Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Now Officially Announced! So What's New?

The new Samsung Galaxy S flagships have been officially launched at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, Spain following teasers and tons of rumors and leaks from every corner of the tech scene. As usual, the Korean electronics giant had set up a very futuristic, state of the art, and stunning stage at the annual tech event where they formally introduced these new Galaxy S9 and its bigger iteration the Galaxy S9 Plus.

At first glace you will hardly see any differences from its Galaxy S8 and S8+ predecessors, but if you look closely subtle changes are visible. For example, the Fingerprint Scanner is now located right below the camera lenses instead on its sides which was the case with the Galaxy S8 series and Galaxy Note 8, and then the Galaxy S9+ is now dual rear camera equipped. However, the biggest upgrades on these latest installments all take place on the inside of the phones, especially in the camera department.

For starters, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus still have the same 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Displays, respectively, with QuadHD+ 2960x1440 resolution across the 18.5:9 aspect ratio display. When it comes to specs differences, on the inside, the standard S9 has 4GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage and 3000mAh battery, while on the otherhand the S9+ sports more roomy 6GB RAM and either 64GB, 128GB or 256GB internal storage options, depending on the market, to go along with. The battery is also much bigger at 3500mAh. And most of all, the Galaxy S9+ is now with two camera lenses mounted on the back with 12MP each, the first in  the S series to sport this combination. Sadly, the Galaxy S9 has a single shooter on its back pegged at the same 12MP resolution. Powering both the devices are the latest Exynos 9810 or Snapdragon 845 which availability will depend on which market you will be getting them from. In the Philippines, though, we are most likely to get the Exynos version just like the previous models.

One of the big things that these two have to offer when it comes to the camera upgrade is what Samsung is calling Dual Aperture system - one with f/2.4 and another with f/1.5. Both of these apertures are available on the S9 and S9+ and they work very similar to our eyes' pupil, according to Samsung. Our pupils' size decreases and increases depending on the amount of light coming through it, if it's bright sunny day outside then it tends to decrease in size while in the night time or any place where lighting is very low then it gets bigger to gather more light in for us to see better. Now the same mechanism is applied in this Dual Aperture where it will automatically switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 depending on the lighting outside to produce the best possible quality of photos with no overexposure when taken in a very bright environment or with very minimal or barely noticeable noise in lowlight scenes.

By default, the dual aperture is automatically selected by the system, but you can switch between them manually in the Pro mode. Only note that you can either select f/1.5 or f/2.4, not any range between them.

Another superstar in the camera department is the ability to capture super slow-mo video clips at staggering 960 frames per second (fps). That is four times higher than last year's S8 series at 240fps. Based on Samsung's demo during the presentation, it is definitely epic and alot of users are going to love it and have fun with it.

Additionally, there is the AR Emoji. I don't know if you can call it an Apple iPhone X's Animoji ripoff or what but I guess it is another beast of the same family as it offers something unique and fun. What it does is it creates a animated or cartoon version of you based on your selfie photo taken using the feature. You take a selfie photo of you, then it will use more than 100 dots or points to recreate your facial features in emoji or avatar format. After that, you are given options to do some modifications like skin tone, hair style, glasses, outfits, and stuff. Once you are set up, you can start using them, creating messages with them, and send them to your friends. Watch the demo video below.


Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs:

• 5.8-inch / 6.2-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display
• 18.5:9 Aspect Ratio 
• 2960 x 1440 resolution
• Exynos 9810 Processor  or Snapdragon 845 processor
• 4GB / 6GB RAM
• 64GB / 128GB and 256GB
• Supports microSD card 
• 12MP rear cameras with Dual-Aperture technology (f1.5 and f2.4)
• 8MP front camera with autofocus and f/1.7 aperture
• Android 8.0 Oreo
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
• 4G LTE
• AR Emoji
• 3.5mm headphone jack 
• AKG tuned speakers with Dolby Atmos support
• IP68 Dust and Water Resistant
• Fast Wireless Charging 
• Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple
• 3000mAh / 3500mAh battery

With these new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+, come bigger price tags. The S9 with 4GB/64GB is locally priced at Php45,990 and there is only one variant for that model. The larger S9+ will be available in three storage options all with the same 6GB RAM. 64GB = Php52,990, 128GB = Php55,990, and 256GB = Php60,990.

Pre orders for these devices will begin on February 27 at all Samsung Experience Stores nationwide and will run until March 6. The official local release will begin on March 16, 2018.