Samsung Galaxy A9 Initial Impressions: A Quad Camera System

Samsung just introduced its Galaxy A9 at the ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ event in Malaysia. The Korean phone maker called it as the “World’s first quad camera smartphone’. With 4 different rear cameras, Samsung has intergrated premium features in its Galaxy A9. Besides, the new handset also features 3D Glass curved back from the Galaxy S9 and Infinity Display of Samsung with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9.

The Samsung Galaxy A9 already launched in the Indian market with a starting price of Rs. 36,990 for the lowest variant with 6GB of RAM and the best variant with 8GB RAM is priced at Rs. 39,990. It was available in India from 28 November via Amazon India, Paytm Mall, and Flipkart. I had the chance to experience this new Galaxy A9 for a short time, below are my initial impressions.

Samsung Galaxy A9: The quad camera system

The quad camera system at its back includes a telephoto, depth sensor, ultra-wide and primary lens in a vertically aligned position. The camera system has a 24MP f1.7 primary sensor which is coupled with an 8MP 120-degrees ultra wide-angle sensor, a 10MP f.24 telephoto lens for 2X optical zoom, and a 5MP f2.2 depth sensor for live focus.

I tried the Galaxy A9’s camera indoors with decent lighting conditions, and it could show details in the photo the ultra-wide sensor enables you to take a bigger group photo. Samsung itself also demonstrated this feature on the stage. You can fit in more people or a bigger landscape with a single tap in camera interface.

The front-facing camera is a 24MP sensor. It allows users to capture detailed selfie photos with decent exposure. Samsung also offers some more selfie features like Bokeh mode that users can play around.

Samsung Galaxy A9: Design and build

The Samsung handset features offer a premium feel along with a great design.  It has a 3D curved glass back that is only often seen in flagship phones. While some people may have different standards on phone design, the quality of its appears great. In the front, you can find a big 6.3-inch FullHD+ Infinity Display with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Samsung uses Super AMOLED panel for the A9 display which is claimed to deliver good colors with deep black.

Even though the Galaxy A9 has a taler display, I can still hold it nicely in my hands. Its glass on both sides is pretty slipper and is aso smudge magnet.

The color options of this new Samsung phone are all great. There are three color variants including Bubblegum Pink, Caviar Black and Lemonade Blue.

Samsung Galaxy A9: Performance and features

The Galaxy A9 is powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 660 SoC along with 6/8GB of RAM. It runs Android 8 Pie out of the box with Experience 9 UI skinned of Samsung on top. We found that its performance seems satisfactory as well.

Samsung has also been pretty generous with the internal storage. The company offers 128GB of internal storage, and you can expand the storage by up to 512GB storage via microSD slot.

The security options are fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock as well. However, we found that the fingerprint scanner seems pretty snappy. But with a limited amount of time, I could not fully test the Face Recognition system.

Lastly, there is a 3,800 mAh under the hood with support for fast charging as well. The phone has a headphone jack and a USB Type-C port.

Final Thoughts

The Samsung Galaxy A9 is another well-polished device in the mid-range device portfolio of Samsung. It has a top-notch build quality with a premium feel. The quad-camera system is also the highlight of this phone.