Samsung Galaxy S9

What Hi-Fi?

Samsung has gone down the Apple route of only making minor tweaks, but this has resulted in one of the best Android phones this year

Mashable | Raymond Wong

After nine generations, Samsung's finally built the perfect Galaxy Android phone with the S9 and S9+.

Ubergizmo | Hubert Nguyen

Best smartphone design + best performance + best camera. It's that simple.

T3 | Robert Jones

Viewed in snapshot, the Samsung Galaxy S9 is simply a refined version of last year's S8. However, look closer and you see that the Samsung S9 not only delivers a standout, party-piece camera system, but also a selection of innovative features. Samsung has just delivered the most premium and polished phone of 2018.

IT PRO | Raymond Wong

After nine generations, Samsung's finally built the perfect Galaxy Android phone with the S9 and S9+.

Stuff | Tom Morgan

Easily the best all-round Android phone you can buy today.

NotebookCheck | Daniel Schmidt

Samsung has to rollout updates to fix the short battery runtime, because the Galaxy S9 has the potential to be a great smartphone.

Eurogamer | Damien McFerran

It's an evolution rather than a complete overhaul, but the S9 Plus is built on solid foundations and should be more than enough to keep the Android faithful happy - until Google lifts the lid on this year's Pixel offering, of course.

TechnoBuffalo | Brandon Russell

Consider the Galaxy S9 Plus more of a Galaxy 8S. There are obvious improvements, but they don't meaningfully change the experience over anything Samsung has done in the past year. The company has simply raised the bar so high that even something as good as the Galaxy S9 Plus feels a little underwhelming.

Recombu | Chris Barraclough

This blower doesn't offer any essential new features compared with the previous flagship, and it sure ain't cheap either. However, if you're tempted by a Galaxy and you have money to burn, we'd say go right ahead. The Galaxy S9 is a sexy, lovable bundle of seriously premium tech, and it should certainly stand the test of time.

NDTV Gadgets | Roydon Cerejo

Samsung hasn't made any drastic changes to the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ compared to their predecessors, and the company didn't really need to do much. Right now, these are among the best Android smartphones you can get for your money.

Gizmodo UK | Sam Rutherford

AR Emojis aside, this phone sounds great! It's clear, Samsung is back out in front. However for people who own an S8, the decision isn't quite as clear.

Android Authority | Jimmy Westenberg, Joshua Vergara

The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are predictable, iterative devices. But is that so bad when their predecessors were two of the best phones of last year? We certainly don't think so. However, they're not perfect, but these are two of the best Android phones for most users.

SlashGear | Chris Davies

The Galaxy S9 is among the best smartphones on the market today, and if it somehow lacks that certain "wow" factor that's only by virtue of it standing on the shoulders of an already excellent handset. That can only be good news for upgraders.

Pocket-lint | Cam Bunton

While it's not perfect, the Galaxy S9 is a fantastic device. It's got a brilliant display, great camera, brilliant performance all-round, and in a body that's easily one of the most elegant ever released. Its stereo sound makes such a difference to media consumption too.

phoneArena | Rado Slavov

Samsung has once again managed to craft desirable handsets with the S9 and S9+; one can hardly find anything remotely as elegant, as advanced, and as polished, all in a single product, on the Android market.

PCWorld | Michael Simon

The Galaxy S9 is an evolution rather than a revolution, but Samsung has upgraded it in all the right places.

AVForums | David Phelan

This is an attractive, if pricey, phone that delivers in terms of power and performance.

Android Central | Andrew Martonik

The best-selling Android phone of 2017 just got better. A fantastic phone for the masses, but not an exciting one. Discerning phone buyers may consider a Pixel 2 or 2 XL instead, and for good reason, but nobody will be unhappy with a Galaxy S9 or S9+.

Engadget | Cherlynn Low

Despite not feeling like a major improvement over last year's flagship, the Galaxy S9 is still one of the best phones around.

CNET UK | Jessica Dolcourt

The Galaxy S9 is a nice incremental upgrade, but its low-light camera isn't a game changer and some new features fall far behind the iPhone X. S8 owners can skip, but it's a good upgrade from older Androids.

The Verge | Dan Seifert

Owners of the S8 probably don't need to upgrade this go-around - the differences aren't great enough to warrant splurging on the S9 - but if you're using a Galaxy S7 or any other phone from two years ago, the S9 is a significant step up in every respect.

Know Your Mobile | Damien McFerran

Smaller than its sibling but just as perfectly formed, the S9 is ideal for those who want a pocket rocket and don't mind missing out on dual-lens action.

PC Mag | Sascha Segan

The Samsung Galaxy S9 improves on the S8's camera and audio, and the S9+ adds dual cameras, but the phones aren't a huge step forward for Samsung.

V3

The Galaxy S9+, like its predecessor, is an excellent smartphone with a fabulous screen and great performance. It's also more power-efficient and can be charged all the way up to 100 per cent in around 80 minutes.

Wired | Brendan Nystedt

If you're on last year's Galaxy S8 or an iPhone 8, you're not going to get a whole lot out of this phone. But if you're struggling along on something significantly older, the S9 will feel like a huge upgrade.

Tom's Guide | Mark Spoonauer

While AR Emoji and other tricks don't impress, the Galaxy S9+'s improved camera, brighter display and faster performance add up to make this a worthy iPhone X rival.

Trusted Reviews | Max Parker

Samsung is once again likely to have one of the best Android phones of the year. But I don't think it's the clear winner the S8 was.

Digital Trends | Julian Chokkattu

The Galaxy S9 is a perfect-sized phone with a fantastic camera and great performance.

TechRadar | Gareth Beavis

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is a great phone, but one that hasn't really kicked on from the Galaxy S8. A top, top phone, but the S9 Plus outshines it.

Mobile Syrup | Patrick O'Rourke

While it's difficult to find a significant fault with the S9, it clearly isn't as exciting as other Android devices on the market, or even the S7 or S8 were when they were first released.

Wired UK | Matt Reynolds

The new camera is definitely an improvement on the S8, particularly when it comes to low light photography, but it's not quite the reimagining that Samsung is billing it as. Really, the S9 is just another top-drawer Android phone in the era of incremental gains.

Expert Reviews | Nathan Spendelow

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is an impressive handset, but there's not enough here to justify the steep price. That makes it hard to wholeheartedly recommend the Galaxy S9.

Alphr | Jonathan Bray

A great smartphone, but the Samsung Galaxy S9's improvements over the S8 are marginal, and it's much more expensive as well. For now, Samsung's latest flagship smartphone isn't one I'd recommend you buy. It's simply too expensive.

AnandTech | Andrei Frumusanu

If you come from older generation devices you will see significant upgrades, but as a flagship coming at a price premium we expect a no-compromise device, and here is where the [UK version of the Galaxy S9] doesn't tick all boxes. The battery life regression that we measured is the single most concerning aspect of the device. Here buyers will need to consider the device with caution and well-thought out consideration and should maybe apply a wait & see approach over the coming months - for one to see if Samsung resolves the issues via software, and secondly, to await the release of competitor's new product lines for possible better alternatives.