The Samsung Galaxy A-series is the next big thing after the A-series and Note series. The South Korean technology giants released the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) about two years ago making it the first phone to feature a quad rear camera. The Galaxy A9 is a pretty decent smartphone as at now in 2020. In this article, I’ll be doing a review of the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) in 2020 telling you if it is still worth buying. But first, I’ll glance through the specs and features.
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Key Specs
- 6.3 inches Super AMOLED display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC
- 6GB or 8GB of RAM
- 64GB or 128GB built-in storage
- 24MP+10MP+8MP+5MP quad rear camera
- 24MP front-facing camera
- 3,800 mAh battery
- 18W fast charging support
Design and Body
The Galaxy A9 (2018) has a glass and aluminium build with it having Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the back and front and an aluminium frame. The phone has minimal bezels at the top and bottom thanks to its 18·5:9 aspect ratio and 80% screen to body ratio. The phone design is like that of a flagship smartphone and it is still not outdated even after two years in 2020.
Display
As for the display, the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) sports a 6.3 inches Super AMOLED display with a FHD+ resolution of 1080×2200 pixels and 393 pixels per inch density. The display is very crisp, clear and sharp, you’ll enjoy watching movies and playing games on it. The phone screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 which is scratch resistant.
Processor and Memory
The Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) features an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC which has 2 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz and another 6 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. The Adreno 512 is in charge of gaming and other graphics-related activities. The chipset is a good one even in 2020.
The phone comes with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128FB built-in storage with a dedicated micro SD card slot for expanding the storage.
Camera
As I’ve mentioned before, this phone is the first phone to come with a quad rear camera. The quad rear camera features a 24MP wide camera with f/1.7 aperture, 10MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom, 8MP ultrawide camera and 5MP depth camera. The rear cameras can record 4K videos at 30 fps and 1080p videos at 30 fps.
At the front, we have a 24MP wide camera for taking selfies and videos calls. The front camera has HDR capabilities and can record 1080p videos at 30 fps.
Network and Connectivity
The Galaxy A9 (2018) has support for 4G LTE network which gives you access to fast internet speeds of up to 450 Mbps when downloading and surfing the web. The phone supports the following 4G bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 26, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66. The phone also comes with Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band WiFi 5, WiFi Direct, GPS, NFC, FM radio and WiFi hotspot.
Battery and Charging
The battery on this smartphone is not huge per se but is expected to last you throughout a day on light usage. The phone has a 3,800 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery. As for charging, the phone has a USB type C port for charging, it also supports 18W fast charging so you’ll spend less time when charging.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) runs on Android 8 Oreo with Samsung Experience UI and is upgradeable to Android 9 Pie with One UI 1.0. The phone is expected to get Android 10 update very soon.
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Review in 2020
The Samsung Galaxy A9 of 2018 is still a great smartphone to buy in 2020. The phone has lots of important features needed. The phone sells for about $200-$300 on online stores. The smartphone still meets the requirements for a good phone in 2020.
