It’s no secret that the Galaxy S9 will soon release, with an impending announcement less than a month away. While the S9 is the latest flagship from Samsung, the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy X are also coming this year. Which phone will be the best?
The Galaxy S9
As mentioned above, the Galaxy S9 should launch within a month. While the phone is shaping up to be the most powerful Samsung handset yet, the leaks and rumors we’ve seen thus far seem to show a phone quite similar to this existing generation’s S8. Samsung has arrived at a formula that works for them, and has seen great sales over the past few years with releases that provide an incremental upgrade over the previous model. However, there’s been a notable lack of innovation in recent years.
With the Galaxy S9, Samsung hopes to capture the attention of the smartphone market with the best camera on the market. With various enhancements to both the lens and camera software, those who are looking for a device for the ultimate in phone photography will likely be more than happy with Samsung’s latest flagship. However, considering the great strides competitor Apple has made with this most recent generation of phone, Samsung might need something a little more impressive than an upgraded camera if they’d like to draw more customers over to their side.
Overall, in terms of design, the Galaxy S9 looks shockingly similar to the S8. With upgraded performance and camera specifications, it’s clear that it will be a notable upgrade over older phones. With an anticipated price of over $700, however, it’s questionable whether or not it’s worth purchasing if you’re already using an S8. While the new processor and better camera may be reason enough for many, it’s a significant investment for a product that doesn’t really add anything new.
Overall, while the Galaxy S9 has a lot of potential, it’s probably the least impressive of the three phones expected to release this year.
Galaxy Note 9
While the S9 represents Samsung’s more traditional smartphone line, the Galaxy Note 9 is the latest in a line of larger phones that sport a signature stylus. The Note 8 was a massive success, which was a much-needed win for Samsung after the fiasco of the Galaxy Note 7. With battery issues that required a total recall and overall shutdown of that generation of popular line, the company lost a significant amount of money that it needs to recoup with the next generation.
The Galaxy Note 8 certainly improved upon its predecessor (although any phone that didn’t explode would be an upgrade), and the Galaxy Note 9 is also shaping up to be a high-end handset that is sure to impress the smartphone market.
The Galaxy Note 9 is likely still quite a few months off, and will probably not release until summer or fall of 2018 in order to avoid stepping on the toes of the S9.
While we doubt the Note 9 will provide some sort of technology that’s quite as innovative as the iPhone X’s FaceID, the later release date of the S9 gives Samsung a little more time to add in some new features that separate the 9 from the 8. With reports that the company is working on an in-display fingerprint scanner, that technology applied to the Galaxy Note 9 could give the phone something to set it apart from the competition.
Overall, we’re expecting that the Galaxy Note 9 will perform better than the S9. With the extra time to implement new technology, it’s likely we’ll see a big step forward with the Galaxy Note 9 at its release later this year.
Galaxy X
While the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 are likely to be a step up from the current generation of phones, the Samsung Galaxy X will innovate in a way that we haven’t seen in quite some time from the Korean tech giant. Rumors of Samsung’s foldable phone have been floating around the web for the past few months, and it seems as if the Galaxy X will actually hit the market at some point in 2018.
A few weeks ago at CEO, the Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh had stated that, “It is difficult to talk about the date of the launch now. We want to unveil the products properly but now seems a bit early…We want to have a good reaction from customers once the phone is out in the market. But there are still durability issues that we need to address.”
However, just a few days later the earnings report for the company came out which seemed to confirm the release of the Galaxy X this year.
“The OLED panel business will strengthen its competitiveness in the premium segment with the release of foldable panels, and focus on expanding new applications in areas such as automotive electronics by capitalizing on its technology and cost competitiveness.
As for the Mobile business, Samsung will continue its efforts to differentiate its smartphones by adopting cutting-edge technologies, such as foldable OLED displays. It will also drive forward new businesses related to AI/IoT by strengthening the ecosystem based on Bixby and building on Samsung’s 5G technology.”
The Galaxy X will provide the world’s first foldable flagship and may lead the charge to a revolutionized smartphone market. However, we anticipate that there will be some issues that need to be ironed out with the launch of a bendable display. For this reason, we feel that the Galaxy Note 9 will be the best option this generation while the Galaxy X remains more of a niche product. With a combination of potential new features and the latest in power and performance, the Galaxy Note 9 may shape up to be a worthy competitor to the anticipated release of three new smartphones from Apple.
As interesting as it is to speculate about these smartphones’ performance, it will be difficult to determine which Samsung flagship will reign supreme. It’s likely that all phones will do well, however, as the company takes advantage of their track record of success combined with groundbreaking innovation with the Galaxy X.
