On February 25, Samsung unveiled its two new flagship device Galaxy S9 and S9+. The firm brought in the successor of their last year Galaxy S8 devices with a decorative spec sheet that looks good, at least on paper. But, there are bound to be many big and small enhancements and omissions that we will come across with time. One such small yet important feature on Galaxy S9 is HEVC support.
Also Read: Canon EOS M50 4K Mirrorless Camera Launched: Price and Specs
Samsung’s both Galaxy S9 and S9+ support a new High-Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) format, aka H.265, video recording format. The format has 2x video compression capability compared to the regular H.264 format. Meaning that the video that you shoot from your Galaxy S9 duo will have high quality and half the size.
How will the HEVC Video Format Benefit Galaxy S9 users?
It is often said that the higher the picture quality eat up more disk space on your device. And since the new Galaxy S9 and S9+ are touted to have improved camera performance, it is natural that the size of the images is going to shoot up. But the HEVC video recording format will help in reducing it by 50%.
Also Read: MWC 2018: MediaTek Launches Helio P60 For Mid-range Phones
The format first debuted in the iPhone 8, Apple iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, and Samsung Galaxy S9 became the first Android smartphone to adopt it. The HEVC format in Galaxy S9 and S9+ was made possible thanks to its Exynos 9810 (for global market) and the Snapdragon 845 (for the US market) chipset.
Although the HEVC has better compression, it requires way more processing power than the H.264, and the mobile chipsets weren’t that powerful enough, which is why the codec wasn’t used until now.
How to Enable HEVC format in your Galaxy S9 and S9+?
The HEVC format in the Galaxy S9/S9+ can be enabled in the ‘Video Size’ menu in the camera settings. The HEVC format is turned off by default for unknown reasons.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Features and India Availability
To recall, the Galaxy S9 and the S9+ feature 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display, respectively, and powered by Exynos 9810/Snapdragon 845 mobile chipset. The handset is equipped with 4GB/6GB RAM, 64GB/256GB ROM, stereo speakers, Android 8.0 Oreo with Experience UI, and IP68 water and dust resistant.
For photography, the Galaxy S9 comes equipped with a single primary camera of 12MP whereas the Galaxy S9+ has dual-12MP camera setup on the rear.
The Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9 Plus are up for pre-order in India. Although, the Indian pricing hasn’t been revealed yet.
Nokia 8, 6 (2017), 5, 3 All Will Join Google’s Android One Project
