When Samsung introduced the Galaxy S9 and S9+, a lot of attention revolved around their camera features, but what powered everything, hardware-wise, we didn’t know much about it. But thanks to our friends over at iFixit, they did a teardown of the Galaxy S9+ and gave us a better picture of the phone’s camera technology.
To begin, the signature variable aperture camera is possible due to a simple design. Typically, you see dedicated camera have five-blade apertures, but in this case, Samsung is using just two ring-like blades. This limits its functionality, but it also helps the camera stay relatively small. At the same time, iFixit’s teardown gives us some confirmation about what isn’t going on.
Speaking specifically about the advanced face detection, the camera and iris scanner system are “pretty much exactly” the same as the ones found on last year’s S8. This tells us that the features like AR Emoji are purely software-based. This shouldn’t really come as a shock, but it feels good to have confirmation, right?
Aside from that, many parts in the device are modular and can be replaced independently of each other. The only downfall is that the curved display and rear glass make it incredibly difficult to get inside the device without breaking something. This means you shoudn’t bother trying to replace the screen either because you have to take apart the “entire phone” just to get that panel, iFixit said. Whether you like it or not, those days of easy access inside Samsung phones are gone.
