MobileTechTalk Here at MWC 2018, Samsung had their annual (bi-annual?) Unpacked Event and, to the surprise of no one (at least those who have been paying attention) they announced the somewhat hotly anticipated Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, and unlike most years, the Plus this year is actually a bit more different.
The Samsung Galaxy S9
- 5.8″ Infinity Display
- 2960×1440 18.5:9 Super AMOLED Display
- 147.7×68.7×8.5mm
- 163g
- 12mp “Super Speed Dual Pixels”
- Variable Aperture f1.5/f2.4
- OIS
- 8mp Front Facing Autofocus Camera f1.7
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US,China, Japan)
- 4x Kryo 385 Performance @ 2.8Ghz
- 4X Kryo 385 Efficiency @1.77Ghz
- Adreno 630 GPU
- 10nm LPP Process from Samsung LSI
- Samsung Exynos 9810 (Europe and Rest of World)
- 4x Exynos M3 custom high-performance cores @ 2.7Ghz
- 4x Cortex A55 efficiency cores @ 1.95Ghz
- 18 Core Mali G72 @ 572Mhz
- 10nm LPP Process from Samsung LSI
- 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM
- 64/128/256gb UFS2.1
- MicroSD supporting up to 400gb
- 3000mAh Lithium-Ion battery.
- LTE Cat.18 (1.2Gbps peak throughput)
- Android Oreo (8.0)
The Samsung S9 Plus
For the S9 Plus, a few notable things change (changes boldened)
- 6.2″ Infinity Display
- 2960×1440 18.5:9 Super AMOLED Display
- 158.1×73.8×8.5mm
- 189g
- 12mp “Super Speed Dual Pixels” Wide Angle lens
- Variable Aperture f1.5/f2.4
- OIS
- Secondary 12mp Telephoto lens F2.4
- 8mp Front Facing Autofocus Camera f1.7
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (US,China, Japan)
- 4x Kryo 385 Performance @ 2.8Ghz
- 4X Kryo 385 Efficiency @1.77Ghz
- Adreno 630 GPU
- 10nm LPP Process from Samsung LSI
- Samsung Exynos 9810 (Europe and Rest of World)
- 4x Exynos M3 custom high-performance cores @ 2.7Ghz
- 4x Cortex A55 efficiency cores @ 1.95Ghz
- 18 Core Mali G72 @ 572Mhz
- 10nm LPP Process from Samsung LSI
- 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM
- 64/128/256gb UFS2.1
- MicroSD supporting up to 400gb
- 3500mAh Lithium-Ion battery.
- LTE Cat.18 (1.2Gbps peak throughput)
- Android Oreo (8.0)
Let’s just talk about some of the interesting stuff ahead of some hands-on videos to come.
Dual Aperture Camera
On the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus there is something a little different to the rear-facing cameras. Yes they both have OIS on their main camera, however, they also have a dual aperture that can automatically (based on the lighting of a subject) adjust the aperture to fit the scene between f/1.5 and f/2.4. This should deliver great low light performance where required but switch back to f/2.4 for daytime shots so as not to saturate the sensor with light. Kind of awesome.
Ultra Slo-Mo Mode
Slo-Mo modes are fairly ubiquitous within the smartphone industry now, however the Samsung Galaxy S9 devices bring things to a whole new level capturing 960fps for some ultra-slow action. We’ve seen some shots of tech journalists checking this out in pre-briefings and having some fun with party poppers and the effect does seem to be impressive.
Fingerprint Scanner Placement
They’ve listened folks, and that shows that a huge number of people moaning about something actually gets things done! The fingerprint scanner remains on the rear but has been moved from alongside the camera to directly below it. This seems, at first glance, to provide the best of both worlds and should appease the masses.
Pricing & Availability
When can we expect to see these devices? Well, they are available for pre-order from Samsung right now. Some carriers are offering pre-orders with delivery dates as early as 7th/8th MArch whilst Samsung themselves suggest 16th March.
If you’re looking to pick one up, raid your piggy bank right now. As is seemingly the case with almost all flagship offerings, the price is rather steep. The Samsung Galaxy S9 price has been set at £739; the Samsung Galaxy S9+ price is £869.
Whilst we were unable at this point in time to get any hands-on with these devices, we are hoping to get some hands-on in the coming days, so keep your eyes peeled to the YouTube channel for that.
