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Galaxy S9 touchscreen 'dead spots': Samsung's looking into user complaints

Fresh out of the box, some Galaxy S9 touchscreens aren't responsive in certain patches.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer

Video: Samsung Galaxy S9: Checking out the specs

Samsung says it's looking into a growing number of complaints that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus touchscreen isn't responding to touch.

Some users on Samsung forums are complaining about "dead spots" on various parts of the screen on Galaxy S9 devices, with touches not registering often around the top and bottom.

Reddit users are also complaining about problems on parts of the screen on both the S9 and S9+. A video has been posted online showing the effect of the dead spot.

The dead zone complaints come just a week after Samsung began selling its new flagship smartphones.

Until these issues emerged, the Galaxy S9 had been credited with having the best screen available, beating Apple's iPhone X in benchmarking by screen-testing firm DisplayMate.

Samsung has issued a statement to ZDNet sister site CNET, confirming that it is investigating the reports and has encouraged owners to contact it.

"At Samsung, customer satisfaction is core to our business and we aim to deliver the best possible experience. We are looking into a limited number of reports of Galaxy S9/S9+ touchscreen responsiveness issues," a Samsung spokesperson said.

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"We are working with affected customers and investigating. We encourage any customer with questions to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG."

Some Galaxy S9 owners have reported that Samsung provided replacement phones.

As CNET notes, the touchscreen is crucial to navigating on the Galaxy S9 because it lacks a physical home button.

It's not clear how widespread the issue is but the company will be doubtless keen to avoid a disaster on the scale of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7.

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