Camera comparison: Galaxy S9 vs the Galaxy S8

While the Galaxy S8 didn’t bring major improvements to the rear camera over the Galaxy S7, at least not on the hardware front, the Galaxy S9 marks a notable leap forward for both Samsung phones and phone cameras in general. That’s thanks to the new Dual Aperture lens that allows the Galaxy S9’s rear camera to switch between an aperture of f/1.5, the lowest ever on a smartphone, and f/2.4, so that it takes crisper images with low noise levels in poor lighting and well-exposed pictures in bright conditions. Samsung has also built in dedicated memory for the camera so that it can combine data from up to 12 images to create one final image for results better than what the Galaxy S8 or any previous Samsung phone (other than the Samsung W2018) could manage.

Comparison: Galaxy S9 camera vs. the Galaxy S8

How much improvement can one expect in real-world usage, however? We set out to take a few pictures with both the Galaxy S8+ and S9+ to answer that question. Like we had said in our review, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ capture photos with more accurate colors. As you can see in many of the images below, comparing Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S8 camera images side-by-side really tells you how Samsung has dialed things down on the new flagship as far as color reproduction is concerned.

In daylight images, when the phone is shooting at f/2.4 aperture, you may not see a lot of difference. Images may not be as overexposed as they would be with the f/1.7 aperture on the Galaxy S8 camera, and they can also have more detail in far-off objects, but you wouldn’t be able to tell in most pictures. Low-light photography is where the Galaxy S9 puts its camera hardware to good use. The Galaxy S9 doesn’t always get you more light in an image compared to its predecessor when shooting at f/1.5. Instead, since the phone can shoot at a wider aperture (meaning the opening through which light enters the camera is bigger), it doesn’t increase the ISO levels as much as the Galaxy S8 does.

Increasing the ISO, which is directly proportionate to sensor brightness, can increase noise in a picture, and since the wider aperture makes up for the lower ISO value, the result is a cleaner image with lower noise and sharper details. The Galaxy S9 does ramp up the ISO in extremely dark scenes, however, where the higher ISO works with the wider aperture to give you better-lit photos compared to the Galaxy S8.

Well, go ahead and check out all the photos below to see how the Galaxy S9’s rear camera compares to the Galaxy S8’s. Slide right in each image to look at the Galaxy S9 photo and slide left for the picture from the Galaxy S8. Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts down in the comments section.

Note: Our website doesn’t currently allow bigger images for comparison, so we’ve uploaded all the photos you see below in this Google Photos album. It’s also available in this Google Drive folder, so you can download it on your PC and check things out in more detail (the photo with the A suffix is from the S9 and the one with B is the S8 image). Furthermore, while the devices used in this comparison were the Plus models of the two phones, the regular models will offer the same camera performance. 

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Samsung phone repair gets a lot easier starting tomorrow

Samsung is making it much easier to get an in-person repair done on your smartphone, provided that you’re based in the United States. The company has teamed up with uBreakiFix to offer in-person authorized support at more than 300 uBreakiFix locations across the country. It says that most customers will be able to get a Samsung phone repair done in two hours or less.

Starting tomorrow, March 15, Samsung customers will be able to take their Galaxy smartphones to more than 300 Samsung Care authorized uBreakiFix locations across the United States for same-day support.

Samsung phone repair

They can schedule appointments online or just walk-in and drop-off their device at a location. Samsung says that all of these repair locations will use genuine parts from the company and proprietary tools for the job. The repair work will be done by “Samsung certified pros.”

The Samsung phone repair work that will be carried out at these locations will include front and back screen replacements, battery replacements, port and camera repairs for both in and out of warranty devices.

Authorized uBreakiFix service locations are present in all major metro areas in the country. Samsung and its partner aim to add almost 200 additional locations across the country by next year. Devices that will be accepted include the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9 (all associated variants) as well as the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy Note 8.

This is a good move on Samsung’s part to provide better support to its customers in the United States. One of the reasons why Apple users tend to hold on to their products is the assurance of prompt support. They can walk into an Apple Store and get repair work done in-person. Samsung doesn’t have that kind of retail presence in the United States but this partnership will enable it to provide quick repair service to customers in this key market.

The only caveat here is that no mid-range or even premium mid-range devices will be accepted at these locations so if you own any Samsung device other than the ones mentioned above, you’ll have to go to a third-party repair shop.

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Galaxy J7 Neo gets March 2018 security patch

Samsung is rolling out the March 2018 security patch for yet another mid-range handset today. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the company has developed a habit recently of rolling out the latest security maintenance releases to its mid-range devices first. The March 2018 security patch is now available for download for the Galaxy J7 Neo bearing model number SM-J701M.

Galaxy J7 Neo March 2017 security patch

If you’ve never heard of this device but the model number sounds familiar that’s because the SM-J701 has been released in other markets as the Galaxy J7 Core and the Galaxy J7 Nxt. The Neo branding was used for Latin American markets.

It’s a textbook mid-range device with an Exynos 7870 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The device also features a 5.5 inch 720×1280 pixel resolution display, a 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera.

Samsung has rolled out firmware version J701MUBU3ARC1 for the Galaxy J7 Neo in Peru. The update is being rolled out now over-the-air and it’s also available for download from our firmware section.

The security maintenance release for the month of March 2018 fixes nine critical vulnerabilities in the Android operating system aside from patching many high-risk and moderate-risk vulnerabilities. Fixes for five Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items are also onboard.

Expect Samsung to roll out the March 2018 security patch to more compatible smartphones in the coming weeks.

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Running Oreo on the Galaxy S8? Don’t forget to try out Dual Messenger

Some messaging and social networking apps, like Instagram, allow you to run two different accounts on the same device. Others, like WhatsApp or Snapchat, are stricter in this regard, letting you use only one account. There have been many solutions to get around that limitation, such as Samsung’s Secure Folder, which creates a secure environment on the phone in which data and apps are completely separate from those outside Secure Folder. Samsung introduced a much simpler option to use two accounts inside various social networking and messaging apps last year in the form of Dual Messenger, and it’s a feature that’s now standard on all devices that run Android 8.0 Oreo.

Dual Messenger is a standard Android 8.0 Oreo feature

Only the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have been updated to Oreo, and not in every region, but we wanted to remind those who are running Oreo on their phone to be sure to try out Dual Messenger. We have already covered this as part of our What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo series of articles, but since the feature isn’t very easy to find, we thought a reminder was in order. How does Dual Messenger work? It basically installs two copies of an app on the device through some under-the-hood trickery, so you can log in to two different accounts by using each instance of the app. Since both versions are treated as individual apps, you can switch between them as you would between two different apps.

On the Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can even limit the contacts that are shared with the duplicated version of an app, something that should make its way to the Galaxy S8 with a software update at some point. However, Dual Messenger doesn’t support apps that already support multiple user accounts. We wish it did, as simply using two versions of the app can be a quicker process than switching between accounts from inside an app. Some of the apps that work with Dual Messenger include Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat, and you’ll likely find it supports any of the other instant messaging apps you may be using, such as Hike.

To access Dual Messenger, open the Settings app on your phone, go into the Advanced features menu, then tap Dual Messenger. To enable the feature for a particular app, simply use the toggle next to it. Once the cloned version of the app is installed, you can find it in the app drawer with a chain icon in the bottom-right corner.

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Samsung SmartThings and Harman team up to advance the Internet of Things

Harman International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, has announced that it’s teaming up with SmartThings to further advance the Internet of Things. This is a collaboration between companies owned by Samsung as many of you might be aware that IoT darling SmartThings was acquired by Samsung back in 2014.

This engineering partnership is between Samsung SmartThings R&D team and Harman Connected Services, a division of the auto-component giant that works with countless enterprises across the globe to accelerate the transformation to a more connected world through cloud, mobility and analytics solutions.

Samsung SmartThings and Harman to advance IoT

Harman International was acquired by Samsung for $8 billion last year, it was the largest acquisition the firm has ever made. It has since been adopting the company’s solutions into its own portfolio, starting with AKG-tuned speaker in flagship Galaxy devices.

The US-based company’s technology is expected to trickle down to other Samsung products as well. The company is working on a Bixby-powered smart speaker which is likely going to rely on Harman’s audio prowess.

Samsung is a leader in the Internet of Things space courtesy of SmartThings with a presence in more than one million homes across the globe. The SmartThings Cloud is connected to more than 10 million devices.

As part of this collaboration, a global team of Harman Connected Services engineers will work with the SmartThings team to develop and support the SmartThings app and device development. They will also work on integrating third-party devices into the ecosystem and develop new features for SmartThings Cloud. They will also work together to create future roadmap features for the hub, core and embedded components.

“By partnering with HARMAN Connected Services for SmartThings application and device development, we’re able to bring the latest smart device innovations directly to consumers,” said Samsung SmartThings COT Robert Parker.

Harman and Samsung SmartThings are committed to revolutionizing the Internet of Things and cloud space for both consumers, enterprise and car manufacturers. They will continue to work together to create and implement new technologies for various industries and customers.

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