your instant messages.

But that’s not all – the avatar will imitate your facial expressions. You can even record videos that can be shared with your friends!

Intelligent Scan

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) has a “new login method” called Intelligent Scan. This is not really a new feature, but a combination of the existing facial recognition and iris scanning capabilities.

In bright conditions, Intelligent Scan uses facial recognition to login. But when it gets too dark, the iris scanner kicks in. This allows for easier and faster logins in low light or super bright conditions.

Intelligent Scan addresses the key problem with the iris scanner – it doesn’t work in bright conditions. However, it is easier to fool than a point cloud facial recognition system like Apple Face ID, and future honor smartphones,

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New Fingerprint Sensor

Samsung moved the fingerprint sensor to a central location right beneath the main camera at the back. This is a much better location, especially if you are left-handed. But that’s not all.

Samsung also used a new swipe fingerprint sensor. It is much easier and faster to register your fingerprint with this new sensor. This addresses a major criticism of the Galaxy S8 and Note8 smartphones.

However, its close proximity to the rear camera, and its swipe functionality means you still have to regularly clean the camera lens to avoid blurry pictures.

Hybrid SIM

As it was with the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) will be offered with a nano SIM + microSD tray, or a hybrid SIM tray, depending on region. If you want dual SIM, dual standby capability, you will need to get the model with the hybrid SIM tray.

The hybrid SIM tray allows you to either use a second SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time. The microSD slot officially supports microSD cards of up to 256 GB in size, although it should have no problem supporting larger capacity microSD cards, like the 400GB SanDisk Ultra (Price Check).

Next Page > Durability, Ergonomics, Setup, Memory & Storage

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IP68 Dust & Water Resistance

Like the Galaxy S8, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) is IP68-rated for dust- and water-resistance. Best of all, you don’t even have to prepare it in any way before you dunk it into water! For more information how how Samsung achieved this feat, take a look at our article, Samsung Galaxy S7 IP68 Engineering Explained.

Officially, the Galaxy S9 Plus can withstand complete immersion in water up to 1.5 m in depth, for up to 30 minutes. That means you can take it for jogs in the rain, reading in the shower or soaking in bath. Heck, you can even take it for a swim!

There are some caveats though. The IP68 rating applies to a specific set of test conditions : 15-35 °C, 86-106 kPa, 1.5 metre, 30 minutes. Even so, water may enter and damage the Galaxy S7 edge if it is exposed to “water moving with force“, like running water from a tap or waterfall, or ocean waves.

In other words, this is not a waterproof phone like the Oukitel K10000 Pro or the Kenxinda ruggerdised smartphones. It is IP68 water-resistant, so you need to be gentle with it. You can read more about this in our article – Samsung Galaxy S7 IP68 Engineering Explained.

Ergonomics

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) has a 5.8″ bezel-less Infinity Display, so it does not feel like a large smartphone. In fact, it feels smaller than the 5.5″ Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and even 5.2″ smartphones like HTC 10. This means it will feel more comfortable in smaller hands, and fit better in smaller pockets.

The large Super AMOLED display is beautiful as always. However, the WQHD+ resolution of 1440 x 2960 results in a non-standard 18.5:9 display ratio. Watching movies will result in some pillarboxing – a black bar on each side of the movie.

The Gorilla Glass 5 back looks fabulous… at first. It is easily smudged by oily fingerprints, because it lacks the oleophobic coating of the front Gorilla Glass 5 cover protecting the display.

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Setting Up The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) comes with Android 8.0 Oreo installed. The setup process is the same as the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check), whose setup video can be seen below.

Available Memory & Storage

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) comes with 6 GB of LPDDR4x memory, of which 3 GB (50%) is available for use. That is a lot of bloat, equal to that of the Galaxy S8. But seriously, 3 GB of memory is more than enough memory to run many applications simultaneously. In fact, it is more memory than what many mid-range smartphones ship with!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) comes with 64 GB of internal flash storage, with 50 GB of free space for you to use. That is enough space to store about 11,000 photos, or 6 hours of 1080p videos, or just over 2 hours of 4K videos. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 256 GB).

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Camera Performance – Photos

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Camera Performance – Photos

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) uses the 12 MP Samsung ISOCELL Fast SAK2L3 sensor in the dual aperture camera. It is capable of switching between the f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture.

The maximum 12 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio, with 4032 x 3024 pixels, and a file size of between 3 MB and 5 MB.

Here are 10 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

Telephoto 2X Zoom Capability

Here are two pictures to show you the additional reach the secondary telephoto camera gives you.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Camera Performance – Videos

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Camera Performance – Video Recording

Like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) is capable of recording 4K videos from both front and back cameras. However, Samsung still limits the 4K recording time to just 10 minutes. This was likely done to ensure that the sensor does not overheat the battery.

Video Recording Test #1 : Piano (1080p)

In this video, you can see the amount of detail the sensor captures, even at just 1080p. There is a good control of the highlights – you can see into the Padini Concept Store in the background.

You can also see how well its OIS capability worked, even when we switched between the main camera and the telephoto camera.

Video Recording Test #2 : Piano (4K)

The resolution at 4K is incredible. You can even see some of the price tags deep inside the Padini Concept Store. There was some seeking issues with the telephoto camera at 0:17, but they were only present at this particular angle – where there are other subjects behind the pianist, Mr. Yang.

Video Recording Test #3 : Japanese Band (1080p)

This was taken with the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) mounted on a DJI Osmo Mobile gimbal. You can see a lot of wobbling. This sadly appears to be the camera’s OIS trying to compensate for the stabilisation already provided by the gimbal.

The highlights were slightly overblown, but it was still an admirable effort for such bright spotlights in a dim environment.

Video Recording Test #4 : Japanese Band (4K)

Again, there was significant wobbling from the OIS, when used with a gimbal. But we can’t help but admire the sharpness and detail captured in this video.

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Video Recording Test #5 : Street Market (1080p)

The combination of OIS and EIS allowed the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) to deliver really good image stabilisation.

Video Recording Test #6 : Street Market (4K)

Its image stabilisation capabilities were not diminished with the higher resolution. Overall – very good OIS and EIS performance.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Samsung Galaxy S9’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S9+	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018
Performance Score (Average)	5618	5590	5303	5197
Web Browsing	5357	6037	5155	5035
Video Editing	5265	5332	4998	4433
Writing	4673	4713	5158	5607
Photo Editing	7560	6847	7082	7238
Data Manipulation	5616	5253	4458	4183
	Review Price Check	Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check

The Samsung Exynos 9810 powering the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) is about 5.5% faster than the Exynos 8895 used in the Samsung Galaxy S8. This is not a high score by any means, being slightly slower than the Snapdragon 625 powering the ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro.

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Galaxy S9 Plus’ battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S9+
Battery Life	12 hours 19 mins	10 hours 32 mins	9 hours 6 mins	9 hours 5 mins
	Review Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check	Price Check

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) lasted as long as the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check). Despite having a 16.7% larger battery, it was only sufficient in making up for its larger display and memory capacity.

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Battery Recharging Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus comes with an adaptive fast charger with a power output of 18 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged its 3,500 mAh battery.

It took the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) about 95.5 minutes (1 hour 35.5 minutes) to recharge its battery from 20% to 100%. This is just 8.5 minutes longer than it takes the Galaxy S8 to recharge its 3000 mAh battery.

This gives it a rather disappointing battery life : recharging ratio of 5.7 : 1. Its recharging performance is good, but Samsung needs to improve its battery life.

Next Page > Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

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Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Galaxy S9 Plus’ gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited	Samsung Galaxy S9+	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018
Gaming Score	42489	39588	29509	14684
Graphics	49852	45577	33279	15201
Physics	28009	27116	21130	13121
Graphics Test 1	308.6 fps	267.9 fps	173.1 fps	134.4 fps
Graphics Test 2	167.0 fps	157.2 fps	124.3 fps	43.8 fps
Physics Test	88.9 fps	86.1 fps	67.1 fps	41.7 fps
	Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check

What the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) lacked in work performance, it more than made up in gaming performance. Its ARM Mali-G72 MP18 graphics processor was 44% faster than the ARM Mali-G71 MP20 used in the Galaxy S8.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus’ CPU cores also delivered 32% faster physics processing than those of the Galaxy S8.

Our Verdict & Award

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) looks almost identical to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S8. While some see it as a “lack of innovation“, others point out that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Whatever we may think of its familiar design, there is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is the best Galaxy smartphone ever made.

Samsung basically fixed every major criticism of the Galaxy S8 smartphone. They moved the fingerprint sensor to a better position, and used a much better swipe-type sensor. They buttressed the iris scanner with the facial recognition system, allowing easy login in bright and low-light conditions.

The biggest hardware change was the addition of a dual aperture camera, coupled with a telephoto camera. The dual aperture camera allows you to switch between an incredibly bright f/1.5 aperture and a f/2.4 aperture for greater depth of field. The telephoto camera not only offers 2X optical zoom, it also enables the Live Focus and Dual Capture capabilities.

Samsung also introduced a new Samsung ISOCELL Fast sensor in the main camera. It has large 1.4 µm pixels with Dual Pixel and Super PD capabilities. It also has a 3-stack FRS (Fast Readout Sensor) that enables the new Super Slow-mo mode – the ability to record 720p video at 960 fps.

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The other new Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (Price Check) features like AR Emoji, Bixby Live Translation and Intelligent Scan are software in nature.

The downside? The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus comes with the same 3,500 mAh battery, but has a shorter battery life and longer recharging time.

With the exception of the shorter battery life, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is better than the Samsung Galaxy S8+ in every possible way. This is why we think it deserves our Editor’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Samsung!

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 Review : Galaxy S8 Perfected!

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When pictures of the Samsung Galaxy S9 first leaked, pundits criticised how similar it looked to its predecessor – the Samsung Galaxy S8. But the familiar facade hides a number of important upgrades. Find out why we think the new Samsung Galaxy S9 is the perfected Galaxy S8!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 & Galaxy S9+

Like the Samsung Galaxy S8, there will be two sizes – the Galaxy S9 (SM-960) with a 5.8″ display, and the larger Galaxy S9+ (SM-965) with a 6.2″ display. Here is a table comparing their specifications :

Specifications	Samsung Galaxy S9+	Samsung Galaxy S9
Model	SM-965	SM-960
Display	6.2" Super AMOLED Infinity Display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (529 ppi)	5.8" Super AMOLED Infinity Display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (570 ppi)
Operating System	Android 8.0	Android 8.0
System Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US) Samsung Exynos 9810 (Worldwide)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US) Samsung Exynos 9810 (Worldwide)
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - 8 x Qualcomm Kyro 385 (2.8 GHz) Samsung Exynos 9810 - 4 x Custom CPU core (2.9 GHz) - 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 (1.9 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - 8 x Qualcomm Kyro 385 (2.8 GHz) Samsung Exynos 9810 - 4 x Custom CPU core (2.9 GHz) - 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 (1.9 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - Qualcomm Adreno 630 Samsung Exynos 9810 - ARM Mali-G72 MP18	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - Qualcomm Adreno 630 Samsung Exynos 9810 - ARM Mali-G72 MP18
Memory	6 GB LPDDR4x SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR4x SDRAM
Storage	64 / 128 / 256 GB internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 256 GB)	64 GB internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera	8 MP sensor	8 MP sensor
Main Camera	Dual Camera System - Main Dual Aperture Camera with 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor, OIS lens with f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable apertures - Telephoto camera with 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor, OIS lens and f/2.4 aperture - dual-tone LED flash	Dual Aperture Camera - 12 MP Dual Pixel sensor with 1.4 μm pixels - OIS lens with f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable apertures - dual-tone LED flash
Super Slow-mo	Yes, 720p (0.2 seconds)	Yes, 720p (0.2 seconds)
Samsung Live Focus	Yes	No
Connectivity	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 150 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C Samsung Exynos 9810 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 200 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 150 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C Samsung Exynos 9810 - LTE Cat18 : 1.2Gbps DL / 200 Mbps UL - WiFi : 802.11ac (2x2) - USB Type C
Iris Scanner	Yes, with IntelligentScan capability	Yes, with IntelligentScan capability
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, Rear-Mounted	Yes, Rear-Mounted
Bixby Button	Yes	Yes
Dust & Water Resistance	IP68	IP68
Audio	AKG-tuned Stereo Speakers 3.5 mm audio jack	AKG-tuned Stereo Speakers 3.5 mm audio jack
FM Radio	Yes	Yes
Battery	3,500 mAh lithium-ion battery 15 W Fast Wireless Charging Capability	3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery 15 W Fast Wireless Charging Capability
Dimensions	73.8 mm wide 158.1 mm tall 8.5 mm thick	68.7 mm wide 147.7 mm tall 8.5 mm thick
Weight	189 g	163 g
Available Colours	Midnight Black / Coral Blue / Lilac Purple / Titanium Silver	Midnight Black / Coral Blue / Lilac Purple / Titanium Silver

This time around, Samsung made more of an effort to differentiate the two models. The larger Galaxy S9+ not only comes with a larger battery, it also has more memory and storage options, as well as a dual camera system.

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 Colour Options

Samsung is making the Galaxy S9 (Price Check) available in four colour options – Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, and Titanium Silver. However, not all of them will be available worldwide.

In Malaysia, only these three colours are available (at least initially) – Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Lilac Purple.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S9 Up Close + Camera Features

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 Up Close

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8 in design. They both boast the same glass and metal design, with an Infinity Display and IP68 dust- and water-resistance.

In most countries, the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) is powered by the Samsung Exynos 9810, while in the US, it runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. It comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4x memory, and 64 GB of storage (with a 128 GB option in some countries).

Despite rumours that Samsung would be ditching the dedicated Bixby button and 3.5 mm earphone port, they will both still here.

The Front Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) retains the Galaxy S8‘s front camera with the 8 MP Samsung S5K3H1 sensor and an f/1.7 lens. It is capable of recording 4K videos at 30 fps, and has great low-light capability.

Its low-light capability will come in handy, as the front camera does not have flash support, not even screen flash.

Dual Aperture Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) boasts a new dual aperture camera, that was first used in the rare and expensive Samsung W2018 smartphone (available only in China).

This dual aperture camera has a mechanical aperture that lets you switch between an incredibly bright f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture for a deeper depth of field.

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New Samsung ISOCELL Fast Sensor

Samsung also used their latest ISOCELL Fast SAK2L3 sensor in the new cameras. This is a 12 MP sensor with large 1.4 µm pixels for excellent low-light performance.

The Fast designation means it comes with its Dual Pixel and Super PD capabilities. It also boasts a 3-stack FRS (Fast Readout Sensor) that allows high-speed captures of Full HD video.

Super Slow-Mo

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) supports a new Super Slow-mo feature, which allows you to record 720p video at 960 fps.

There are other caveats too – Super Slow-mo is limited to 20 shots per video, with approximately 0.2 seconds of recording and 6 seconds of playback for each Super Slow-mo shot.

Next Page > Other New Samsung Galaxy S9 Features

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Bixby Live Translation

The original Samsung Bixby is capable of live translation, so a more accurate description of this new feature is AR (augmented reality) Translation.

In fact, it is smart enough to take note of the font and background of the text being translated, and render the translation as if it was the original text!

This is, without doubt, a truly useful combination of Bixby and augmented reality!

AR Emoji

But that’s not all – the avatar will imitate your facial expressions. You can even record videos that can be shared with your friends!

Intelligent Scan

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New Fingerprint Sensor

Samsung moved the fingerprint sensor to a central location right beneath the main camera at the back. This is a much better location, especially if you are left-handed. But that’s not all.

However, its close proximity to the rear camera, and its swipe functionality means you will have to regularly clean the camera lens to avoid blurry pictures.

Hybrid SIM

As it was with the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) will be offered with a nano SIM + microSD tray, or a hybrid SIM tray, depending on region. If you want dual SIM, dual standby capability, you will need to get the model with the hybrid SIM tray.

The hybrid SIM tray allows you to either use a second SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time. The microSD slot officially supports microSD cards of up to 256 GB in size.

Next Page > Durability, Ergonomics, Setup, Memory & Storage

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IP68 Dust & Water Resistance

Like the Galaxy S8, the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) is IP68-rated for dust- and water-resistance. Best of all, you don’t even have to prepare it in any way before you dunk it into water! For more information how how Samsung achieved this feat, take a look at our article, Samsung Galaxy S7 IP68 Engineering Explained.

Officially, the Galaxy S9 can withstand complete immersion in water up to 1.5 m in depth, for up to 30 minutes. That means you can take it for jogs in the rain, reading in the shower or soaking in bath. Heck, you can even take it for a swim!

Ergonomics

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) has a 5.8″ bezel-less Infinity Display, so it does not feel like a large smartphone. In fact, it feels smaller than the 5.5″ Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and even 5.2″ smartphones like HTC 10. This means it will feel more comfortable in smaller hands, and fit better in smaller pockets.

The Gorilla Glass 5 back looks fabulous… at first. It is easily smudged by oily fingerprints, because it lacks the oleophobic coating of the front Gorilla Glass 5 cover protecting the display.

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Setting Up The Samsung Galaxy S9

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) comes with Android 8.0 Oreo installed. Let’s boot it up, and see how easy it is to set-up!

Available Memory & Storage

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4x memory, of which 1.5 GB (37.5%) is available for use. That is a lot of bloat, equal to that of the Galaxy S8. With that in mind, 1.5 GB of memory is plenty of memory to run several applications simultaneously. In fact, it is more memory than what some low-end smartphones ship with!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) comes with 64 GB of internal flash storage, with 48.8 GB of free space for you to use. That is enough space to store about 11,000 photos, or 6 hours of 1080p videos, or just over 2 hours of 4K videos. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 256 GB).

Next Page > Camera Performance – Photos + Videos

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Camera Performance – Photos

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) uses the 12 MP Samsung ISOCELL Fast SAK2L3 sensor in the dual aperture camera. It is capable of switching between the f/1.5 aperture, and the f/2.4 aperture.

The maximum 12 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio, with 4032 x 3024 pixels, and a file size of between 3 MB and 5 MB.

Here are 6 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

The new camera is just amazing. The detail and colour are top-notch, and the noise level is really low.

A word of caution – the f/1.5 aperture may offer great low-light performance, but it has a very narrow depth of field. If you don’t focus properly on your subject, it will end up blurred.

Too bad there’s no way to switch to the f/2.4 aperture for greater depth of field in the Auto mode. You can only switch apertures in the Pro mode.

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Camera Performance – Video Recording

Like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) is capable of recording 4K videos from both front and back cameras. However, Samsung still limits the 4K recording time to just 10 minutes. This was likely done to ensure that the sensor does not overheat the battery.

Below are four video samples, all taken without the use of gimbals.

Video Recording Test #1 : Piano (4K)

The camera’s resolution is really good. You can pick out the tiny signs in the background very clearly. It also demonstrated good control of the highlights – you can see into the Padini Concept Store in the background.

The optical and electronic image stabilisation capabilities also appear to have improved. It was almost as good as mounting the Galaxy S9 on a gimbal!

The recorded audio was clear, but still lacked the wider dynamic range of the HTC 10 (when HiRes Audio is enabled).

Video Recording Test #2 : Piano (1080p)

Even at this lower resolution, the amount of details captured by the Samsung Galaxy S9 is amazing. We also love how well it was able to control the highlights in the bright background. You can see the details that are usually washed out in other smartphones.

Video Recording Test #3 : Street Market (4K)

Look at how stable the recorded video was, even as we walked down this street market and looked around. It may not be as good as mounting the Galaxy S9 on a gimbal, but it comes real close!

Video Recording Test #4 : Street Market (1080p)

The 1080p walk-through appears to be even smoother than the 4K walk-through. So if you want the best-possible image stabilisation for your video, try recording in 1080p.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Samsung Galaxy S9’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0	ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018
Performance Score (Average)	5656	5618	5303	5197
Web Browsing	5708	5357	5155	5035
Video Editing	5888	5265	4998	4433
Writing	4509	4673	5158	5607
Photo Editing	10698	7560	7082	7238
Data Manipulation	3570	5616	4458	4183
	Review Price Check	Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check

When it comes to work applications, the Samsung Exynos 9810 powering the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) is about 6% faster than the Exynos 8895 used in the Samsung Galaxy S8. This puts it at par with the Snapdragon 625 powering the ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro.

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Galaxy S9’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy S9	ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro
Battery Life	12 hours 19 mins	10 hours 32 mins	9 hours 6 mins	8 hours 41 mins
	Review Price Check	Review Price Check	Price Check	Review Price Check

The Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) lasted just over 9 hours in our battery test. That is almost 1.5 hours shorter than the Samsung Galaxy S8, and over 3 hours shorter than the Samsung Galaxy A8 2018. It only managed to beat the ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro by 25 minutes…

Note : All four smartphones compared here have a 3,000 mAh battery.

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Battery Recharging Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S9 comes with an adaptive fast charger with a power output of 18 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged its 3,000 mAh battery.

It took the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) about 108 minutes (1 hour 48 minutes) to recharge its battery from 20% to 100%. This is 21 minutes longer than it takes the Galaxy S8 to recharge the same battery capacity.

This gives it a battery life : recharging ratio of 5 : 1 – a rather disappointing performance.

Note : Our Samsung Galaxy S9 sample did not come with its charger. We used the Samsung Galaxy S8‘s charger instead. We will retest when we receive the official Galaxy S9 charger.

Next Page > Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

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Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Galaxy S9’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy A8 2018	ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro
Gaming Score	39588	29509	14684	14015
Graphics	45577	33279	15201	13470
Physics	27116	21130	13121	16328
Graphics Test 1	267.9 fps	173.1 fps	134.4 fps	80.7 fps
Graphics Test 2	157.2 fps	124.3 fps	43.8 fps	46.0 fps
Physics Test	86.1 fps	67.1 fps	41.7 fps	51.8 fps
	Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check	Review Price Check

What the Samsung Galaxy S9 (

Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) Models

Samsung Galaxy S10 Colour Options

Samsung Galaxy S10 Price + Availability

Samsung Galaxy S10 (SM-G973) Up Close!

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Performance + Display Features

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New Flagship Exynos / Snapdragon Platforms

More Memory + Storage!

Infinity-O Display

Dynamic AMOLED Panel

Gorilla Glass 6 + Gorilla Glass 5

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera + Photography Features

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Cameras

HDR10+ Video Recording

Improved Super Slow-mo

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Security | DeX | Battery | IP68 | Ergonomics | Memory + Storage

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Ultrasonic In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

Iris Scanner + Intelligent Scan Removed

Built-In DeX Capability

Battery + Charging

IP68 Dust & Water Resistance

The Ergonomics

Available Memory + Storage

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Photo Samples

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Photo Samples

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Video Samples

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Camera Performance – Video Samples

Video Sample #1 : Piano (1080p)

Video Sample #2 : Piano (4K)

Video Sample #3 : Piano (1080p with HDR10+)

Video Sample #4 : Piano (4K with HDR10+)

Video Sample #5 : Street Market (1080p)

Video Sample #6 : Street Market (4K)

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Work Performance – PCMark

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

Battery Life – PCMark

Battery Recharging Performance

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Samsung Galaxy S10 – Our Verdict + Award

Where To Buy The Samsung S10?

Samsung Galaxy S10 Specification Comparison

Recommended Reading

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New Design, New Focus

OPPO R17 Pro Price + Availability

Unboxing The OPPO R17 Pro

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The OPPO R17 Pro Up Close!

OPPO R17 Pro Specifications

How To Setup The OPPO R17 Pro

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Waterdrop Notch + Thin Bezels

Qualcomm Snapdragon 710

Large Storage But No Expansion Option

In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

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The OPPO R17 Pro Front Camera

Three Cameras? Or Two?

Dual Aperture Main Camera

2X Telephoto Camera

Time-of-Flight Camera

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3D Misted Glass Design

Corning Gorilla Glass 6

SuperVOOC Battery

Ergonomics

Available Memory & Storage

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