It's been over a week since Samsung's announced the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. On paper, the phones look a lot like last year's S8 on paper. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But as preorders are under way, it's good to see how the new flagships stack up against last years wonders: The Galaxy S8 and Note 8.

Samsung is smart for carrying over so much of the S8's design and specs. The S9 has the same USB-C charging port, headphone jack, front-facing camera, RAM, battery, 5.8-inch display and Bixby button. Our reviewer said that the S8 was the most beautiful phone ever. Though one of the biggest negatives against the phone was the location of the fingerprint reader next to the rear camera. Well, that fingerprint reader got moved to under the camera -- closer to the center of the S9's back.

The rear camera has also been improved. It has the same 13-megapixel dual-pixel sensor as the S8 and S7, but it gets a new variable aperture that can capture images at f/1.5 or f/2.4. Phone cameras traditionally can only shoot at a single aperture. So it's fascinating to see the S9 get a camera feature that the dual-rear camera Note 8 didn't have first.

The S9 also has the new Snapdragon 845 chipset instead of the 835 found in the S8 and Note 8. At an event held by Qualcomm, we tested the new 845 processor and it was 25-percent faster than phones with an 835 processor. We look forward to testing the S9 and seeing how it does with the new processor.

As for everything else, read the chart below to see how the S9 compares to last year's S8 and Note 8. And be sure to read CNET's hands-on impressions of the Galaxy S9 for more information about the phone.

	Samsung Galaxy S9	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Display size, resolution	5.8-inch; 2,960x1,440 pixels	5.8-inch; 2,960x1,440 pixels	6.3-inch; 2,960x1,440 pixels
Pixel density	570ppi	570ppi	522ppi
Dimensions (Inches)	5.81x2.70x0.33 in	5.9x2.9x0.31 in	6.4x2.9x0.34 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)	147.7x68.7x8.5 mm	148.9x68.1x8mm	162.5x74.8x8.6mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	5.75 oz; 163g	5.5 oz; 155g	6.9 oz, 195g
Mobile software	Android 8.0 Oreo	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Camera	12-megapixel	12-megapixel	Dual 12-megapixel
Front-facing camera	8-megapixel	8-megapixel	8-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor (2.8GHz + 1.7GHz), or octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 (2.7 GHz + 1.7 GHz)	Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (2.35GHz+1.9GHz) or octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895	Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (2.35GHz+1.9GHz) or octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895
Storage	64GB, 128GB, 256GB	64GB	64GB
RAM	4GB	4GB	6GB
Expandable storage	Up to 400GB	Up to 2TB	Up to 2TB
Battery	3,000mAh	3,000mAh	3,300mAh
Fingerprint sensor	Back cover	Back cover	Back cover
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	Yes	Yes	Yes
Special features	Dual-aperture camera, water-resistant (IP68); super slo-mo video; wireless charging; iris scanning	Water-resistant (IP68); wireless charging; Gigabit LTE-ready	S Pen stylus, water-resistant, wireless charging, Gigabit LTE-ready
Price off-contract (USD)	Varies: $720-$800 (64GB)	AT&T: $750; Verizon: $720; T-Mobile: $750; Sprint: $750; US Cellular: $675	AT&T: $950; Verizon: $960; T-Mobile: $930; Sprint: $960; US Cellular: $963
Price (GBP)	£739	£689	£869
Price (AUD)	AU $1,199 (64GB), AU$1,349 (256GB)	AU$1,199	AU$1,499

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