Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ Display Affected by 'Dead Zones'; Samsung Investigating

Just days after their formal launch, some Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ units are now reported to have a serious issue that stops the touchscreen from registering inputs in certain areas. The issue, which is mainly making some "dead zones" or "dead spots" on the display panels of the new Galaxy flagships, has been spotted by some users. Between the two models, it appears that users with the Galaxy S9+ are more prevalently facing the problem, though there are certainly some reports confirming the touchscreen issue on the Galaxy S9 as well.

Update: Samsung has said it is looking into reports of 'touchscreen responsiveness issues', saying it affects a limited number of customers.

"Does anyone else have issues with the Galaxy S9 touchscreen? I've got a few dead spots on the bottom half of my screen," one of the Galaxy S9 users reported the issue on the Samsung Community. Some of the users on Reddit even mentioned that the issue persists even after performing a factory reset.

It is important to note that the issue doesn't exist in any single particular area of the screen. This means that for some users it is the top panel that doesn't recognise inputs, while for the others it is either the bottom or the middle are. Having said that, the problem apparently emerges majorly in the horizontal position and becomes noticeable for many users when using swipe gestures or typing on the virtual keyboard. Several users complained Samsung about the issue and among them, some faced difficulties in returning the faulty handsets if a trade-in was involved.

We've reached out to Samsung for clarity on the issue and will update this space accordingly.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ aren't the only flagships to face the display issues. Last year, the P-OLED display of the Pixel 2 XL was found to have "burn-in" and black smear issues. The iPhone X display also spotted to become 'temporarily unresponsive' at cold temperatures. Apple fixed that issue through a software update in November.