The Samsung Galaxy S9 is the 2018 flagship with the 5.8-inch screen, not the larger S9+. Black Friday listings still use the short name “S9” for both phones, for renewed stock, and sometimes for a case with a picture of the phone. The model you can actually use is the one in the spec line: screen size, one rear camera, and the storage number.
Samsung built the Galaxy S9 with a 5.8-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, curved glass, and an aluminum frame. In the United States the phone uses a Snapdragon 845; other regions used Samsung’s Exynos 9810. It has 4GB of RAM. Storage was 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB, and a microSD slot can add a card. The rear camera is a single 12-megapixel sensor with a variable aperture that opens to f/1.5 or stops down to f/2.4. The front camera is 8 megapixels. There is a headphone jack, a rear fingerprint sensor, wireless charging, and an IP68 rating. The battery is 3,000mAh. Stereo speakers were tuned with AKG. The connector is USB-C. None of that describes a 2026 Galaxy, and none of it describes the S9+.
Galaxy S9 versus the S9+
The S9+ is the phone people mix in. It has a 6.2-inch display, 6GB of RAM, a 3,500mAh battery, and a second rear camera for telephoto. If the listing says dual camera or 6.2 inches, it is not the S9 this search named. If it says one 12-megapixel rear camera and 5.8 inches, you are on the S9. A photo of a curved Samsung phone does not settle it. Both phones curve.
In 2026 this is an old flagship. Samsung’s major update window for the S9 closed years ago. Buying one on Black Friday does not restart that clock. Check whether the apps you need still install on the last Android version this phone received before you treat a low ask as a daily driver. Banking, messaging, and work apps are the ones that drop old Android first. A phone that will not run them is not a backup phone. It is a device that stays in a drawer.
Battery health is the other real spec. A 3,000mAh cell from 2018 is small even when new, and a worn one is smaller. Ask whether the battery was replaced and whether the back glass was opened to do it. IP68 does not survive a careless battery swap. A swollen battery that lifts the glass is a reason to walk away. Wireless charging and the headphone jack should both work. The jack is a reason some people still want this model. It does not make the rest of the phone current.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Black Friday Deals 2026: AT&T lock and condition
The listing linked on this page is a used Galaxy S9, 64GB, Midnight Black, carrier locked to AT&T. The title says carrier locked. It is not an unlocked Galaxy S9, and it is not an S9+. The featured offer was used, very good, and the offers shown on the page were used. A phone locked to AT&T stays on AT&T until AT&T unlocks it. Do not buy this listing in order to move the number to another carrier. Storage on this listing is 64GB. The bullets state IP68. A RAM size is not stated here, because the figures on S9 listings did not agree. This generation is LTE. The listing does not add 5G.
Storage should be printed twice, in the title and the details. 64GB fills quickly if you take video. 128GB is the calmer used buy. The microSD slot helps only if you actually put a card in it, and apps still want internal space. A renewed listing should say renewed. “New” on an S9 in 2026 is rare enough to doubt unless the seller shows a sealed box and accepts returns.
Power the phone on before you move a number. Confirm the model name in settings says Galaxy S9, not S9+. Set up the fingerprint sensor, play sound through the headphone jack and the speakers, and take a photo at both aperture modes if the camera app still offers them. Look at the OLED for burn-in. Look at the frame for a bend. Remove any previous Samsung or Google account before you rely on it. Factory reset protection will stop a phone the seller did not sign out.
Skip titles that say S9 and then list two rear cameras, and skip titles that are only a case or a battery. The listing states 64GB, Midnight Black, the S9 name, an AT&T carrier lock, and IP68 in the bullets. Black Friday is a possible week to buy this used AT&T-locked S9 if the phone will stay on AT&T. It is a bad week to discover the box is an S9+ or an unlocked phone you needed for a different carrier. Read the screen size before you pay.
Give the first evening to a plain setup rather than to a data migration on a crowded network. Update what the phone can still update, then sign into the accounts you actually use. Confirm the microSD tray opens and that a card is recognized if you plan to add one. Charge it with a known USB-C charger and watch whether the percentage climbs steadily. A battery that stalls or gets hot is a return. Play a song through the headphone jack and through the speakers so you know both paths work. The AKG tuning is a small pleasure on this phone and it is irrelevant if the jack is dead. Keep the return box until those checks pass. An S9 that fails any of them is not cheaper. It is incomplete. The phone you wanted is still the 5.8-inch single-camera Galaxy, and the settings screen is where that name has to appear before you call the order finished and done.
