The Samsung Galaxy A9: A Phone That's Affordable but Not Quite Flagship

I've had the chance to spend some time with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A9, and I have to say that it's an interesting phone. It's not going up against the Pixel 3, which isn't surprising given its price tag - at $549, it's more of an upper mid-range device. But despite being less than half the price of some flagship phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S9 or Google Pixel 6, it still feels like a legitimate option for those who want something with some premium features without breaking the bank.

One of the things that I really like about the A9 is its display. The 6.3-inch full HD AMOLED screen is gorgeous, and it's definitely one of the standout features of the phone. It's big, bright, and vibrant, making it perfect for watching videos or browsing the web. The battery life also looks promising - with a 3800mAh power battery, you can expect a good day and a half of use out of it.

Of course, not everything about the A9 is exciting. One area where Samsung tends to fall short is in software updates, and the A9 is no exception. It'll be shipping Android 8.0 Oreo, which may seem like a problem for some users who are expecting the latest and greatest software out of the box. However, I don't think this will be too much of an issue - after all, Samsung has traditionally taken its time to update to new software, so it's not as if this is a huge surprise.

Under the hood, the A9 is powered by a mid-range Snapdragon 660 processor, which should still handle most everyday tasks and apps with ease. It also comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage, plus support for microSD cards - although, let's be real, you'll probably want to upgrade that storage sooner rather than later. The phone also has a headphone jack, which is a nice touch.

But the A9's biggest selling point (or rather, its biggest weakness) is its camera system. Unfortunately, I've only had a short time with the phone and it's running pre-release software, so my experiences are based on demo photos of the device taken by Samsung staff. That being said, the primary 24MP lens has a wide f/1.7 aperture and takes great photos - they're detailed, sharp, and vibrant, with good color rendition and nice dynamic range. However, the wide-angle lens is another story altogether. I took some photos of the demo area using this lens, and while it's clearly trying to capture more of the scene than a standard camera, it results in a slightly washed-out look that's noticeable even at close inspection.

I also had the chance to take some pictures with the 2x optical zoom lens, which is less impressive still. The image I took was marred by poor white balance and over-sharpening, making it look ridiculous. And don't even get me started on the "depth sensor" - this is a camera that's supposed to help create a great portrait mode, but unfortunately, it looks like a mess. Even the selfie camera seems to have some issues with white balance, which might be a problem for users who often take photos of themselves.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about the A9. It's clear that Samsung is trying to offer more affordable options without sacrificing too much in terms of features or quality - and I think they're succeeding in this regard. The battery life is huge, the display is gorgeous, and the phone feels fast and responsive even with mid-range hardware. But while the camera system needs some serious work, especially if you want it to compete with flagship devices like the S9 or Pixel 6.

For my full review of the A9, stay tuned - I'll be taking a closer look at its cameras and other features in more detail, as well as reporting back on whether Samsung can fix those white balance issues before launch. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the A9 so far in the comments below!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys I'm Tom the tech chap and this is the new Samsung Galaxy a nine which has four cameras well actually five including the front selfie cam so the quad lens setup on the back includes a 24 megapixel main lens a 10 megapixel two times optical zoom lens and 8 megapixels super wide angle lens and the 5 megapixel depth lens for the live focus portrait mode I think Samsung have covered all the bases here although it's interesting the a nines just been announced right after the pixel 3 which is likely to have one of the best two cameras on the market and yet only has one lens so it seems like a fight between hardware and software I wonder which will be the best solution now of course the a9 isn't going up against the pixel 3 this isn't a flagship phone the 549 pound price tag means it's more upper mid-range something are calling it more affordable which I guess it is versus the s-line all the no 9 but it is the same sort of price as say the 1 plus 6 and probably the upcoming 60 which are full flagship phones so it's affordable for Samsung let's go with that we'll come back to the camera in a second there because there's a lot more to like about the a9 including the gorgeous 6.3 inch full HD AMOLED display the huge 3800 million power battery which is nearly as big as the no 9 so you can expect a good day and a half of battery out of it it uses a mid-range Snapdragon 660 but it does offer a surprisingly generous 6 gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of built-in storage plus support for microSD cards it's a bit of a shame the a9 will ship running Android 8 rather than the new Android 9 pi but it's not particularly surprising for Samsung who do seem to take forever to update to the latest software but it's not the end of the world it still feels fast and responsive and well snowdragon' 660 obviously isn't as powerful as the flagship 845 it's still got plenty of power and will comfortably run any app or game plus it might even help the battery lasts a bit longer I also really like the look of this thing it comes in three colors caveat black lemonade blue but I think my personal favorite is bubblegum pink the rounded corners means it's really comfortable to hold and we've still got headphone jack but let's get back to the camera which really is the headline feature of the a9 now I should say that I've only had a short time with the phone which is running pre-release software but I took some photos of the demo area to try out all the lenses and my first impressions well they're not great I'll repeat this is pre-release software and the primary 24 megapixel lens which has a wide f 1.7 aperture although that's not quite as wide as the F 1.5 variable aperture on the s 909 does take great photos they're detailed sharp and cars are vibrant now if we take the same picture with the wide-angle lens obviously you do get a slight fisheye look which is to be expected given the wider 120 degree field of view but it does look lower quality and we seem to lose a lot of detail in the darker areas the 2 times optical zoom lens is even worse I mean this is a terrible photo the white balance is off it looks ridiculously over sharpened and generally it just looks bad both the telephoto and wide angle lenses have narrow apertures which means they don't lessen as much light and we can expect the quality to be not quite as good but the 2 times zoom lens is just blue moving on to the fourth lens which is a depth sensor and helps with the light focus it's it's probably one of the worst portrait modes I've ever seen yes it's given me a bokeh effect but it's not blurred out the guy walking in the background or the white galaxy a9 stand and the edge around my torso my head just looks so fake the front camera does take a nice selfie though the whopping 24 megapixel f/2 front camera is actually really good and the selfie portrait mode seems to work well video seems to be serviceable only 1080p has any sort of stabilization so 4k is a shaky mess and both seem to be suffering from similar white balance issues now of course I don't expect the a9 to compete with the S line or the no 9 it's almost half the price of the latter but right now while it may have fall Enders on the back only one of them is actually any good I really hope Samsung can fix some of these white balance and sharpening issues before launch which is in about a month or so so I'll reserve judgment until then for my full review so that's the Samsung Galaxy a 9 and for a phone that's all about camera the cameras right now at least are actually a bit disappointing it's a beautiful-looking phone it feels fast and it has a huge battery and I'm really pleased to see Samsung are bringing bigger batteries into more affordable phones make sure you do stay tuned and you're subscribed for my full review where I will report back if the cameras are any better in the real world this was of course just a short hands-on pre-release demo but let me know what you make of the a9 so far in the comments below thank you so much for watching guys don't forget to Like and subscribe and I see you next time right here on the texturehey guys I'm Tom the tech chap and this is the new Samsung Galaxy a nine which has four cameras well actually five including the front selfie cam so the quad lens setup on the back includes a 24 megapixel main lens a 10 megapixel two times optical zoom lens and 8 megapixels super wide angle lens and the 5 megapixel depth lens for the live focus portrait mode I think Samsung have covered all the bases here although it's interesting the a nines just been announced right after the pixel 3 which is likely to have one of the best two cameras on the market and yet only has one lens so it seems like a fight between hardware and software I wonder which will be the best solution now of course the a9 isn't going up against the pixel 3 this isn't a flagship phone the 549 pound price tag means it's more upper mid-range something are calling it more affordable which I guess it is versus the s-line all the no 9 but it is the same sort of price as say the 1 plus 6 and probably the upcoming 60 which are full flagship phones so it's affordable for Samsung let's go with that we'll come back to the camera in a second there because there's a lot more to like about the a9 including the gorgeous 6.3 inch full HD AMOLED display the huge 3800 million power battery which is nearly as big as the no 9 so you can expect a good day and a half of battery out of it it uses a mid-range Snapdragon 660 but it does offer a surprisingly generous 6 gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of built-in storage plus support for microSD cards it's a bit of a shame the a9 will ship running Android 8 rather than the new Android 9 pi but it's not particularly surprising for Samsung who do seem to take forever to update to the latest software but it's not the end of the world it still feels fast and responsive and well snowdragon' 660 obviously isn't as powerful as the flagship 845 it's still got plenty of power and will comfortably run any app or game plus it might even help the battery lasts a bit longer I also really like the look of this thing it comes in three colors caveat black lemonade blue but I think my personal favorite is bubblegum pink the rounded corners means it's really comfortable to hold and we've still got headphone jack but let's get back to the camera which really is the headline feature of the a9 now I should say that I've only had a short time with the phone which is running pre-release software but I took some photos of the demo area to try out all the lenses and my first impressions well they're not great I'll repeat this is pre-release software and the primary 24 megapixel lens which has a wide f 1.7 aperture although that's not quite as wide as the F 1.5 variable aperture on the s 909 does take great photos they're detailed sharp and cars are vibrant now if we take the same picture with the wide-angle lens obviously you do get a slight fisheye look which is to be expected given the wider 120 degree field of view but it does look lower quality and we seem to lose a lot of detail in the darker areas the 2 times optical zoom lens is even worse I mean this is a terrible photo the white balance is off it looks ridiculously over sharpened and generally it just looks bad both the telephoto and wide angle lenses have narrow apertures which means they don't lessen as much light and we can expect the quality to be not quite as good but the 2 times zoom lens is just blue moving on to the fourth lens which is a depth sensor and helps with the light focus it's it's probably one of the worst portrait modes I've ever seen yes it's given me a bokeh effect but it's not blurred out the guy walking in the background or the white galaxy a9 stand and the edge around my torso my head just looks so fake the front camera does take a nice selfie though the whopping 24 megapixel f/2 front camera is actually really good and the selfie portrait mode seems to work well video seems to be serviceable only 1080p has any sort of stabilization so 4k is a shaky mess and both seem to be suffering from similar white balance issues now of course I don't expect the a9 to compete with the S line or the no 9 it's almost half the price of the latter but right now while it may have fall Enders on the back only one of them is actually any good I really hope Samsung can fix some of these white balance and sharpening issues before launch which is in about a month or so so I'll reserve judgment until then for my full review so that's the Samsung Galaxy a 9 and for a phone that's all about camera the cameras right now at least are actually a bit disappointing it's a beautiful-looking phone it feels fast and it has a huge battery and I'm really pleased to see Samsung are bringing bigger batteries into more affordable phones make sure you do stay tuned and you're subscribed for my full review where I will report back if the cameras are any better in the real world this was of course just a short hands-on pre-release demo but let me know what you make of the a9 so far in the comments below thank you so much for watching guys don't forget to Like and subscribe and I see you next time right here on the texture\n"