Samsung - Galaxy S9 64GB - Sunrise Gold (Unlocked)

I picked up the phone on release day to see if there was much of the same from previous iterations of the galaxies or if Samsung actually listened to their customers. Well I'm here to tell you they've done a great job. Pros: -Screen - The screen is the best in the business. Colors are beautifully saturated with enough brightness in direct sunlight as well as good viewing angles. HDR content looks phenomenal as expected also. -Design - Although I'm not a fan of glass on glass phones this is still a beautifully designed phone and appreciate the taming of the curved screen in comparison to the S7 and S8. -Speakers - Wow, the speakers are phenomenal! I prefer front facing speakers like in the Pixel 2 but these are definitely one of the best sounding stereo pair I've heard. At max volume it starts to sound a bit tinny but I don't play my music or movies at max volume anyways. -Fingerprint Sensor - I'm glad Samsung listened to their customers and changed the placement of the fingerprint sensor. It's far more accurate than last years S8 and the setup was done in no time as well. -Camera- The camera on the galaxy s9 is an absolute beast. Colors are punchy and detailed and the variable aperture can really shine in low light scenarios. Low light photos outclass the Pixel 2 especially with noise reduction. Selective focus is a bit wonky with edge detection from time to time but still manages to produce great images the majority of the time. Cons: -Battery Life - Battery life is probably the worst thing about this phone. I'm a light to medium user and average about 24 hours on a charge. Although the battery is perfectly fine for my usage I can see how a heavy user might not make it throughout the day. I understand Samsung's point of view on being safe with the battery capacity due to the fiasco with the Note 7, but they could have put a greater capacity or optimized the battery better. I've gotten better battery out of my Essential phone which is comparable in screen size and battery capacity. Conclusion: Overall, I think the Samsung Galaxy S9 is a great buy for someone that is looking for a complete package of power and performance. If you're a Samsung fan or need to upgrade from an old phone and want the latest and greatest then it's a no brainer. If you're looking for a near stock android experience with quick updates then this phone isn't for you. I hope this is the year Samsung finally gets their update scheduled worked out to provide customers with fast OS and security patches in a timely fashion.

I have a very annoying obsession with trying new phones wherein I switch between android to iOS phones about once a year. With that said, there are things I like about both operating systems and this is not my first switch between the two. Hence, I recently picked up a new unlocked Galaxy S9 for my latest venture. This phone is sleek, classy and absolutely beautiful. Additionally, it’s very speedy and has very smooth operation. The camera is of very high quality, too. Better than my current iPhone 7 Plus in many respects. HOWEVER, I found that the cell and WiFi reception of the S9 was insufficient for my needs and it was subpar to my iPhone using the same nano sim in both phones as well as the same WiFi connections. Granted, where I am located is somewhat spotty at times for cell connection, but it would not pull in the signal as well as the iPhone. In the same exact areas using the same exact SIM card I can consistently get one to two bars of LTE with the iPhone, but the S9 struggled to acquire any type of signal and quite often would fail. The same applied when trying to connect to the AT&T hot spot in my truck. I tested the S9 with both T-Mobile and AT&T and got the same results. When you’re in an area with very strong cell coverage you probably won’t have any issues, but when cell coverage is slim you may have serious difficulties. I ended up returning the S9 in the end and eating the $35 restocking fee rather than have a beautiful new phone that I couldn’t use for its basic and primary purpose...data and talking. Had it met those basic needs, I’d give it 5 stars. I wish I could strongly recommend the beautiful S9, but I can’t. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

This is my first unlocked smartphone buy in USA. The sales person was real honest and explained me about the product details/offers. I used lyca prepaid sim (lyca uses T-mobile network) and it started working instantly. Data speed is high. Don't know if this phone will work in India, experiment that in the next month during my vacation, hope this will work with the networks in India as well. So far this phone works great. It was 38% when I bought this mobile, the whole night i played around the options and settings (got a little eye pain may be i have to adjust the resolution or contrast) and after 5 hours the mobile started getting little heat, i will continue to monitor the performance of the mobile for the next 14 days. pros: current phone with almost all options, good camera. Got a freebie of Home monitoring kit, dont know how to use it but will give a try this weekend.. :) cons: phone is getting heat after 3-hrs. Compare this model with Samsung.com. With samsung online, you could save some 60-70$ bcos there is no tax charged. I should have done this thru Samsung site, I thought I could save some dollars by going with Best Buy Credit Card. But no much difference becos of the Tax. So, unless you get big rewards or discounts, dont go for Best Buy credit cards, thats waste of time and one additional unnecessary hard credit check. 5% reward back, 25% accessory/other bundle offers...STILL the Tax amount you have to pay to BestBuy will be more than the savings.

I can not suggest this phone enough. It does more than any pixel I have ever owned. I once hated touchwiz and swore I would never get a samsung phone. They have really changed and I am very impressed with how the phone handles the interface tweaks. Some of the big things I would like to point out. Battery - I am getting excellent battery life. I have used it on long rides and have been getting 8 to 10 hours of display time. Enough to last me through the day. I don't find myself needing to reach for a charger until it gets very late at night. -Dex Dex is greatly underrated. I am a teacher given a 6 year old laptop to use for work. I instead got a monitor and cable. I can do everything from writing in word to grading papers. Grabbing my phone when I leave reduced my amount I had to carry around to just a phone. - Samsung tweaks The tweaks samsung does only add to the experience of the phone. Not only can I "cast" my phone screen to my chromecast/android Tv at home, I can with other devices. Granted some of these devices are samsung branded devices. I found my Microsoft wireless display adapter I got for my surface works with my phone. Some of the tweaks I don't care much about can be shut off. I didn't care for the edge screens. Without much effort they got shut off. Anything that I don't like can be changed or tweaked. Want to swap the back and app view, no problem. Want to download a theme to change to make them look more "android" no problem. Want to change the colors of the notification quick access no problem. I can go on and on about how much I enjoy this phone. I look forward to getting more notes from samsung.

I purchased this phone with high expectations and they have been met. Though I originally thought to buy it new I ended up going with the open-box excellent option and have NOT been disappointed. True to their title the phone was in excellent condition and I personally couldn't and still can't find a single bit of damage. It was essentially brand-new; but considerably cheaper. All that aside the phone runs great and has soo many useful (for me) features in comparison to my previous Samsung, the S5 Active. That thing was long overdue for a replacement and I couldn't have asked for much more out of one at the price. I wish they would have included the second rear camera on the smaller version as the 9+ was just too big to me; but that isn't a deal breaker. The camera is Amazing and so is the screen. With pictures I wish I could take pictures larger than 4:3 without compromising picture quality; but that's a limitation of a 12mp camera I suppose. And then there is YouTube which like most all video apps or video players won't fill in the entire screen due to most all video today being shot in a 16:9 aspect ratio; whereas i believe this phone has a 18.5:9 ratio. You can zoom in on YouTube thankfully, however it does cut the image off a bit. But for MOST videos it's not too bad. Anyway, they are all minor complaints and again this is still a great phone.

I have always had Samsung since the smart phones began. My S7 was damaged and the insurance had expired. After checking the prices, the S9 was only $100 more than the S7. It is all right so far, a lot I need to learn before I can say for sure. There are a few things I do not care for. I do not like the the home or back buttons on the screen. Nor do I like the way you send a call. No more just finding the name and swiping to the right. I guess I will get use to it. If not I have 30 days to exchange it for another S7. The camera was rated high on the reviews, which was one reason I went with the S9. I am not impressed. I can see a small difference in the quality. Maybe once I read and experiment with it, that will change also. Do not care for the way the picture folders are setup, nor being notified when contacts update their pictures. Too personal and I will change that once I figure it out. Had to make changes to get it to connect to my Sony Android TV. Though the websites said they were not comparable. Started to return it before I researched it. The search and download speed is a bit faster, but the upload speed is a bit slower than the S7. I am just getting use to the apps button being replaced with swiping upward. And finally this Bixby thing keeps trying to turn itself on, after I disabled it. I have only had it for a few days so maybe I am speaking to soon. But I will update my review once I decide.

I'm just going to say it, I absolutely 100% love this phone. I had a Pixel 2, which is a great device, but unfortunately it took a dive and was broken. My girlfriend and I were looking to switch carriers, so I played it extra safe by buying the unlocked version. Since I first powered this phone up I've been in love. It is fast, responsive, the screen is outrageously gorgeous, and it has everything an Android User could need. I would say, for first-time Android users it could come with a difficulty curve especially if you're coming from Apple, but it'll just take some time to master the phone. A lot of people take swings at Samsung's "bloatware" but I've honestly enjoyed many of the apps they load the phone with. Samsung Internet is great and secure, and if you have to switch into Secret Mode (Their version if incognito) you can set it to require a password or your fingerprint for extra security (and requires you to do it again should you move from that screen). The other apps have been great and helpful: Samsung health, for working out or managing diet, or even their base messenger app, which I believe works pretty well. I would say if you've been interested in Samsung or unsure, go check out a preview model at your local BestBuy/Service Provider. It's a great phone and is wonderfully crafted. Great job, Samsung, I believe you have another faithful buyer if you keep up the quality that this phone brings!

I bought 2 Samsung Galaxy S9 back in March from Samsung.com. My first issue was when they charged me for my exchanged S7 device that they claimed had physical damage but from the pictures they provided showed nothing more than normal wear. Calling and calling did no good to get anything done and just run around in circles. They couldn't even provide the IMEI of the returned device to prove it was even the one that I sent to them. I went to sell my Samsung Galaxy S9 because I was so mad from this experience. I sold the phones that should have been unlocked since I paid full price for the phones. But the phones were locked to T-Mobile and T-Mobile couldn't unlock them. I called Samsung and they couldn't unlock the phones either sending me in circles. I asked the reps why they would send me a phone I paid full price for locked and why they wouldn't unlock the phone. Samsung has the worst customer service and I highly recommend getting a Google Pixel or another Android device.