5 Reasons To Buy Samsung's Galaxy S9 Over The Google Pixel 2
Samsung Galaxy S9. Photo credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew
Samsung Galaxy S9 or Pixel 2? If you’re an Android fan, this is the question you'll be asking yourself right now.
But how do the last two true titans of Android stack up against each when it comes to value for money? Let’s run through the five best features the Galaxy S9 has over the Pixel 2.
Don’t forget to check out my reverse breakdown coming soon and my head-to-head between the iPhone X and Galaxy S9.
The super slow lane
There’s a good chance you’ll have seen Samsung’s new slow-motion feature on the S9, which can record footage in 720p at 960fps, stretch out 0.2 seconds of footage into 6 and auto predict when to start slow-motion recording. In action, it’s impressive, just take a look at Ian Morris popping a water balloon in slow motion below.
Up against Google’s Pixel 2, in terms of slow motion recording, the S9 blows it out of the water. The Pixel 2 can only record 240 fps at 720p.
Slow motion ability is perhaps not an obvious reason to purchase one device over another, but as someone who extensively tested the feature on Sony’s XZ Premium, I can say it’s one of those features you didn’t know you needed until you had it.
When I captured a dramatic moment during a largely drama-free game of table tennis, I was a convert. As with anything camera related on smartphones, having a good slow motion feature is good WhatsApp and social media fodder, so keep it in the back of your mind when it’s time to upgrade.
Headphone jack
If you’ve battled with connecting your wireless headphones to your phone or lost an AirPod- you’ll understand the importance of a headphone jack. If your Monday morning commute to work isn’t painful enough, try not having enough power to listen to that same playlist you’re already sick of hearing.
We can argue the toss about audio quality and saved internal space, but, for me, this the 3.5mm connection is a basic necessity. I appreciate phone manufacturers taking leaps of faith to move technology - and the industry - forward, but this is one of those (rare) issues I’m happy to be a conservative about. #BringBackTheJack - or, you know, just buy a Samsung Galaxy S9 instead of a Pixel 2 or iPhone X/8/7.
Desktop
Samsung has smarty, and dramatically, improved its phone docking station that turns the Galaxy S9 into a desktop PC - known as the Dex Pad. The previous iteration required a mouse and keyboard, and a fairly clunky docking station. The new device can use the phone as both a trackpad and a keyboard, as well as a being smaller, flat re-imagination of the previous docking station.
Technically, it can also power 2560x1440 monitors, whereas the old DeX could only power 1080p screens. This widens the scope of where DeX can be used and therefore reduces its barrier to entry, which is the entire point of the device. Samsung has built a largely pain-free desktop experience with the least amount of additional gear and rigmarole needed.
Storage wars double sim
Samsung’s life-long policy of doing everything, all of the time, all at once, makes me as a consumer happy. As others either don't embrace or ditch expandable memory, Samsung not only kept it alive but upped capacity to 400GB in the S9.
Chances are you have your pictures, videos and phone backups on the cloud - but having a physical option is always welcome. For someone like me who uses a lot of SD cards for video work, being able to save and review files without the need to boot up my PC is also incredibly useful.
Staying within the spirit of doing everything, Samsung has also added dual-sim capabilities to the S9 (in some markets), which means you can run two seperate sim cards at once and have two seperate numbers. If you travel, or - for reasons I won’t ask - you often switch numbers - this a very consumer friendly addition.
Always listening, desperate to be liked
I touched on this with my iPhone X comparison and expanded on it in another article, but Samsung is perhaps the most pro-consumer phone manufacturer around. It’s simple, Samsung listens. Let’s take the S9 for example, Samsung took the criticism of the fingerprint sensor and moved it, it also kept the headphone jack.
Samsung has form here, too. It kept the removable battery in the Galaxy S5 when others were heading over to a locked design, it also bought back expandable storage after removing it in the Galaxy S6. Where Apple and Google forges ahead with new concepts - that may or may not work - and forces them upon their customers, Samsung is so eager to please its entire strategy and roadmap is completely malleable. For consumers, that’s a good trait.
">Samsung Galaxy S9. Photo credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew
Samsung Galaxy S9 or Pixel 2? If you’re an Android fan, this is the question you'll be asking yourself right now.
But how do the last two true titans of Android stack up against each when it comes to value for money? Let’s run through the five best features the Galaxy S9 has over the Pixel 2.
Don’t forget to check out my reverse breakdown coming soon and my head-to-head between the iPhone X and Galaxy S9.
The super slow lane
There’s a good chance you’ll have seen Samsung’s new slow-motion feature on the S9, which can record footage in 720p at 960fps, stretch out 0.2 seconds of footage into 6 and auto predict when to start slow-motion recording. In action, it’s impressive, just take a look at Ian Morris popping a water balloon in slow motion below.
Up against Google’s Pixel 2, in terms of slow motion recording, the S9 blows it out of the water. The Pixel 2 can only record 240 fps at 720p.
Slow motion ability is perhaps not an obvious reason to purchase one device over another, but as someone who extensively tested the feature on Sony’s XZ Premium, I can say it’s one of those features you didn’t know you needed until you had it.
When I captured a dramatic moment during a largely drama-free game of table tennis, I was a convert. As with anything camera related on smartphones, having a good slow motion feature is good WhatsApp and social media fodder, so keep it in the back of your mind when it’s time to upgrade.
Headphone jack
If you’ve battled with connecting your wireless headphones to your phone or lost an AirPod- you’ll understand the importance of a headphone jack. If your Monday morning commute to work isn’t painful enough, try not having enough power to listen to that same playlist you’re already sick of hearing.
We can argue the toss about audio quality and saved internal space, but, for me, this the 3.5mm connection is a basic necessity. I appreciate phone manufacturers taking leaps of faith to move technology - and the industry - forward, but this is one of those (rare) issues I’m happy to be a conservative about. #BringBackTheJack - or, you know, just buy a Samsung Galaxy S9 instead of a Pixel 2 or iPhone X/8/7.
Desktop
Samsung has smarty, and dramatically, improved its phone docking station that turns the Galaxy S9 into a desktop PC - known as the Dex Pad. The previous iteration required a mouse and keyboard, and a fairly clunky docking station. The new device can use the phone as both a trackpad and a keyboard, as well as a being smaller, flat re-imagination of the previous docking station.
Technically, it can also power 2560x1440 monitors, whereas the old DeX could only power 1080p screens. This widens the scope of where DeX can be used and therefore reduces its barrier to entry, which is the entire point of the device. Samsung has built a largely pain-free desktop experience with the least amount of additional gear and rigmarole needed.
Storage wars double sim
Samsung’s life-long policy of doing everything, all of the time, all at once, makes me as a consumer happy. As others either don't embrace or ditch expandable memory, Samsung not only kept it alive but upped capacity to 400GB in the S9.
Chances are you have your pictures, videos and phone backups on the cloud - but having a physical option is always welcome. For someone like me who uses a lot of SD cards for video work, being able to save and review files without the need to boot up my PC is also incredibly useful.
Staying within the spirit of doing everything, Samsung has also added dual-sim capabilities to the S9 (in some markets), which means you can run two seperate sim cards at once and have two seperate numbers. If you travel, or - for reasons I won’t ask - you often switch numbers - this a very consumer friendly addition.
Always listening, desperate to be liked
I touched on this with my iPhone X comparison and expanded on it in another article, but Samsung is perhaps the most pro-consumer phone manufacturer around. It’s simple, Samsung listens. Let’s take the S9 for example, Samsung took the criticism of the fingerprint sensor and moved it, it also kept the headphone jack.
Samsung has form here, too. It kept the removable battery in the Galaxy S5 when others were heading over to a locked design, it also bought back expandable storage after removing it in the Galaxy S6. Where Apple and Google forges ahead with new concepts - that may or may not work - and forces them upon their customers, Samsung is so eager to please its entire strategy and roadmap is completely malleable. For consumers, that’s a good trait.
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