Review – Samsung S9+

In conclusion..

The Samsung S9+ is an incredible phone, without argument. It improves on the Samsung S8+, without question. One area that is still an annoyance is the Bixby Button. Bixby is Samsung’s answer to the Google Assistant or Siri. It’s still in Beta, and just feels like a massive waste of time – the phone already has the Google Assistant! Having two ‘Assistants’ seems a bit ridiculous. Having a physical button on the side of the phone to ‘open’ it serves as nothing but an annoyance. You’ll often go to turn the volume down and hit the wrong button, firing up Bixby. You CAN disable it (not without having to agree to some Terms and Conditions first), or download a 3rd Party App to re-map it. It just feels pointless having a button there.

Also added to the Samsung S9+ is the ‘AR Emoji’, which will scan your face and create some Emojis based on how you look. It’s a cute addition, and seems to work okay – however it’s one of those things you’ll play with a few times and forget about. One of my AR Emojis is below – you’ll see that it’s made a fairly accurate representation of me!

Bixby and a few other niggles aside, the Samsung S9+ is an amazing handset – I’d recommend it. The thing is though, if you’ve got Samsung S8+ already you can probably skip it. Whilst improvements have been made, there aren’t enough, in my opinion, to warrant an upgrade. So whilst I was sad to return the handset to Three, I wasn’t heartbroken. The Samsung S9+ is an evolution of the Samsung S8+, not a revolution. If you’re running an S7 or older handset, then this could rock your socks without a doubt.

Thanks to Three for sending me the phone to review – I’ve not been compensated for it, all words and opinions are my own!