The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are the culmination of Samsung's smartphone philosophy. They are big and beautiful and they are easily among the most advanced devices that have brought credit to the smartphone market. But they are not perfect and problems can occur. That is why we have scoured forums, comments, and news to find the most common Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus issues and solutions..
Problem 1: Samsung Messages app sent my entire gallery to a random contact
This is one of the most notorious issues with the Samsung Galaxy S9. Multiple users complain that all the images in their gallery were sent to another contact without being notified in advance. While the impact seems minimal so far, it's a bug with potentially disastrous side effects.
Fortunately, it might not be that bad. On closer observation, it would appear that only those who are on T-Mobile and share a plan with someone else who has a Galaxy device experience this issue. However, no solution has yet been proposed for the problem. What can you do to prevent all of your media from being shared with another person?
# Solution:
As the issue only affects Samsung Messages, you may be able to fix the issue by removing the ability for this app to access your storage. To do so, open your “Settings” app, then tap “Applications” → “Samsung Messages” → “Permissions” and then remove its permission from the storage space. This will most likely render your Samsung Messages app unusable. So, before you do that, take the time to download an alternative to this messaging app..
Problem 2: Bluetooth won't connect to device / refuses to reconnect
Users have complained for months about intermittent connection issues on Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, such as periodic connection interruptions, inability to pair, and failure to reconnect to car-based Bluetooth systems. It appears that the periodic connection interruptions have been fixed by a software update, but some Bluetooth issues persist.
# Solution:
If you notice that your S9 or S9 Plus is not reconnecting to your car bluetooth system like your old laptop did, your old laptop may still be on your car's connection list. Obviously, the S9 will not work well with car bluetooth systems where other laptops are still listed. There are reports that removing your old laptop from the list should fix this problem..
If you are unable to connect your device to a speaker or other Bluetooth device, be sure to follow Samsung's list of steps to resolve any Bluetooth issues. If that doesn't resolve the issue, try holding down the power button on your Bluetooth device longer than usual to make sure pairing mode is working properly. If that doesn't work, it's probably time to contact Samsung to find a possible solution.
Problem 3: a dead zone on the touchscreen
Users on Samsung's official forums as well as several Reddit threads report that sections of their Galaxy S9's touchscreens are completely dead and not responding to their touch. In most cases, the dead section appears to be a strip that is laid horizontally on the device and is not in the same place for each person. Some people have tried resetting factory settings and changing sensitivity options in laptop settings, but so far none of these methods have worked.
Engadget reports that Samsung has confirmed that it is looking into the matter. The company issued the following statement:
“At Samsung, customer satisfaction is at the heart of our business and we aim to provide the best possible experience. We're looking at a limited number of reports on Galaxy S9 / S9 + touchscreen responsiveness issues. We work with the affected customers and we also do the investigation. We encourage any customer with questions to contact us directly at 1-800-Samsung. "
# Solution:
Since it appears to be a hardware issue, your best bet is to contact whoever you purchased the device from and have it repaired or replaced according to your warranty. If you purchased your device from Samsung, it has instructed affected users to contact it directly at 1-800-Samsung.
Problem 4: Super-slow motion video is very dark
Some users report that darkness levels dramatically increase in Super Slow Motion video on their S9 device when it is in low light conditions. This bug doesn't affect all S9 devices, but if it does affect yours, you'll notice a considerable difference in lighting between Auto camera mode and Super-Slow-mo mode.
The problem doesn't seem to be that the mode requires more light than standard video, as a user's normal video shows good indoor lighting.
# Solution:
According to a comment on one of the videos, Samsung has recognized this problem and is working on software to fix it. If you have this problem, please wait patiently and Samsung should fix it soon.
Problem 5: Unable to record audio calls
If you record your phone calls for security or for archiving, it looks like you might not be able to do this on the Galaxy S9. According to multiple users, regardless of what call recording software they use, the S9 only picks up one side of the conversation and it does not record the other end of the call.
At the moment, it seems that this issue only occurs in the international version of the Galaxy S9 with the Exynos 9810 processor and the Snapdragon 845 is not affected by this limitation.
# Solution:
He has no solution. As moderator BruceH clarified on the EU Samsung Forums, call recording is blocked on the S9 and S9 Plus to comply with Google security policies and local EU laws. The processes were specially designed for the S9 and S9 Plus, as older Samsung laptops were able to bypass similar restrictions by some apps. It looks like Samsung has finally managed to ban call recording.
Problem 6: Dirt and pixelation around black objects / black crush
If you have noticed that black areas on your S9 Plus look weird, you are not the only person who has had this problem. Users noted that black areas on media and images did not blend well with other colors, causing areas to be pixelated, blurry, or just plain weird. When we compare an S8 and an S9 Plus side by side, the problem becomes very clear.
It seems that this issue is only affecting the Galaxy S9 Plus and only affects some devices when the brightness is below 40%.
# Solution:
An update successfully resolved this issue. So make sure your laptop is fully updated if you are still facing this problem. Go to “Settings” → “System Update” → “Check for Updates” for checking.
Problem 7: Samsung Pay not working
Since this is Samsung's payment service, you might want Samsung Pay to work with the Galaxy S9 right away. Unfortunately, it is not the case. Multiple users indicate that Samsung Pay is shown to be an “incompatible app”.
# Solution:
Make sure you have updated your device to the latest version. Samsung released an update ASAP and it seems to have fixed this issue. If you are still having issues with the app, try uninstalling it and then reinstalling it.