Not too long ago, in one of our weekly news roundups, we took a quick look at the Samsung Galaxy A9 - the world's first quad camera smartphone. The whole quad camera idea seems rather interesting for sure. So, how about we dive a little deeper?


The Operating System is one of the most important aspects of a smartphone. So, as per usual, we'll start with that. Seeing how the Samsung Galaxy A9 is brand new, it makes sense that it would come with Android Pie out of the box. However, it doesn't. To the disappointment of many, this phone ships with Android Oreo. But, seeing how it's a very recent release, we expect that it will be upgraded to Android Pie soon. The good news - or the bad depending on who you ask - is that the A9 comes with Samsung Experience 9.0 which is the latest version of Samsung Experience. That is if you can make an exception for the beta version of SE 10. So, nothing new or too fancy here. Moving on.


Samsung Galaxy A9 With a back made of glass and a metal frame, the Samsung Galaxy A9 has a rather premium feel to it. As with most Samsung devices nowadays, there is a small curve on both the front and the back of the device. Maybe not to the same degree with the Note 9, but it's still there and holding it feels good. Now, as good as the glass back may feel, there is no denying that it attracts fingerprints like crazy. So, do keep that in mind as well. Still, at the end of the day, you won't really be looking at the back of your phone and chances are that you'll use a case anyway. So, guess it's not a big deal. One thing that can be a big deal, is the grip of the device and this one feels rather slippy. So, do be careful when lifting it up or get a case to avoid any tragedies. Of course, there is no need to mention that there is no notch and that we also have a headphone jack. After all, we're talking about Samsung here. Oh! And a microSD card slot. On the back of the phone, we've got the 4 cameras sitting on the side of the phone, the flash below them, and a fingerprint scanner which sits on the upper part of the device. Below that there's also the Samsung logo. All the buttons seem to be reasonably placed. You can reach pretty much everything with ease and the same goes for the fingerprint scanner - probably even if you've got small hands.


As mentioned above, the phone mostly feels easy to use with one hand. But, that doesn't mean it's small. With a screen at 6.3 inches, it most certainly sits somewhere on the phablet category. So, in the end, it kinda is a two-handed device. When it comes to resolution and display technology, it has a FHD+ Super AMOLED display. No surprise there. After all, Samsung is known for loving AMOLED displays - mostly for their deep, rich colors. The aspect ratio is 18.5:9 - just in case that you care about it. By the way, that aspect ratio often leads to small black bars when watching videos. That's because most videos are still at 16:9 - even though most smartphones now use 18:9. It's not really a big deal - not that noticeable. But, we just had to mention it. In case that this bothers you, do keep mind that you can fill the black bars by using certain apps such as MX Player. The bezels are acceptable even without the notch.


You were waiting for this, weren't you? Because we sure as hell did! Look at this beauty. It's not just the idea of four cameras that we like, but also the way that they are placed on the back. They take very little space and just look very elegant with this design. Now, flattery and comments aside, why would you want to use 4 cameras? Especially when the Note 9 doesn't have to use it and the Pixel devices from Google aren't even using a dual setup - let alone a quad camera setup? Well, before answering that question, we'll have to understand how this setup works. The first camera is the main sensor with a resolution of 24MP and it works just like any other "normal" camera. The second sensor is an ultrawide lens with a resolution of 8MP and it helps in capturing a wider field of view. Moving on to the third camera, we've got an optical zoom lens with a resolution of 10MP. That allows you to zoom up to 2 times more without losing any quality. Last, but not least, there is the fourth camera that acts as a depth sensor with a resolution of 5MP which allows the phone to focus quickly and effectively. It also assists in providing portrait mode. So, clearly, with this setup, you get the best of all worlds in one device. Optical zoom, live focus, and ultrawide shots - all in one.

Is that setup truly necessary/useful? Over here you can see how the Samsung Galaxy A9 compares to your typical dual camera smartphone. From our point of view, there's not too much of a difference. The notable difference is in the brightness of each photo which is something that you can adjust by using software anyway. So, what's the big deal? Well, turns out that at the end of the day, the photos of a quad camera setup aren't all that better compared to your average camera. And now you may wonder that if that's the case, is there any point in buying the Samsung Galaxy A9 at all? Well, yes. There is! While the overall quality of your photos isn't going to be drastically different than what you are used to, you still get at least one extra lens that can prove to be useful in certain situations. Why not take advantage of that? This setup doesn't seem to greatly impact the price of the device either. It really doesn't look like a bad idea and it can prove to be useful depending on what you need or what you may need in certain occasions. So, yeah. The quad camera setup can be useful. With that being said, let's move on.

Battery, chipset, RAM, and storage

It seems like Samsung is truly listening to its customers - because the majority of their recent smartphones have a big battery and the Samsung Galaxy A9 is no exception as it has a 3800 mAh battery. You can expect to get a full day of usage rather easily. On the bottom of the device, there is a Type-C connector. Quick charge support is also there but only Quick Charge 2.0. Not the best thing but don't forget that this is not a flagship and that you don't have more than 4000 mAh to charge. For a chipset, we've got the Snapdragon 660 with an octa-core processor, the Adreno 512 for a GPU, and 6 or 8 gigs of RAM depending on your preference. For storage, we've got 128 gigs of memory and microSD card support for up to 512 gigs of extendable storage.


Overall, those are the specs of the Samsung Galaxy A9:
  • OS: Android Oreo
  • Chipset: Snapdragon 660
  • CPU: octa-core with 4 Kryo 260 cores at 2.2 GHz and another 4 at 1.8 GHz
  • GPU: Adreno 512
  • RAM and storage: 6/8 gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of storage with microSD support up to 512 gigs
  • Display: FHD+ Super AMOLED display at 6.3 inches
  • Camera: rear: 24+8+10+5MP/front: 24MP
  • Battery: 3800 mAh

Pricing, availability, and final words

The Samsung Galaxy A9 is expected to be available somewhere in mid-November and it'll cost about 700 bucks. That's roughly 600 euros. So, mostly a mid-ranger. Not a budget device and definitely not a flagship device for sure. At the end of the day, the quad camera setup is nothing groundbreaking. Don't expect to get your mind blown or anything. But, still, it can surely come in handy. Don't forget that every other phone out there at the moment is missing at least one feature that these cameras offer. Be it a wide-angle lens, optical zoom, or a depth-sensor. So, having every lens at your disposal will come in handy sooner or later. Feel like we forgot something important? Then let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below! Like what you see? Then don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news, reviews, listicles, apps, games, devices, and more!

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