Galaxy S9 and S9+ review: great design, display, and speed, better fingerprint sensor placement, but average battery life, gimmicks galore, Bixby still sucks
Dan Seifert / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
The Verge's Galaxy S9 verdict lands one year after its S8/S8+ review flagged the same two sore points: a fingerprint scanner in an awkward spot and a useless Bixby. The S9 fixes the first — the sensor moves below the camera — while the second persists, alongside 'gimmicks galore' and merely average battery life.
Read against the surrounding coverage, the review reads as a mid-cycle checkpoint rather than a leap: the design-display-speed strengths carry over from the S8 generation, and the next year's S10+ review would swap the relocated rear sensor for an unreliable in-screen one, keeping the fingerprint question open.
First-order effects
- Buyers upgrading from the S8 get the ergonomic fix they were promised — the fingerprint sensor now sits where fingers naturally rest — but no meaningful battery or software improvement over the phone they own.
Second-order effects
- Samsung's own review narrative forces the trade-off into the open: with the S9 pitched as refinement over reinvention, the carrier upgrade cycle leans on camera features the reviewer labels gimmicks, pressuring Samsung to make the S10 a bigger jump.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — incremental hardware polish paired with an assistant that reviewers keep panning — Samsung's flagship differentiation shifts to display and camera hardware, while voice-assistant credibility remains the unresolved gap across three straight generations.
The trend: Samsung's flagship reviews are converging on a template of excellent screens and cameras offset by persistent software weaknesses, with each generation solving one physical complaint while deferring the assistant problem.