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Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus release date, price, and features

by Felix Omondi
samsung galaxy s9

After months of leaks, rumours, and speculations, with heightened anxiety all along, the Samsung Galaxy S9 has finally been unveiled. The unveiling was done in front of the whole world as Samsung’s MWC 2018 press conference.

This is our first confirmed and accurate breakdown of the Galaxy S9; the previous features were from rumours, leaks, and supposed forecasts from insiders.

How much?

Well, to get your hands on the Galaxy S9, you will have to part with $719.99 if you are buying directly from Samsung. The pre-orders became available within few hours after the unveiling; though it might be days for customers living in certain regions. The global shipment will begin from March 16th.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 features

Display

There is not much to write home about in terms of the difference between the S8 and the new S9 Galaxy. The S9 has disappointed some Samsung enthusiasts by not incorporating the fingerprint sensor on the screen as we have seen with the Vivo X20 Plus UD. Despite that fact, the specs on its screen are nothing short of high-end.

The Galaxy S9 has a 5.8-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with a 1440×2960 resolution. That is about 567 pixels per inch; guaranteed to give you super-crisp and clear viewing. The screen ratio is 18.5:9 with the top bezel being slimmer than the bottom bezel; this designed allowed Samsung to fit the same size (5.8-inch) display into a smaller body than that of the Galaxy S8.

The Design

If you are familiar with the Infinity Display design on the S8, you will feel right at home with the new S9 as the design is the same. Like we said earlier, there is not much to write home about when it comes to design; the Galaxy S9 simply mimics its predecessor; albeit with some minor improvements here and there.SAMSUNG GALAXY S9

Both phones have the glass back, a rounded display at the front and slim bezels; Samsung is trying to merge the screen into the body seamlessly. Some of the improvements Samsung says the S9 has over S8 include iris scanner hole being well hidden, and less bezel at both the top and bottom of the display.

When the display turns off, it is now much darker than what we see on the S8. The S8 also received a lot of criticism for having the fingerprint sensor placed too close to the camera. With the S9, Samsung has moved it a bit further below the camera, with a reasonable distance between the two. Making it hard for you to accidentally touch the camera when you go to swipe your fingerprints.SAMSUNG GALAXY S9

Despite Apple’s attempt to make the headphone jack not a thing, Samsung and the majority of other OEMs have decided that is ridiculous and will continue supporting the aux-feature. The phone also comes with USB-C slot for both charging and data transfer. The phone also features two speakers; with one of the speakers sitting at the top part of the phone. Samsung says these two speakers will make the S9 1.5 times louder than the S8; if you value audio quality and quantity so much, that is another thing to look up to with this new phone.

If you ever get caught out in the rain or get some water (most likely coffee) splash on your phone, if you have the S9 you won’t have to worry about getting it water damaged. The Galaxy S9 is IP68 waterproof.

Samsung went all out on the Galaxy S9 Camera

The entire launch event was themed ‘The camera. Reimagined.’ The S9 has just a single lens on the rear snapper, but Samsung promises it has packed more great features and improvement to knock off your socks as no camera has ever.

The rear snapper is a 12MP with optical image stabilization technology among other top-notch camera features that have come to define Samsung’s high-end devices. One of these features is the dual-aperture, which allows the camera to automatically adjust the aperture depending on the current scene being shot. Think of it like how the human eyes automatically adapt to different lighting conditions.

The Battery

A 3,000mAh battery powers the S9. Samsung has, however, not come out to mention just how long an uptime we should expect from a single charge. However, the S9 has a newer processor, which is reported to be easy on the battery drain, so we should expect it to last longer than the S8.

The S9 supports wireless charging, whereby you can use any of the third party wireless charging pads to rejuice it without plugging it in. It also supports fast charging, but for this, you need the official Samsung charger to get the maximum amount of charge in the shortest time possible.

Processor and RAM

The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip (there is a variant that comes with Samsung’s Exynos 9810 chip) and a 4GB RAM for all versions.

The phone also supports AR on the front camera with an Animoji as we saw with the release of iPhone X. For personal assistant, you don’t get Google Assistant by default; instead, you have Samsung’s Bixby. The Galaxy S9 also comes with a new feature dubbed Live Translation, which allows you to put your camera over a menu or text and it will automatically translate it to a language of your choice. However, the feature needs internet connection work.

 

If for whichever reason you didn’t catch the unveiling event, below is a repeat of Samsung’s coverage of the Galaxy S9 launch event at the MWC 2018

 

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