Samsung’s New Galaxy S9 & S9+ Come With Revolutionary Camera Upgrades

The wait is finally over as Samsung takes the covers off its most anticipated flagship phone of the year. Meet the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+, with upgraded cameras, stereo speakers and more.

Design and Display

Samsung Galaxy S9

Not much has changed from last year’s Galaxy S8, however, you’ll notice tweaks here and there. Like the fingerprint sensor, which has moved from the side to below the camera unit for ease.

It still has the same familiar glass on both sides with an aluminium frame in the middle.

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Samsung Galaxy S9 comes with a 5.8 inch Quad HD+ (2960 x 1440) Super AMOLED display while the S9+ bumps that up to 6.2 inches. The bezels have been trimmed a bit from the top and bottom, making the screen look more immersive than before.

Samsung Galaxy S9+

 

Waterproofing is still available (IP 68) alongside newly added stereo speakers. The overall sound output is noticeably higher than the S8 (40% according to Samsung).

Samsung is also adding AR emoji, which is exactly the same as the Animoji on iPhone X. The iris scanner will now be coupled with a face scan (now called Intelligent scan), which will allow the S9 to detect and unlock your face easier than before.

Hardware and Storage

Powering the insides of the Galaxy S9 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or an Exynos 9810 octa, depending on the market. Samsung has announced that the Exynos version will be available everywhere but US and China, however, we have no word on which of the two versions Pakistan is getting.

RAM capacity is same as last year’s S8 with 4 GB for S9 and 6 GB for S9+. Storage options range from 64/128/256 GB with a microSD card slot for even more space.

The two phones will run Android 8.0 Oreo with Grace UX.

Camera(s)

The major changes over last year’s S8 are in the camera department. Leaks were spot-on as the S9 has a 12 MP sensor with a variable aperture of f/1.5 or f/2.4 depending on the scene and lighting.

The cool thing about this is that you can actually see the aperture switching:

OIS is the same as before, coupled with the dual pixel phase-detect autofocus. There’s still a single LED flash on the S9 and S9+.

As you may have noticed from the renders above, the S9+ sports a dual camera setup with two 12 MP sensors. The main sensor is the same as S9, with variable aperture however the second sensor is locked at f/2.4. It also features OIS and dual pixel phase-detection autofocus.

Another addition is the 960 fps super slow-mo, akin to Sony’s XZ Premium. The difference is in the motion detection with the camera automatically detecting movement and recording it in slow motion.

4K recording at HEVC codec is also added, which significantly decreases the size of the videos.

At the front, we have the same 8 MP sensors from last year with f/1.7 and autofocus.

Battery and Price

Nothing has changed on the battery front either, with Galaxy S9 coming with a 3,000 mAh unit and S9+ with a 3,500 mAh package.

Samsung’s own fast charging tech is available as well as Qi wireless charging support.

S9 and S9+ will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray and Lilac Purple. The Galaxy S9 starts at $720 in the US while the S9+ is priced at $840. This is if you buy these off-contract, directly from Samsung.

Expect S9 to cost north of Rs. 85,000 in Pakistan and the S9+ to touch the Rs. 100,000 mark.

Pre-orders start from March 2nd in South Korea. For the rest of the world, pre-orders will begin within a week or two after that.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Specifications

• Processor:
  • Exynos 9810 Octa (4×2.8 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A55)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845  (4×2.7 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) (USA & China)
• GPU:
  • Mali-G72 MP18 (Exynos model)
  • Adreno 630 (Snapdragon model
• OS: Android 8.0 (Oreo) with Grace UX
• Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE
• Design:
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Intelligent Scan (Iris+Face scan)
  • Stereo Speakers
  • IP 68 Dust and Waterproof
• Display:
  • 5.8 inch Super AMOLED  with Quad HD+ (1440 x 2960) resolution, 18.5:9 ratio (~570 ppi)
• Memory:
  • RAM: 4 GB RAM
  • Internal: 64/128/256 GB
  • Card slot: Yes
• Camera:
  • Primary: 12 MP (f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.5″, 1.4 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF), 4K 60 fps video + 960 fps slow mo@720p
  • Secondary: 8 MP, f/1.7, autofocus, 1440p, dual video call, Auto HDR
• Battery: 3000 mAh, fast charging, Qi Wireless charging
• Colors: Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple
• Price: $720 (64 GB, US)

Samsung Galaxy S9+ Specifications

• Processor:
  • Exynos 9810 Octa (4×2.8 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A55)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845  (4×2.7 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) (USA & China)
• GPU:
  • Mali-G72 MP18 (Exynos model)
  • Adreno 630 (Snapdragon model
• OS: Android 8.0 (Oreo) with Grace UX
• Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE
• Design:
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Intelligent Scan (Iris+Face scan)
  • Stereo Speakers
  • IP 68 Dust and Waterproof
• Display:
  • 6.2 inch Super AMOLED  with Quad HD+ (1440 x 2960) resolution, 18.5:9 ratio
• Memory:
  • RAM: 6 GB RAM
  • Internal: 64/128/256 GB
  • Card slot: Yes
• Camera:
  • Primary: Dual: 12 MP (f/1.5-2.4, Dual Pixel PDAF) + 12MP (f/2.4 AF), OIS, phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, LED flash, 4K 60 fps video + 960 fps slow mo@720p
  • Secondary: 8 MP, f/1.7, autofocus, 1440p, dual video call, Auto HDR
• Battery: 3500 mAh, fast charging, Qi Wireless charging
• Colors: Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple
• Price: $840 (64 GB, US)