Best smartphone display ever? It’s on the Galaxy S9, as expected

The pace at which Samsung has been making improvements to its flagship smartphone displays, it was only a matter of time before things reached a peak, and that seems to have finally happened with the Galaxy S9. DisplayMate, the experts who go through the pains of testing smartphone displays so we don’t have to, say the Galaxy S9 has the best display of any smartphone ever. To be fair, Samsung’s flagships have been taking home the mantle of best display for a long time now, and it was only the Apple iPhone X, which features an OLED made by Samsung, that managed to steal the limelight and put a blemish on its archrival’s long-standing track record.

Color accuracy “visually indistinguishable from perfect”

Since the iPhone X’s OLED display was deemed to be so darned good by many publications, we were expecting Samsung to hit it out the park with the Galaxy S9. We weren’t expecting it to do so well, however – according to DisplayMate, the color accuracy of the Infinity display on the Galaxy S9 is “visually indistinguishable from perfect.” That’s high praise indeed, but we’re not too surprised that color accuracy has reached a point where further improvements seem unimportant. That’s not to say the Galaxy S10 (or whatever the next one is called) won’t top what the S9 offers. In fact, we wouldn’t put it past Samsung to impress us again much earlier with the Galaxy Note 9.

Other than the “perfect” color accuracy, the Galaxy S9 display also achieves 20 percent higher brightness over the Galaxy S8 display in high brightness mode. That’s when the display goes into overdrive when you step outdoors and into bright sunlight, and the S9 can reach 1,130 nits of brightness in such situations. The 1,000 nits+ brightness is also what gives the Galaxy S9 true Mobile HDR certification, just like the Galaxy Note 8, although DisplayMate recorded the Note 8 display reaching over 1,200 nits. The S9’s screen also has the lowest brightness and color shifts with a change in viewing angles for a smartphone.

The source link has all the in-depth info you need to learn exactly why the Galaxy S9 is so good when it comes to the viewing experience. Don’t forget that Samsung’s latest flagship also has stronger front glass and higher shock resistance, so that beautiful display is also more resilient. Not that we would recommend using the phone without a case, but hey, instead of letting us dictate how you use a phone you might be paying nearly a thousand dollars for, check out if you can save a few bucks when buying the S9 or S9+ through the deals we’ve curated over in this post.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S9 hands-on

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McAfee extends partnership with Samsung

Samsung has been preloading the McAfee anti-malware solution on their Galaxy smartphones for some years now. In case if you haven’t observed it, you can find it in the Device Maintenance menu in the settings, under the Device Security option. While some users may label it as bloat, Samsung believes it offers an additional layer of security to its users.

McAfee will come pre-installed on Galaxy S9

At the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, McAfee has announced that it is extending its partnership with Samsung to safeguard its users from cyber security threats on smartphones, smart TVs, PCs, and notebooks.

Accordingly, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 8 will come pre-installed with anti-malware protection powered by McAfee VirusScan. Samsung will also pre-install Secure Wi-Fi, a VPN service which relies on backend infrastructure from McAfee. Previously, this app was apparently preloaded on the Galaxy Note 8 only in the US, but we’ve seen it come to devices in Europe and elsewhere through recent software updates. The Secure Wi-Fi VPN service will offer 250MB of monthly bandwidth for free, with the option to purchase an unlimited plan.

McAfee Security for TV, which was launched in the US and South Korea last year, will now come pre-installed on Samsung SmartTVs in 175 countries. Finally, Samsung’s 2018 PCs and notebooks will also come preinstalled with a 60-day trial version of McAfee LiveSafe, a cross-device security offering.

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2018 Samsung QLED TVs will be revealed on March 7

At CES 2018, Samsung showcased its vision for TVs and other home appliances in the IoT era. Though the company showcased ‘The Wall,’ its first 146-inch modular MicroLED TV, and an 8K QLED TV at the event, it didn’t launch any of the mainstream QLED TVs for 2018 at the event. The more mainstream SmartTVs were expected to launch at a later date.

2018 Samsung QLED TVs will feature Bixby

Earlier this month, a report from Korea stated that Samsung is going to launch a new Bixby-powered TV in New York in March. In line with the news, Samsung has scheduled an event titled ‘The First Look’ for March 7 at the American Stock Exchange in Manhattan, New York. It will be part of Samsung’s global launch event for its 2018 QLED TV lineup.

Samsung has already outlined the new features coming to the 2018 SmartTV lineup. In line with the messaging at CES 2018, Bixby will play a central role in the new SmartTV experience. Most of the features are centered around a connected and AI-driven lifestyle powered by Bixby and SmartThings. Some of these features include using Bixby for seamless setup, effortless content discovery and sharing, smart home control, etc.

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Samsung expands DeX capabilities with Linux on Galaxy

Samsung launched the DeX platform along with the Galaxy S8 and S8+. It allows users to connect their Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S9+ to a monitor and use Android apps in a PC-like environment. The idea behind DeX is to transform the smartphone into a mobile computing device when connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Developers can now code on the go

With the new Dex Pad launched along with the Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung changed the form factor from a docking station to a pad. Instead of docking the phone, the new Dex Pad requires users to place it flat like on a wireless charging pad. It also allows for the smartphone screen to be used as a touchpad and keyboard when in the desktop environment.

Along with the form factor changes and other improvements, Samsung is also trying to expand the DeX ecosystem with the Linux on Galaxy initiative. Installed as an app, Linux on Galaxy allows users to run desktop Linux software on their Galaxy flagship smartphones and in the DeX environment.

Samsung says Linux on Galaxy can run multiple operating systems, probably referring to the different Linux distros. The company believes Linux on Galaxy will enable developers to code on-the-go on their phones and effortlessly switch the task to a larger display with Dex.

Samsung says Linux on Galaxy is still a work in progress, and those interested in the idea can sign-up here.

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Benchmark reveals new Galaxy J8 may be in development

It appears Samsung is gearing up to revamp the Galaxy J series this year. Benchmarking websites are flooded with seemingly new Galaxy J series models which may launch sometime soon. Many of these devices were also part of the unannounced Galaxy devices list found in the leaked Galaxy Note 8 Oreo firmware.

After the alleged Galaxy J4, Galaxy J6, and the US variant of the new Galaxy J3, a device bearing the model number SM-J800FN has been spotted in the Geekbench database. If we go by the current model numbers and respective names, the SM-J800FN will probably launch as the Galaxy J8. Apart from the benchmark listing, there is also evidence supporting firmware development for the Galaxy J8.

Powered by an Exynos 7870 chipset

As per the benchmark result, the Galaxy J8 is powered by an Exynos 7870 processor clocked at 1.6 GHz and 3GB of RAM. The device runs Android 8.0, which should (hopefully) be a given for any new Galaxy device from here on. The Exynos 7870 is an octa-core processor that is already used in other Galaxy J series phones like the Galaxy J5 (2017), Galaxy J7 (2017), and Galaxy J7 Prime, etc. The revealed specs are similar to the current Galaxy J7 and other J series phones, begging the question if this is another rebranded Galaxy J series phone for a specific market or a retailer.

Samsung Galaxy J series is already a crowded lineup with dozens of models and dozens of variants which differ from market to market. Some of these models have such minor differences making you question Samsung’s rationale behind creating a new device altogether.

While Samsung may be aggressively working on the new Galaxy J series phones, there is no guarantee any of these offerings will help the company in combating the products from the Chinese OEMs like Xiaomi. Smartphones from the Chinese players offer better value for money than any of the Samsung’s budget options. So, unless Samsung ensures better prices or more specifications, Chinese OEMs may continue to pose a threat to Samsung.

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Here’s how small the Galaxy S9’s bezels are compared to the Galaxy S8

The Galaxy S8 was a significant milestone in smartphone design, not just for Samsung but the entire industry. So, when Samsung announced the Galaxy S9 and S9+ on Sunday, they didn’t change much in terms of design compared to the predecessors.

The Galaxy S9 does bring some design changes to the table, but they are all subtle refinements to the Galaxy S8’s design, like a repositioned fingerprint reader, increased durability, and also slightly smaller bezels. The bezels on the Galaxy S8 were already quite small even after packing a crazy amount of tech. The S9 and S9+ come with even smaller/narrower bezels while adding more tech to the front of the phone.

Smaller, less distracting bezels

Exactly how small are the bezels on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+? The top bezel on the Galaxy S9 is 8.18 mm, 0.48 mm narrower than the Galaxy S8. The bottom bezel is 6.96 mm, which is 0.76 mm smaller than its predecessor. The narrower bezels together make the Galaxy S9 1.2 mm shorter than the S8 while retaining the same display size.

The Galaxy S9+, on the other hand, has an 8.21 mm bezel at the top and 6.99 mm bezel at the bottom, resulting in 0.39 mm and 1.01 mm smaller bezels respectively compared to the Galaxy S8+. This makes the Galaxy S9+ 1.4 mm shorter compared to the S8+; once again, the display size remains the same.

The story about bezels doesn’t stop there. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ also have less visually distracting elements in the top bezel. Samsung has applied a low-reflective film to make the display flow more seamlessly into the bezel. The company also managed to make the iris sensor blend into the bezel in a manner that makes it impossible to know the sensor is there when it’s not scanning your eyes.

The Galaxy S9 duo may have smaller bezels, but the rear camera protrudes 0.2 mm and 0.15 mm more than the S8 and S8+ respectively. Samsung attributes this increased camera protrusion to the high-speed sensor and Dual Aperture in the Galaxy S9. Not a bad trade-off we think.

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