Editors' Note: Updated at 10:27 p.m. ET with a comment from Samsung.
After less than a week out in the wild, has the Galaxy S9 lost its touch? According to a few online posters, the answer is yes. And they're not too pleased about it.
The complaints, which appear on Samsung's official forums as well as several posts on Reddit, center around dead spots on the screens of the new phones. There's no consistent pattern of where the dead spots appear. For some users, it's on the bottom half of the screen, while others report dead spots on the middle left or upper screen. In another instance, a dead spot reportedly impacts a user's ability to type the ERT keys on the on-screen keyboard.
User reports of screen problems have been picked up by both Cnet and Android Police.
"Does anyone else have issues with the Galaxy S9 touch screen?" posted one user at Samsung's online forum. "I've got a few dead spots on the bottom half of my screen." As of this writing, two S9 owners had replied that they were also experiencing problems, while two others said their phones were working fine.
MORE: Galaxy S9 User Guide: Tips, Tricks and How-Tos
And that's the challenge of reports like this, as it's hard to tell whether the issue is a widespread one or just the result of a few lemons that made it through production. We've been using both an S9 and and S9+ at Tom's Guide prior to the phones' March 16 release, and neither one have had any display issues in that time.
Samsung confirmed to us that it's "looking into a limited number of reports of Galaxy S9/S9+ touchscreen responsiveness issues," adding that it's working with affected customers.
"At Samsung, customer satisfaction is core to our business and we aim to deliver the best possible experience," the Samsung spokesperson told us.
You can understand why any issue with Samsung's phones might invite scrutiny. For one thing, Samsung's new phone starts at $720, a significant outlay of cash. For another, back in 2016, a few scattered reports of overheating Galaxy Note 7 batteries soon turned into a widespread problem that ended with Samsung recalling that model. So even a handful of reports complaining about a problem with one of Samsung's new phones is going to draw attention.
if you're experiencing an issue, you should contact Samsung directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.
