Galaxy S8 v Galaxy S9 – Which Samsung phone should you really buy?

Samsung recently announced that its new Galaxy S9 will be revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

This new device will replace the award-winning Galaxy S8 at the top of Samsung’s flagship range with it expected to improve on this already brilliant smartphone.

However, with rumours rife that the S9 will only feature some fairly minor upgrades, the Samsung faithful might be wondering if it’s really worth the wait.

With the S8 proving to be such a popular device, the S9 is sure to be another success but should you opt for Samsung’s current flagship or wait for the next generation of Galaxy phones to be unveiled?

Express.co.uk has taken a look at all the rumours and leaks and here’s how we think the two devices stack up.

THE DISPLAY

Samsung has long been the master of making beautiful displays.

In fact, the Korean company are so good they’ve even been enlisted by Apple to produce the screens on the new iPhone X.

The Galaxy S8 already has a stunning dual curved 5.8-inch AMOLED display and we’re not expecting any huge upgrades on the new S9.

A recent leaked image of a box which the S9 will supposedly ship in reveals the S9 will include a  5.8-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display – that’s exactly the same as the current S8.

With Samsung already pushing the boundaries of screen technology it’s hard to think where the next innovation will come from but don’t expect anything too radical on the firm’s next flagship.

2. THE CAMERA

The S8 is now one of the last flagships on the market to only include a single lens camera.

Most of its rivals, including the Galaxy Note 8 and iPhone X, now feature dual-lens snappers which allow them to shoot images with DSLR-style depth of field.

A number of reports and leaked images show that Samsung won’t include a double camera on its standard S9 – although the larger S9+ could get this photography feature.

Although there’s unlikely to be a double camera on the S9 it is thought that this new phone will improve on the older S8’s snapper with features such as Super Slo-mo and better quality snaps in low light.

The Galaxy S8 is already very good when taking photos and, without a dual camera on the S9, it seems there’s not going to be a huge amount of difference between old and new.

3. THE PROCESSOR AND BATTERY 

There’s one thing we probably do know about the S9 and that’s the fact it will be faster than the S8.

Every year things get quicker and the S9 looks set to be the most powerful smartphone Samsung has ever made.

Although not confirmed, rumours suggest the S9 will be powered by both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 and Samsung’s own Eynox chip.

This will not only make the S9 incredibly fast but also very efficient with battery life thought to be getting a huge boost.

These updated processors will also allow the Galaxy S9 to charge much faster with the phone able to go from flat to 50 per cent in around 15 minutes.

The Galaxy S8 was no slouch but it seems the S9 could be the Android phone to beat in 2018.

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 845 will be around 25 to 30 per cent faster than the SnapDragon 835, which launched in November 2016.

4. THAT FINGERPRINT SCANNER

The fingerprint scanner on the S8 has always been a controversial feature.

Some users clearly don’t have an issue with this popular security sensor being placed right next to the camera lens but it’s never been ideal.

It appears Samsung has now admitted this was a bad idea and looks to set to move it below the camera on the Galaxy S9.

The Korean tech firm has already given a glimpse of this new design on their latest mid-range A8, which is set to launch in April.

The Galaxy A8 features a fingerprint scanner which has been placed right in the middle of the rear casing which is a far more obvious position to find it.

Leaked renders show a similar design on the S9 and we think this will be a major improvement over its predecessor.

5. THE PRICE

One area where you guarantee the S8 will be better is price.

This flagship has already seen huge price cuts with it now available for under £23 per month on contract.

Retailers including Amazon and even Samsung themselves have also slashed the price of the S8 when buying it SIM only.

When the S9 launches expect to pay full price for the phone with contracts likely to cost over £40 per month.