The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: A Brilliant Value for $350

If you're in the market for a high-end smartphone and want to get your hands on a flagship device without breaking the bank, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is an excellent option. As I mentioned in my previous video, this phone is still an amazing deal at around $330, especially considering its iterative upgrade cycle.

When the S9 Plus launched last year, it received good reviews with a 4 to 5 star rating across the board. The main complaints were that it's expensive, considering it's an incremental upgrade, and the emojis were somewhat lacking. However, in just over a year, Samsung has addressed these weaknesses and made some significant improvements.

One of the most notable upgrades is the performance boost, which you'll notice when flicking through your recent apps or changing camera modes. The phone also features a new "Knight Mode" that not only gives it a fresh coat of paint but also saves battery life. Furthermore, the phone's design has been revamped to align more with Google's Material Design language, which has turned a negative perception into a positive one for me.

Samsung has also made some subtle upgrades to the front camera, allowing it to better expose your face and offer a wider field of view when taking selfies. Additionally, the phone now features the same scene detection algorithm as newer Samsung devices, making it easier to capture stunning photos in various environments.

Another quality-of-life improvement is the new " temporary orientation" feature, which allows you to switch between portrait and landscape modes temporarily without having to manually toggle it off and on again. This feature has been a game-changer for me, especially when using my phone in both portrait and landscape modes depending on the task at hand.

The Galaxy S9 Plus also boasts IP68 water resistance, wireless charging capabilities, and a dual speaker setup, making it an excellent choice for those who value these features. In terms of camera performance, the S9 Plus consistently delivers impressive results, rivaling some of the best smartphone cameras available today.

Performance-wise, the phone's top-end chip from last year still outperforms any current mid-range chip, making it a great option for gamers and anyone looking to enjoy demanding games on their device. If you're considering buying a newer, cheaper smartphone, keep in mind that performance won't be an issue with the S9 Plus.

I've also been asked about the Galaxy Note 9, which is similar to the S9 Plus but with a noticeably larger battery. However, I couldn't find one for less than $500, making the S9 Plus a more affordable option. That being said, if you can spring for the newer Galaxy S10, it's definitely worth considering due to its significant design improvements and better performance.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is an excellent choice for those looking for a high-end smartphone without breaking the bank. With its improved performance, battery life, camera capabilities, and quality-of-life features, it's hard to argue with the value proposition of this device. If you're in the market for a flagship smartphone and want to get your hands on one at an affordable price, I highly recommend giving the S9 Plus a look.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhen it comes to smartphones there are a few aspects that age quickly and a few that don't you've got things like processing power you've got things like cameras they're improving so fast each year that some mid-range devices can make mincemeat of flagships from just a few years ago but then you've got materials the quality of the display and subtler things like how good the vibration motor is and it's in these aspects that all the flagship smartphones come out on top versus cheaper newer ones those phones may look just as good on a spec sheet but they'll feel nothing alike when you pick them up enter the Samsung Galaxy S 9 plus a firm that is recent enough that it still comes out on top in terms of power and cameras but is now old enough that you're getting those premium quality materials for not a huge amount of money but how much if you're really keen on getting on brand new you're looking at somewhere between 450 and $500 but things get really interesting when you start looking at the refurbished options you can get the s9 plus for about 330 the standard s9 for about 280 and then if you're willing to accept one in worse condition as low as $1.99 all right late last year Dave 2d made a video about how this was a brilliant phone for $500 and since then the phone has become not just even cheaper but even better take a listen to this when the s 9 plus launched it got good reviews it was a great but unsurprising upgrade with a 4 to 5 star rating across the board the main complaints were that it's expensive considering it's an iterative upgrade they are emojis kind of sucked and I had a software scheme that felt sluggish so fast forward a year and whilst they are emoji continues to make me look like I should really get some help the phones other two weaknesses have been more than just fixed we've had warned you I which is massively boosted performance you'll notice it when you're flicking through your recent apps or changing the modes of the camera we've got a knight mode which is not just a fresh coat of paint but saves battery too and this new material design brings the phone more in line with Google's own I was never a fan of the way samsung's previous space-age theme looked but one UI has kind of turned that negative to a positive there have also been subtle upgrades Samsung has tweaked the front camera to allow it to better expose your face and it now lets you like the S 10 just the field of view when taking selfies they've also added in the same scene detection algorithm you get on the newer phones another example of a cool new feature that comes with this Android 9 upgrade is say for example you've turned off auto rotate because you usually use your phone in portrait but then for one particular task you wanted to use landscape you now get given this little indicator in the corner that lets you temporarily switch orientation the point being that compared to the original Samsung experience skin that the phone launched width there is just been a whole load of quality of life improvements when it comes to flagship smartphone pricing and there are exceptions but this is what tends to happen the phone launches and for at least a month it's almost impossible to get it below the launch price and a couple of deals and discounts start coming in you might be able to get 10% off we see the most significant drops though when new phones come out from the same company and so the s9 plus saw one drop when the note nine came out roughly six months in and then another when the s10 came out in total one year later after this point once the phone has been effectively replaced whilst it will continue to fall in price the rate at which it falls will be lower long story short right now is a sweet spot right now this phone makes sense at close to three hundred and fifty dollars the kinds of phones you could alternatively buy this year if you wanted brand new are things like the Huawei P 30 light the red magic Mars or the Xiaomi me 9 s II and those are all good phones but you'll struggle to find devices that have IP 68 water resistance phones that can do wireless charging phones with dual speaker setups or even just a camera that is this consistently good don't get me wrong there are reasons why you might want to buy a newer cheaper phone as opposed to a may be used flagship but performance is not one of them a top-end chip from last year is still gonna massively outperform any kind of current mid-range chip if you're a gamer then games are still gonna run better on this phone than them you might have seen my video on the best smartphones of 2019 so far where I mentioned that this smartphone is a better buy than the Galaxy Note 9 and to clarify it the note 9 is similar to the s 9 plus but with a noticeably larger battery it's a better phone all round but the thing is I couldn't find one for less than about $500 and so the takeaway is if you can find an amazing deal on it then it's worth going for but from what I've seen at the s9 is consistently better bang for your buck right now at least and yeah this video shouldn't take away from the appeal of the s10 ferns either they are a massive improvement in not just performance and battery but design you pretty much lose the bezels and you get an even better display but very expensive twice the price and so I really for a different type of consumer if you can spring for that I'd recommend it but if you can't then I'd pay attention to the galaxy s 9 and s 9 plus if you enjoyed this video it'd be massively appreciate it if you could subscribe to the channel my name is Aaron this is mr. who's boss and I'll catch you in the next one youwhen it comes to smartphones there are a few aspects that age quickly and a few that don't you've got things like processing power you've got things like cameras they're improving so fast each year that some mid-range devices can make mincemeat of flagships from just a few years ago but then you've got materials the quality of the display and subtler things like how good the vibration motor is and it's in these aspects that all the flagship smartphones come out on top versus cheaper newer ones those phones may look just as good on a spec sheet but they'll feel nothing alike when you pick them up enter the Samsung Galaxy S 9 plus a firm that is recent enough that it still comes out on top in terms of power and cameras but is now old enough that you're getting those premium quality materials for not a huge amount of money but how much if you're really keen on getting on brand new you're looking at somewhere between 450 and $500 but things get really interesting when you start looking at the refurbished options you can get the s9 plus for about 330 the standard s9 for about 280 and then if you're willing to accept one in worse condition as low as $1.99 all right late last year Dave 2d made a video about how this was a brilliant phone for $500 and since then the phone has become not just even cheaper but even better take a listen to this when the s 9 plus launched it got good reviews it was a great but unsurprising upgrade with a 4 to 5 star rating across the board the main complaints were that it's expensive considering it's an iterative upgrade they are emojis kind of sucked and I had a software scheme that felt sluggish so fast forward a year and whilst they are emoji continues to make me look like I should really get some help the phones other two weaknesses have been more than just fixed we've had warned you I which is massively boosted performance you'll notice it when you're flicking through your recent apps or changing the modes of the camera we've got a knight mode which is not just a fresh coat of paint but saves battery too and this new material design brings the phone more in line with Google's own I was never a fan of the way samsung's previous space-age theme looked but one UI has kind of turned that negative to a positive there have also been subtle upgrades Samsung has tweaked the front camera to allow it to better expose your face and it now lets you like the S 10 just the field of view when taking selfies they've also added in the same scene detection algorithm you get on the newer phones another example of a cool new feature that comes with this Android 9 upgrade is say for example you've turned off auto rotate because you usually use your phone in portrait but then for one particular task you wanted to use landscape you now get given this little indicator in the corner that lets you temporarily switch orientation the point being that compared to the original Samsung experience skin that the phone launched width there is just been a whole load of quality of life improvements when it comes to flagship smartphone pricing and there are exceptions but this is what tends to happen the phone launches and for at least a month it's almost impossible to get it below the launch price and a couple of deals and discounts start coming in you might be able to get 10% off we see the most significant drops though when new phones come out from the same company and so the s9 plus saw one drop when the note nine came out roughly six months in and then another when the s10 came out in total one year later after this point once the phone has been effectively replaced whilst it will continue to fall in price the rate at which it falls will be lower long story short right now is a sweet spot right now this phone makes sense at close to three hundred and fifty dollars the kinds of phones you could alternatively buy this year if you wanted brand new are things like the Huawei P 30 light the red magic Mars or the Xiaomi me 9 s II and those are all good phones but you'll struggle to find devices that have IP 68 water resistance phones that can do wireless charging phones with dual speaker setups or even just a camera that is this consistently good don't get me wrong there are reasons why you might want to buy a newer cheaper phone as opposed to a may be used flagship but performance is not one of them a top-end chip from last year is still gonna massively outperform any kind of current mid-range chip if you're a gamer then games are still gonna run better on this phone than them you might have seen my video on the best smartphones of 2019 so far where I mentioned that this smartphone is a better buy than the Galaxy Note 9 and to clarify it the note 9 is similar to the s 9 plus but with a noticeably larger battery it's a better phone all round but the thing is I couldn't find one for less than about $500 and so the takeaway is if you can find an amazing deal on it then it's worth going for but from what I've seen at the s9 is consistently better bang for your buck right now at least and yeah this video shouldn't take away from the appeal of the s10 ferns either they are a massive improvement in not just performance and battery but design you pretty much lose the bezels and you get an even better display but very expensive twice the price and so I really for a different type of consumer if you can spring for that I'd recommend it but if you can't then I'd pay attention to the galaxy s 9 and s 9 plus if you enjoyed this video it'd be massively appreciate it if you could subscribe to the channel my name is Aaron this is mr. who's boss and I'll catch you in the next one you\n"