SAMSUNG’s mid-range Galaxy C9 Pro is aimed at bolstering market share in the clad-metal design smartphones category, generally dominated by Chinese manufacturers.
The phone, with a trendy glassy and sleek design, entered the local market on March 10 — in gold, pink gold and black.
Design
The Galaxy C9 Pro is a big and heavy device but not as big as its counterpart, theA9pro.
The culprit may be its battery which has the capacity of 4,000 mAh.
Nevertheless the phone is designed to be slim and the metal design is a first for Samsung. It gives a premium feel. This makes the phone look better than other Samsung models.
Another surprising new style is the antenna line resembling HTC phones. On the right are microSD card and dual Nano-SIMS slots.
Display and specifications
The phone has a 6-inch FHD Super AMOLED display, but unlike its counterparts, C9 Pro can only be viewed at 1080p resolution.
Nevertheless, this 1080p is good enough for HD viewing and no issues were encountered when it comes to sharpness or clarity. The phone also has a brilliant colourdisplay.The C9 Pro uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 and it has four Cortex-A72 cores with a speed capability of 1.95 GHZ and fourmore Cortex-A53 cores running at 1.44 GHZ. The video card is an integrated Adreno 510 graphics.
The 6GB of RAM is a big plus compared to standard smartphones. The phone comes with 64GB built-in storage and a micro SD card slot which has the ability to expand the storage up to 256GB.
The 4,000 mAh battery has a fast charging feature that makes it easy for those who always on the go.
Software
Surprisingly, the C9 Pro runs on Android 6.0.1. not the latest Nougat operating system.
Its large size eases reading and viewing content. A noteworthy feature is the always on display mode also offered on Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
Camera performance
Users will be thrilled to find out that the front and back cameras offer 16 megapixel sensors, a rare feature on smartphones.
The camera pro mode allows you to adjust the shooting settings, such as metering, ISO, exposure and white balance.
There is also a dedicated button for video recording, so you dont have to switch to another mode to record video.
The quality of C9’s Pro rear camera is excellent. When I tried snapping a few pictures, there was no shutter lag. The phone also has the ability to lock focus on its subject fast. When it comes to video quality, the phone produces pretty good results, in daytime and night.
Samsung, unfortunately, has decided not to include a 4K recording feature.
Performance
Generally, the phone is an all-rounder despite missing some of the high tech features that other phones have.
Nevertheless, it performs generally well. The phone’s big display is a plus and the full-HD resolution will meet the expectation of many users. When it comes to video games, The C9 Pro handles them well.
Titles like Modern Combat 5 and Asphalt 8 can be played at the highest settings.
However, the phone heats up on long video game sessions while charging, but it cools off.
Verdict
Though lacking in the latest operating system, 4k recording and display, overall, it is still worth the money with its big screen, large capacity battery, high-end cameras and 6Gb of RAM.
The C9 Pro offers most of the features demanded in the latest mid-range smartphones and it will appeal to many.
It’s available from RM2,299.