Flat, buttonless, and glass. Is this what we have asked for or the best Samsung can do?
We’ll soon be seeing the Galaxy S9 on a stage in Spain, surrounded by words like “thin” and “stylish” or “ergonomic” and “organic” or any of a long list of the regular buzzwords we always hear. And if the early looks we’ve seen from leaked press materials are correct (and come on, they are) those words are true. But we didn’t really need any leaks to know how the S9 will look overall — very thin with rounded corners, glass front and back, symmetrical in every way and a beveled edge with some fancy name to describe its geometry.
I can’t dismiss how a phone looks because a lot of people really care about it. Enough for Samsung to listen to them.
I’m the sort of person who isn’t very concerned with how my phone looks. I want to be able to use it with one hand, carry it without feeling it in my pocket, and have it do the things I need it to do without any fanfare or unnecessary fluff to get in my way. I’m pretty sure some people are the same and are only concerned with what a phone can do for them regardless how it looks on the outside. Unless it’s hideous or uncomfortable, we’re good with it.
But I have to judge how a phone looks for those people who care because that’s part of this job and people who are into how a phone looks deserve the same attention from me as people who think like I do. So I’ve been thinking: the Galaxy S9 looks a lot like the Galaxy S8, which looked a lot like the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S6.
Of course, there will be differences with camera lenses or fingerprint scanners and other small details. And where it counts — what the phone can do for all of us — we’ll see some of Samsung’s awesome and/or horrible ideas come into play. The Galaxy S9 will be an improvement over the Galaxy S8 even if it doesn’t look like it is. But when it comes to the design, we know what to expect, and that isn’t an accident. Samsung has decided this is the look it wants Galaxy phones to have, either because it can’t come up with a better design or, more likely, we don’t want anything else.
I’m leaning towards the latter here. Samsung can and would make a phone in the shape of a race car if it thought it would sell well. Tear away any ideas about design or innovation and you’ll find Samsung is like every other company making phones and really only wants to sell as many of them as it can because that’s what companies who stay in business do. We drive every decision Samsung makes. We have told Samsung we are finally happy with the way a smartphone is shaped and how it looks and that we’ll buy 50+ million of them if it makes them.
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This isn’t only a Samsung thing. Look at Apple’s iPhone and you’ll see a very similar design. Same with Google’s Pixel or LG’s V30. Flat. Buttonless. Glass. I just look to Samsung because they are what drives the industry in you prefer an Android phone and they have been listening to feedback since the days of the Galaxy S II (remember when Roman Numerals were a thing?) morphed into the nature-inspired Galaxy S III and it was so popular the company was unable to make them fast enough.
The Galaxy S9 will probably set another new sales record, and that’s a look Samsung loves.
The Galaxy S9 looks like it will be a well-designed phone. It will be ergonomic and not dig into our hands or pockets because of squared corners or edges and the small changes from last year’s model will make it easier to use. It’s a good thing because it’s what we asked for not because Samsung can’t think of anything different or better. And Samsung will sell millions and millions of them.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+
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