Samsung Galaxy A9: smartphone review

This year, Samsung was remembered for trying to create a smartphone with a variable aperture, then breathed new life into Note9 (especially the stylus of this flagship), and at the end of the year decided to arrange its own little revolution in mobile photography.

First came the Galaxy A7 with three main cameras: zoom and an ultra wide angle were added to the usual one. And then the Korean company was the first to introduce a device with a quadruple main camera. It would seem, why do we need another camera? They explained to everyone that she was “portrait” and works only in the corresponding mode. In general, there is something to understand.

So, the main camera of the Samsung Galaxy A9 consists of four cameras with different equivalent focal lengths and different sensor resolutions:

24-megapixel main wide-angle camera 27 mm (eq.) With a fast F1.7 lens. There is also phase detection autofocus.
A ten megapixel camera with a telephoto lens (F2.4) that provide optical zoom. The equivalent focal length is 52 mm, that is, the zoom is not completely double.
An eight-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera (F2.4), which allows you to take pictures with a viewing angle of 120 degrees. The equivalent focal length of this lens is 18 mm. Some sites write about 12 mm and in general it seems more like the truth, judging by the pictures, but several programs showed exactly 18 mm equivalent to a full frame.
Five megapixel camera and F2.2 aperture. This camera works in portrait mode. Interestingly, the equivalent focal length is 26 mm, that is, the difference in millimeter compared to the main camera.

There is also an LED flash under the camera. The front camera has a resolution of 24 megapixels and aperture F2.0.

Technical specifications Samsung Galaxy A9
Screen	6.3 inches, Super AMOLED, aspect ratio 18.5: 9, 2220 × 1080 pixels, 392 ppi
CPU	eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 2.2 GHz
RAM	6 GB
Built-in memory	128 GB
Memory card	microSD memory card support
SIM	dual SIM support
Main camera	24 MP, F1.7, 27 mm (eq.), PDAF, LED flash + 10 MP, F2.4, 52 mm (eq.) + 8 MP, F2.4, 18 mm (eq.) + 5 MP, F2.2, 26 mm (equiv.)
Front-camera	24 MP, F2.0
The fingerprint scanner	behind
Communications	LTE Cat.9 (up to 450 Mbps), Wi-Fi 802.11ac (dual band), Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, NFC
Audio jack	there is
Geolocation	A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
Battery	3800 mAh non-removable, with quick charge support

Samsung Galaxy A9 photo review

We tested the capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy A9 quadruple camera on plots classic for our tests. The first is the conditions of good lighting. It would seem that such a scene should not cause problems for smartphones, but Samsung, frankly, was fading. On a 100% crop, there is a strong oversharp and, as a result, a loss of clarity and detail. Colors are good and natural. Also, we immediately tried two other cameras of the device: providing double optical zoom and ultra-wide angle. The zoom camera works well. Interestingly, the crop of the main camera is initially turned on. After a few seconds, a camera with a telephoto lens is connected and the image quality increases by an order of magnitude. At the same time, the resharp, unfortunately, remains - you cannot fool the algorithms. As we noted above, the Samsung Galaxy A9, according to EXIF, has an ultra-wide-angle lens with an equivalent focal length of 18 mm. At the same time, on other sites we saw information that the distance of an ultra-wide-angle lens is 12 mm. And, apparently, it is the latter that corresponds to reality. Here and the viewing angle, and the effect of "barrels". Winter came with a bright and unexpectedly warm autumn with dark nights, cloudy weather and early darkening. Therefore, we took only a few pictures in the afternoon, seizing the moment, and then went to the premises and to shoot other subjects. Here we note exactly the same problem: too much oversharp, clearly visible on one hundred percent crop. This affects not only the detail, but also the perception of the image as a whole. And with overall good quality (colors, exposure, accurate white balance, focus), everything else is lost. When shooting with zoom and super wide angle, the effect is about the same, and it's sad. On the one hand, there are a large number of possibilities, on the other hand, a rather weak implementation. The fourth camera "turns on" in the room and is responsible for the correct blurring of the background: beautiful bokeh is certainly achieved by software. We made several images with varying degrees of blur and, frankly, we liked the blur “on the machine” more than the maximum. At the same time, the smartphone sees the contours for sure, there are no complaints about them. It would be worthwhile to pay special attention to the “Portrait” mode, only here it is divided into several sub-modes: “Live Focus”, “Beauty”. And, it would seem, there are so many technologies, so many cameras, but the result is very controversial. Beautification at the level of not the best Chinese smartphones (and setting it up is long and difficult), and blurring looks too artificial. Now let's talk about night shooting. Oddly enough, in such conditions, the Samsung Galaxy A9 proved to be great. Here re-sharping was not so evident, and color rendition and white balance played the first violin. At the same time, the image shot on different lenses is different in quality. It affects the difference in sensors and resolution. A little about the front camera: we were expecting something incredible, but it works just fine. Confidently copes with his work, and nothing more. You should not expect incredible quality, although it’s not bad for a selfie. Samsung Galaxy A9 makes it possible to record videos in Full HD and 4K-resolution, it is possible to do slow motion and time lapse. It is worth remembering that optical image stabilization only works on the main camera, so switching between cameras is, in fact, impossible. We also noted a rather weak sound recording device. It clearly "choked" at the first low frequencies.

conclusions

Many people remember that we did not really like the Samsung Galaxy S9 +: in our opinion, Samsung did not cope with the new dual-diaphragm technologies then. On the one hand, considering the Samsung Galaxy A9, it is worth praising the company for its craving for experimentation, but on the other, the fourth camera is completely incomprehensible. It differs from the main one in millimeter and is included only in a pair of modes. It seems to us that its presence is unjustified.

Samsung has been experimenting with its camera in different price segments for a year to present something unique in the new generation of flagship devices. But one cannot say that the experiments are successful; while everything looks damp enough. The Samsung Galaxy A9 turned out to be a pretty nice smartphone: the back wall shimmers with different colors, here the gradients popular in 2018 are used. Many will like the fact that there is no fringe in the front and there is still a 3.5 mm audio jack. But visually, the bar of four cameras at the back looks rather strange.

Inside, the Galaxy A9 has a good filling: the mid-range processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, which has sufficient power and low power consumption. Samsung should be praised for its high-quality AMOLED display and a large 3800 mAh battery. In general, the Galaxy A9 is a strong middle peasant with good characteristics. And on the camera, he, unfortunately, also gives average indicators: processing algorithms do not improve the image, resharp spoils everything even in good light conditions. The confusion with the focal length of the super wide angle is noted, but this is not a problem.

Nevertheless, we are used to seeing Samsung, if not a reference camera, then interesting and providing good image quality. In the case of the A9, it cannot be said that we were completely satisfied: the portrait camera caused us bewilderment. After all, competitors take portraits without the help of a dedicated camera, using the main and auxiliary to determine the contours and blur the background. At the same time, the camera can be called universal - it gives equally good results both day and indoors, and at night, you can count on it in almost any environment. But it is important to remember that on images from all lenses, there will most likely be a strong oversharp.