How to fix problems on galaxy s9 and galaxy s9 plus

Samsung has dedicated a lot of efforts in 2018 to the S9 and S9 Plus, for much of the community the two of the best Android smartphones at the moment. The latest high-end bets from the South Korean company further refine the already great features of its predecessors, taking elements like design, display, performance, and photography to a whole new level. However, despite the great responses these devices usually give, sadly there are still some problems with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus that users have to face.

Important: Of course not all Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will have these problems. In fact, it is more than likely that you will not encounter any of these drawbacks.

Keyboard does not work

Some users have found that the keyboard does not open as expected when trying to enter their PIN or password to unlock the phone.

Many assume this could be due to the issue of the screen dead zone, a small area that appears to be unresponsive. The solution is actually much simpler and basically involves enabling a setting that should have been turned on by default.

We go to Settings> Applications and open the Advanced Settings menu by tapping on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner. We tap on Show system settings and scroll down to Samsung Keyboard. We go to Advanced Settings and grant the permission for "Applications that can appear at the top". This should solve the problem. The permission should be allowed by default, but it may not be in this case.

This permission is required even if you install a third-party keyboard.

Connectivity issues

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues typically appear when you find a new smartphone and there have also been reports of problems with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus with connectivity.

Wi-Fi issues

We turn off the device and the ruoter for at least ten seconds, turn on again and try the connection.

Let's go to Settings> Energy Saving and make sure this option is disabled.

We used the Wi-Fi Analyzer to check how busy our channel is and switched to a better option.

We forget about the Wi-Fi connection by going to Settings> Wi-Fi and long touching the connection we want, then we select “Forget”. We re-enter the details and try.

We make sure the router firmware is up to date.

We confirm that the applications and software on the device are up to date.

We go to Wi-Fi> Settings> Advanced and take note of the MAC address of the device, then we make sure that access is allowed in the router's MAC filter.

Some users have found that disabling the Hotspot 2.0 feature seems to fix many issues with Wi-Fi.

Bluetooth issues

We check the device and car manufacturer's manual and re-establish their connections.

We make sure not to lose one of the two parties in the connection process.

We go to Settings> Bluetooth and make sure that nothing needs to be changed.

We go to Settings> Bluetooth and delete all the previous pairings and try to configure them again from scratch.

Screen problems

Black parts problem

Several users have reported an issue where the screen has difficulty revealing detail in dark areas of videos, displaying black or pixelated image blocks instead. This problem is mainly seen with the larger Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus with low brightness levels.

Fortunately, a software solution should solve this problem and we hope it will be released soon.

Until then, there is a workaround available by using an app called Screen Balance, which gives us full control over features like white balance, hue, color filters, and brightness. We can download the application from Google Play.

Screen brightness adjusts automatically and becomes too dim

Some users have noticed that when they unlock the device at night or in a dark environment, the screen dims automatically, even when settings such as Automatic brightness and Blue light mode (Night mode) are disabled.

This issue seems to occur to users who have restored settings and apps from a previous device that had night mode enabled. Unfortunately, the only way to fix this problem, for now, is to perform a factory reset. During the setup process, we made sure to uncheck "Restore system settings." We can still restore applications as we did before.

The screen appears to have a yellow hue

Some users have been able to see a kind of yellowish tone on the screen.

We can try changing the color balance by going to Settings> Display> Color Mode and manually adjusting the RGB spectrum until the screen looks better.

If that doesn't help and the problem persists, the only option may be a terminal switch.

Dead zone on screen

One of the most well-known Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 issues so far has been the dead zone on the screen that some users have encountered. A whole section of the screen seems to be unresponsive.

First, we check if we have a dead zone on the screen or not. We open the dialer and dial * # 0 * # to start the hardware diagnostic page. We open the option to touch. Then we run our finger across all sections of the screen to see if an area is unresponsive. If so, this may be a reason for Samsung to agree to exchange the phone for us.

In case there is no dead zone, the problem may be related to touch sensitivity, especially if we have a screen protector in place. We go to the Settings menu and open Advanced Features. We scroll down to Touch Sensitivity and activate it.

Flickering videos when recording in 4K

Some users have encountered dropped frames and lag or flickering when recording 4K video. Missed frames also appear in video playback.

This flickering could be due to a slow microSD card. We must ensure that the microSD card we have allows a minimum write speed of 30 Mbps to ensure that the recording quality does not suffer.

Some users have found that disabling Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) seems to solve the problem. We go to the Camera application and open the Settings menu, where we can disable EIS. We also need to enable HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding). Since the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), disabling EIS shouldn't have a negative impact. That being said, a software fix should be available in an upcoming update.

Problems with LED notifications

Many users have found that the notification LED does not work as expected. In applications such as WhatsApp, which allow you to choose unique colors for private or group messages, the LED does not reflect this setting. In some cases, the notification LED shows a standard color regardless of whether we have set different colors for individual applications. This seems to be one of the most common Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus problems that users have encountered.

In the case of WhatsApp, we go to Settings> Applications and we scroll down to WhatsApp. In the Memory section, we tap on Clear cache. Next, we start WhatsApp, open the settings menu and set the LED color to None. Finally, we go to Settings (phone settings)> Display, disable the LED indicator and enable it again. We go back to WhatsApp and configure the color of the LED we want and it should already work.

As far as other apps are concerned, we may have to use a third party app like Light Flow Legacy until a permanent solution is available from Samsung.

Edge light issues

A variety of issues have been found with Edge lighting. For some, it doesn't work when the screen is off. For others, Edge lighting seems to work only for the SMS app and nothing else.

Some users have found that enabling "pop-up notifications" for apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat makes the Edge light work even when the screen is off.

For some, the problem seems to be that they have disabled animation duration scaling in the Developer Options section of the Settings menu, which is done to improve performance. All you have to do is set this to 0.5x, and the Edge lighting works.

You can try downloading the Edge Lighting app from the Google Play Store here. This application allows you to set custom colors for different applications and makes the side lighting function work even when the screen is off. However, the results have been mixed. The application has worked perfectly for some users. Others have had problems. Since it is a paid application, that is something to consider before deciding to download it.

Call recording problems

It has been found by some users that call recording does not work and only part of the conversation is recorded. This happens regardless of the call recording application we use. This issue affects only the version of the phones powered by the Samsung Exynos processor and not the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.

Unfortunately, there is no solution available for this. Call recording is blocked on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus in most markets to comply with Google's security policies and local laws in each country. Some app developers have come up with a solution that allows a part of the call to be recorded, but that's all you can do. Users who rely on call recording may find this to be one of the biggest Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus problems.

Samsung has started to launch native call recording in certain markets such as Israel, Finland or Russia, where call recording is legal. In other markets, we can try using SKVALEX's Call Recorder app which now appears to be compatible with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. There is a trial version of the application available so that we can verify if it works before purchasing the full version.

Calls rejected automatically

It seems that some users have detected that some calls they receive are automatically rejected and a call declined message is sent ("Sorry, I can't speak right now. Please call me back later"). While the main problem is obviously rejecting calls, users who have limited plans and must pay for SMS have another reason to worry.

For some users, turning off Easy Mute seems to do the trick. We go to Settings> Advanced features and disable it. If the configuration is already off, we turn on and then turn off again.

To a large extent, this issue appears to be related to Edge Lighting. We go to Settings> Display> Edge screen> Edge lighting, we touch the three vertical dots in the upper right corner and open the Quick Reply. We can disable this feature until a permanent solution is established. The ability to disable settings has been released with a recent update. If we still don't see this option, the only solution is to completely turn off the Edge light.

Static or screeching noise from the speaker

Some users have faced a problem with their device's speaker. Users hear static or cracking noise when watching videos, listening to music, or playing games.

We can first verify and confirm that the problem is not hardware related. We dial * # 0 * # to open the hardware test menu. We look for the option "speaker" and run the test. If it is a hardware problem, the only option is to change the phone if it continues under the warranty period. If the mentioned code doesn't work, we can also try dialing * # 7353 #.

Other users have found that the problem seems to be related to the Dolby Atmos feature and turning it off clears that static noise. We just have to go to Settings> Sound and vibration> Quality and sound effects. We disable the Dolby Atmos setting and see if the problem goes away.

Problems whose solution is to wait for an update

There are some problems with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus where there are still no solutions available and, the only option for now, is to wait for a solution in the form of an official software update from Samsung or the creator of the application that causes us such problems.

Notification volume too low: Many users have found that the volume of notification alerts is too low. This is likely a software issue and will hopefully be fixed in a future update.

Call drops: One of the seemingly biggest issues with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus is when it comes to silent drops or drops during some calls. Many users have encountered this problem and it does not appear to be a problem with the SIM card or mobile network connectivity. Samsung has included call stability improvements with the last two updates. While things have improved for some users with each update, it has yet to be completely removed.

NFC issues: Some users have found that NFC turns off automatically and cannot be re-enabled while the device's battery is below 70%.