Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ India launch set for March 6, company confirms

Samsung has started sending media invites for the launch of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in India on March 6. The event will be held in New Delhi at 11:30 am IST. Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 and S9+ at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday. The flagship phones offer improved camera experience and augmented reality (AI) features to take on Apple’s iPhone X.

Samsung is already taking pre-orders for the new high-end smartphones in India. Those who are interested in the Galaxy S9 and S9+ can pre-book the phones by paying Rs 2000 from the company’s own site. Samsung began taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S9 lineup in many parts of the world, including the US, post the launch of the devices on Sunday. The company will start selling the devices from March 16. Samsung Galaxy S9 starts at $720 (or approx Rs 46,500) in the US, while the Galaxy S9+ starts at a price of $840 (or approx Rs 54,000 approx). We can expect the Galaxy S9 lineup to cost a bit more in India.

Samsung Galaxy S9 sports a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display, while the Galaxy S9+ has a bigger 6.2-inch display. The phones don’t look too different from the Galaxy S8 lineup in the design language. The Galaxy S9 is the first smartphone announced with a Snapdragon 845 processor, while the international variant will get the Exynos 9810 chipset. Samsung Galaxy S9 comes with 4GB RAM with 64GB/128GB/256GB, while Galaxy S9+ features 6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB storage capacities. Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones are backed by 3000 mAh and 3500 mAh respectively. The new phones are powered by Android 8.0 Oreo with TouchWiz UI on top.

This year around, Samsung focused on improving the camera on the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The devices have rear cameras with adjustable aperture settings, allowing the phones to take pictures at either f/1.5 or f/2.4 aperture. The Galaxy S9+ gets a secondary snapper that will use a wide-angle sensor. The front camera on both phones is 8MP with f/1.7 aperture. Just to make it clear the Galaxy S9 has a single 12MP lens. Both Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will support super slow mode at 960 frames per second.

Samsung has also added a feature called AR Emoji, which allows users to take a self-portrait and convert into their own customised emoji. AR Emoji has been seen as a rival to Apple’s Animoji, which is available on the iPhone X. While many accused Samsung of stealing the idea from Apple, however, Samsung mobile head DJ Koh stated that the company didn’t copy the feature from Apple.