The Samsung Galaxy S9 has finally been officially unveiled at this year's Mobile World Congress, after months of leaks and rumors speculating on the specs and features of the highly anticipated smartphone.
The Galaxy S9 looks almost exactly like the Galaxy S8, as expected, but don't be fooled. Samsung's new flagship smartphone is much better than its predecessor, with most of the upgrades found under the hood.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Specs And Features
The rumor mill is filled to the brim with reports on the Galaxy S9, but we now have a clear picture of the smartphone's specifications and features from Samsung's official announcement of the device at MWC 2018.
The Galaxy S9 offers a few aesthetic changes, including a new lilac color option and slightly smaller bezels without resorting to a notch like in Apple's iPhone X. Galaxy S8 owners will also welcome the move of the fingerprint scanner to below the rear camera from beside it, which was one of the biggest complaints against the predecessor.
The Galaxy S9 features a 5.8-inch quad-HD AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, while the Galaxy S9+'s screen measures 6.2 inches. Inside, both will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, but the Galaxy S9 will only have 4 GB of RAM compared to the 6 GB of RAM for the Galaxy S9+. The Galaxy S9+ will also have a bigger 3,500 mAh battery, compared to the 3,000 mAh battery of the Galaxy S9.
The biggest upgrade for the Galaxy S9 over the Galaxy S8, however, is undoubtedly its camera. For the first time in a Galaxy S device, Samsung decided to go with different camera setups for the two models of a smartphone. The Galaxy S9 will have a single-lens camera, while the Galaxy S9+ will have a dual-lens camera system. Similar to the Galaxy Note 8, the second lens of the Galaxy S9+ is a telephoto lens that is capable of zooming in more compared to the primary lens, allowing shots of distant objects without loss of detail or quality.
The smartphones will also offer stereo speakers, expandable memory through microSD card slots, headphone jacks, wireless charging, IP68 water and dust resistance, and Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Samsung is also answering Apple's Animojis with its own AR Emoji.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Price And Release Date
Preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will open on March 2, with the starting price of the Galaxy S9 at $719.99 and the Galaxy S9+ at $839.99. The Galaxy S9 price tags are lower than the speculated $799 to $849 for the Galaxy S9 and $899 to $999 for the Galaxy S9+.
U.S. carriers, meanwhile, will start selling the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on March 16, which is also when preorders units for the smartphones start shipping.
