2Samsung will bring the next generation of its flagship smartphones to India in the first week of March with a price tag bigger than all of their predecessors. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be launched in India on March 6. Samsung has reportedly sent media invites for an event on this date in Delhi, where the new Galaxy smartphones are expected to make an appearance. They will go on sale in the country on March 16 when the new Galaxy smartphones become globally available.
The smartphone will be Samsung’s flagship for this year which will also compete with Apple’s new iPhones in the later part of the year. Recently, reports suggested that Apple will be launching a new 6.5-inch iPhone that will be bigger than the Galaxy Note 8. With Apple entering Samsung’s niche market of large screens, the South Korean company might have to step up their game with the next Note flagship.
Samsung had unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on February 25 in Barcelona ahead of Mobile World Congress 2018. The new phones have been available for pre-order on the Samsung website right after they were officially announced at the Samsung Unpacked event last Sunday. In India, interested buyers could order their unit of Samsung Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ for a token amount of Rs 2,000.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will also be priced higher than every Galaxy smartphone in the past, crossing the Rs 60,000 mark in India. The Samsung Galaxy S9 will come with a starting price of Rs 62,500 for the 64GB variant, whereas the 256GB variant will cost Rs 71,000, said an India Today Tech report. The 64GB variant of the bigger Samsung Galaxy S9+ will sport a price tag of Rs 70,000 and the high-end 256GB variant will be priced at Rs 79,000, the report said. The Rs 2,000 that has to be paid for pre-ordering the devices will be adjusted when the final payment is made.
The phone is expected to be sold online, through a variety of e-commerce websites and Samsung’s own official website, as well as offline through Samsung stores and associated dealers.
Retaining the Infinity Display from the predecessors up front, the Galaxy S9 features a 5.8-inch display, and the Galaxy S9+ has a 6.2-inch screen. Both the devices sport a slim profile at 8.5mm. At the back of the device, the fingerprint sensor has been moved just underneath the camera module after users complained against it with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.
The devices also come with ‘Intelligent Scan’, a new verification that intelligently uses the collective strength of iris scanning and facial recognition technology to quickly and conveniently unlock a user’s phone in various situations. The ‘Dedicated Fingerprint’ feature will allow users to use a different fingerprint to access Secure Folder, which can be different from the one used to unlock the phone.
Both, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with stereo speakers tuned by AKG, and immersive audio with Dolby Atmos. Powered by Octa-core, 10 nm processor, the Galaxy S9 comes with 4GB of RAM, and the S9+ with 6GB of RAM. Both the smartphones will be available in 64GB and 256GB of internal storage with expandable memory of up to 400GB.
On the camera front, Galaxy S9 sports a single super speed dual aperture 12-megapixel camera whereas the Galaxy S9+ has a dual-camera system on the back with a dual-aperture wide-angle camera and a telephoto camera. Both the smartphones have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and aperture f/1.5 to f/2.4 to click life-like images even in low ambient lighting conditions.
The S9 and S9+ can capture super slow-motion videos at 960 frames per second and the Automatic Motion Detection feature allowing auto-recording by detecting movement in the frame. After capturing the Super Slow-mo video, the S9 and the S9+ automatically select background music for the video that can be customized by the users from 35 different presets or add their favourite tune from the playlist.
Putting AI and AR technologies to use, Samsung has finally given Bixby the teeth that move it from kiddie’s table to the adult’s. Using real-time object detection and recognition, Bixby can now instantly generate information directly on top of the image that the camera is pointing at. The Live Translation enables real-time language translation and currency conversion. Bixby also facilitates purchasing products seen in the real world.
The SmartThings app on the new phones is the central hub to manage every facet of the connected lifestyle at home, at the office or on the go. Samsung has also announced the next-generation Samsung DeX, a new docking system, using which users can easily connect the Galaxy S9 and S9+ to a larger monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Catching up with Apple’s Animoji, Samsung has launched AR Emoji that allows user to create an emoji by analyzing a 2D image of the user and create a 3D model that reflects and imitates expressions, like winks and nods, for true personalization.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be offered in Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Coral Blue and a new hue, Lilac Purple and start shipping starting on March 16, 2018 in select markets.
