Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners, were there any other phones you were considering?

[Mr Kevin]

I had a Note 8. Upgraded to S9+ because the Note had a scratch on the screen I didn't feel like fixing. I considered the iPhone X but ultimately stuck with Samsung because I like to customize my phone a lot. I didn't think I'd really notice a difference over the Note 8 but I actually do. I can tell a difference in speed and responsiveness. The camera is definitely better and the battery life is also improved. I actually prefer the more rounded corners to the Note 8s squared off ones. It's pretty to look at.

 

[andrew_ackley]

If so, what were they? What made you go with the Galaxy?

I had the pixel XL and the s9 has SOO MANY features that I sold my pixel. Note 8 would've been another obvious choice though. I love the dual speakers of the s9 to go that route though.

 

[Jimruns262]

Dolby Stereo Speakers, and better camera plus deal. $485 for a new S9+ and I had to pull the trigger.

 

[James Garrard]

Best flagship at the time. I needed an android phone with expandable storage, aux jack, and sleek design.

 

[aha]

Was considering Pixel 2 XL. But S9+ won my choice in the end.

 

[Sauce Da Boss]

Yes. Iphone X

 

[Larry 609]

Best flagship at the time. I needed an android phone with expandable storage, aux jack, and sleek design.

I was more or less the same. I also mainly considered the HTC U12+. But since I have Sprint at the moment, the pain of transferring services and paying more in the process was a bit much for me.

Other than that, none of the other Android phones were of much interest to me. The iPhone really wasn't in question either, due to the price for an iPhone X with additional storage (which I'd need) and the lack of a headphone jack (which I'd prefer, since I didn't feel like replacing all of my headphones at the moment on top of paying for a new phone).

I was still debating all of them though when the Galaxy S9 and S9+ went on sale at Best Buy for $300 off back in June. That made the decision a bit easier for me and ultimately, I've come out of it very happy so far!

 

[HNNNNNGHHH]

Considerations were the Pixel 2 XL, which I decided against as I figured having to switch a dongle around to different headphones isn't exactly idea., an LG G7 which had a nice boombox feature that I didn't really care for too much and wasn't sold unlocked anywhere nearby, and the Huawei P20 Pro, whose price at the time basically being $1k and not to mention no official US warranty meant I was screwed if something went wrong with the phone. OnePlus 6 was another option but glass build with no wireless charging was redundant even with Dash Charging as well as pretty subpar haptics kept me from pulling the trigger on it.

The S9 wasn't exactly a device I was thinking of getting as my plans were leaning towards the Note 8 but learning about the dual speaker setup being nice on the S9, as well as 960fps and a very wide F/1.5 rear camera drove me to it.

 

[neil74]

Plenty and have settled on the S9 plus as the least compromised option. Considered (and purchased/tried) the following and yes I do realise I have a problem:

Pixel 2 XL - Love the UI and enjoyed the P beta. Storage at 128gb whilst probably enough is not large enough for comfort e.g. it could fill up pretty quickly if used on holiday for photos and videos. Being able to put a 400gb in S9 and not worry at all about storage is quite nice. No wireless charging, screen not great and slightly wider. Overall though it is function over form and feels underwhelming every time I pick it up.

OnePlus 6 - Made the mistake of getting the 128gb version but not a fan of the matt black and that is the only version you can get 256gb in. Always the sense that the camera and screen are just not quite as good as the pixel or S9. Touch lag vs the others too.

LG G7/V30 - Really really like both of these and but for 2 things one would be my choice. LGs UI really grates (personal taste I know) and it also really annoys me that volume for the device and bluetooth headphones cannot be synced and have to be adjusted independently, I use BT headphones daily.


Right now the S9 plus ticks more boxes even though I know they do not care a jot about speedy updates and load all that bloat on the phone that cannot easily be removed. I was 100% convinced I'd be getting the Pixel 3 on launch but the more leaks I see the less likely that becomes.

 

[methodman89]

Also got the S8 active for the new spectrum used. Comes in handy living far from a tower.

 

[mlblack16]

I had S7 Edge, then S8+ so the obvious choice for me was to upgrade to S9+.

However, I kind of miss my S8+. There is a noticeable difference in performance on the S9+ but the 8's camera was way better. I find it unacceptable how poorly the dual camera handles light balances. I think it's something that can be fixed with a software upgrade, but I'm the nation's slowest carrier to roll out updates (Verizon).

 

[jbjtkbw007]

Since switching from the LG G4, I've kind of been all in on Samsung. For me, there were no other real contenders as I use a Samsung Gear S3 and the Gear IconX 2018 edition. Plus, I have 3 Samsung tablets and my next tv will be a Samsung OLED (currently using a 4K LG because I was using an LG branded phone and my soundbar is LG branded). I'm due to upgrade my entertainment soon and I'll be going Samsung and a Samsung soundbar.

 

[_YoKolorMeBadd]

At the time only the Pixel had me intrigued (I'm done giving LG a chance). But since I'm on T-Mo's JOD!, the Pixel was a harder sell because of their freakin' Verizon exclusivity. That and the fact that I have now become very much addicted to using Samsung Pay, wireless charging, and waterproofing made the S9+ choice a lot easier. Plus it looks soooo pretty! haha But Pixel camera rules.

You could easily get the pixel through the Google Store. I think it costs about $30 a month.

 

[SpookDroid]

You could easily get the pixel through the Google Store. I think it costs about $30 a month.

Yeah, and I'd have to pay the whole thing. On JOD I don't have to worry about reselling anything when I want to upgrade. Just turn in, go...

 

[Jamie Wooten]

Yeah, and I'd have to pay the whole thing. On JOD I don't have to worry about reselling anything when I want to upgrade. Just turn in, go...

How do you do the JOD? When I contacted them, they said I had to pay off half the phone.

 

[anon(10311036)]

not changin my s9plus till 2 years.

 

[SpookDroid]

How do you do the JOD? When I contacted them, they said I had to pay off half the phone.

That was the original JOD. They changed it to every 6 months, and now it's once every month. Even if you had to pay for half the phone after a year, that's not a terrible 'resell' value if you were to buy outright, sell, and then buy another one.