Galaxy S9: Everyone should know these tricks

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S9 battery and charger questions:

Does the Galaxy S9 master wireless charging?

The Samsung Galaxy S9 can be charged without a cable on a Qi charging station. Unfortunately, the charging power is limited to five watts with any Qi charging pad. You can only fast charge the Galaxy S9 wirelessly with proprietary Samsung chargers – provided you connect the charging pad to a separately sold Samsung charging cable.

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However, the Galaxy S9 cannot charge other devices such as smartwatches with the induction coil. Wireless PowerShare is only available from Samsung in the Galaxy Note 10 or S10 device families.

The Galaxy S9 suddenly has a worse battery life

A form of wear and tear takes place in the battery at the chemical level. It is therefore necessary to exchange it after a certain time. Unfortunately, Samsung has glued the case together so that you have a hard time getting to the battery yourself. We advise you to consult Samsung yourself, as the manufacturer will then be liable for any damage that may occur. A battery replacement for the Galaxy S9 with Smart Repair costs a fair 73 euros.

Samsung has general tips for extending the battery life in the Galaxy S9 on a help page. We also have an extensive article on the subject:

The Galaxy S9 no longer charges

If the battery of your Galaxy S9 no longer charges despite the charger being connected, this can have two causes. Either the connected charger or charging cable is not OK; then you have to buy a new one (see link above). Or your software, i.e. an app or the operating system itself, consumes too much power. Then, on the one hand, the tips mentioned above against poor battery life and, on the other hand, our tricks will help if a software update causes trouble for your Galaxy S9 (see below).

Galaxy S9 and Root

Some Galaxy S9 models will soon no longer have a manufacturer’s warranty. And by 2022 at the latest, Samsung will stop supplying security updates. Then at the latest it is appropriate to take control of the software on the Galaxy S9 into your own hands.

The hacker community offers everything you need. There is the official custom recovery TWRP for the Galaxy S9. Root succeeds as usual via Magisk (not yet under Android 10). And a number of hobbyists are optimizing custom ROMs for the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. With these, however, the devices lose support for VoLTE and VoWIFI.

Questions/Annoyances with Galaxy S9 software updates

Will the Galaxy S9 get Android 10?

The Android 10 update for the Galaxy S9 has been on the way since January 2020. It should be available for all current devices by April at the latest. We collect the latest news on this in a separate article:

Galaxy S9 hangs after update

Often users report that Galaxy S9 runs slower or even hangs after Android update. However, this can be normal, since the cache is emptied, especially with large system updates. Your Galaxy S9 must then first completely reload a lot of content and app components. This ensures that your smartphone feels slower on the first or second day after the update and loading jerks can occur. These should fix themselves.

If crashes occur instead or performance remains poor, you can run “Wipe Cache Partition” in the recovery menu (below).

Battery problems after updating the S9

If the battery in your Galaxy S9 runs out faster after the update, you can hopefully fix this problem with the tips above. If not, a factory reset while keeping the new Android version may be necessary. That’s our next point.

Galaxy S9: Reset (reboot or reset)

Your Galaxy S9 can no longer be switched on or off? Then certain key combinations will help to force restart or force the Galaxy S9 to turn off.

  • Forced Reboot: Hold Volume Down + Power for seven seconds
  • Reboot into Recovery: On power up Power + Bixby + Volume Up
  • Forced Power Off: Select “Power off” in Recovery
  • Download Mode: Power + Bixby + Volume Down when turned on

If you do a factory reset with the Galaxy S9, i.e. want to reset it to factory settings, you should first back up your personal data and then delete it. We make a distinction between the terms in the separate article:

We recommend factory resetting the Galaxy S9 via the system interface. You can also reset the device via recovery (see above). However, Google’s reactivation lock then blocks the use of the device and asks for the username and password of the previous owner. Samsung can remove this as a service.

Dual SIM and eSIM in the Galaxy S9

Most Galaxy S9 models sold in Germany are dual SIM smartphones. This can be particularly useful when traveling to avoid roaming costs. Personally, I leave my Drimsim travel SIM card permanently in the second slot and simply deactivate the slot to save electricity when I return to Germany.

Unfortunately, the plastic-free alternative eSIM is not supported in the Galaxy S9. Only a few Pixel and iPhone models, as well as the new Moto Razr, new iPads and a growing range of wearables use the integrated SIM card.

Double WhatsApp on the S9: In line with the dual SIM, the Samsung Galaxy S9 also supports “Dual Messenger”. This can be found in the settings under “Advanced functions”. In the best WhatsApp alternative Telegram, account switching is natively integrated and does not require the Samsung workaround.

Galaxy S9 processing questions

Is the Galaxy S9 waterproof?

The Galaxy S9 is water-resistant according to IP68. So it should survive half an hour in 1.5 meter deep fresh water (without soap or salt) undamaged. When hitting the water surface, however, higher partial pressures can occur, so that with a bit of bad luck a drop of water can get onto the circuit board and cause electronic damage.

In the event of water damage, the Galaxy S9 becomes a service case, see below.

Protective cases for the Galaxy S9

To avoid expensive repairs, protective covers for the Galaxy S9 are essential. These are available in different formats. The Silicone Cover is a soft bed that protects the back and edges from bumps and scratches. However, this is only an all-round protection for your Galaxy S9 in combination with a protective film.

Then there are flip covers that turn your Galaxy S9 into a kind of notebook. Special models from Samsung are the Clear View Standing Cover, through which the always-on display can still be read, and the LED View Cover, which has its own LED display.

AndroidPIT samsung galaxy note8 1yr dot view cover
You can find the LED view cover cheaper on eBay. / © NextPit

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Repair Galaxy S9

If the glass of the Galaxy S9 is broken, you have water damage or the battery is defective, Samsung will help you with repairs. With the so-called Smart Repair, you can send your defective Galaxy S9 to the workshop, have it repaired by the Repair Bus or hopefully hand it over to a partner shop soon.

The repairs are billed at fixed prices. Examples of the cost of S9 repairs:

  • During the warranty period: Free of charge
  • New battery: 73 euros
  • New display: 183.86 euros
  • New glass for the back: 84.22 euros
  • Glass breakage front and rear: 199.9 euros
  • Water damage: 308.13 euros
  • New camera / buttons / USB port: 75.33 euros
  • Unlock the screen, fix software errors: 67.60 euros

Mobile phone insurance can cover these costs.

Galaxy S9/S9+ camera tips

Automatic super slow motion

To get the most out of automatic recording with the new Super Slow Motion, you need some preparation. First you need good light and second you need to be far enough away from the scene to capture as much as possible. A tripod is optional but recommended. You should start with as still shots as possible, and when the middle box turns yellow, the smartphone is ready to step in and activate super slow motion if there’s any movement. The video continues to record and the super slow motion can start again as soon as the buffer is empty again after about two seconds.

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When the square is yellow, you’re good to go. / © NextPit

Creating a GIF with a super slow motion clip

After creating a video with the slow motion camera, you can create a GIF from it, right from the gallery. Locate the Super Slow Motion video and slide your finger from the preview to the screen to open the video details. Just below the information we have the clip in three versions. Touch one of them and you can edit and save the GIF.

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Slow motion GIF in no time. / © NextPit

Enable normal slow motion

Slow motion mode is disabled by default. However, super slow motion is sometimes too fast and too short for home videos, so I recommend turning on the normal mode, which records at 1080p at a rate of 240 fps, which isn’t too bad after all.

To enable normal slow motion mode, go to the camera settings and edit the camera modes. Among the main camera options, there is also normal slow motion to choose from.

Bokeh effect everywhere

With the Galaxy S9 and S9+ you can create a bokeh effect on both the main camera and selfies. Make sure you choose the right option: selective focus for the rear camera and selfie focus for the front camera. For the main camera, the foreground should be about half a meter away from the lens to get good results. After shooting, you can adjust the blur to background or foreground depending on what you want to emphasize.

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Focuses on the background or foreground. / © NextPit

An exclusive bokeh effect is also available for food photos. There is an appropriately named option for the main camera. Touch the screen with your finger to focus on one point, the rest of the scene will be blurred.

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Your food will look better this way. / © NextPit

Galaxy S9/S9+ Edge Tips

edge lighting

If you have the smartphone face down, you still don’t have to miss any notifications. Go to settings > display > side screen and turn on side light. You can also customize it to your liking from here.

s9 edge
The side light is a very cool and useful effect. / © NextPit

Tips for Bixby on Galaxy S9/S9+

Takes advantage of Bixby Voice by automating tasks. In My Bixby on the second card you can see the Quick Commands. Here you can add a new quick command. You’ll need to speak the prompt for Bixby to recognize, and then you can add any prompts you want triggered. When you say that word or phrase, Bixby will do whatever you tell it to do.

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Show Bixby what you need. / © NextPit

If you use the One UI on your Galaxy S9 or S9+, then we have collected more tips and tricks for you here:

Do you have other important tricks or favorites that aren’t on this list? Then put it in the comments!

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