Bookings for Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ start in India at Rs 2000

Samsung's new flagships are all about the new camera, data protection, virtual assistance, and enterprise performance. Announced at MWC2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the S9+ draw inspiration from Galaxy S8 for their design, but pack in a slew of enhanced top-end features revolving around a redesigned camera system, SmartThings app, improved Bixby, and Knox 3.1 for defense-grade security.

With the Infinity Display adorning the front, the Galaxy S9 features a 5.8 inch display whereas the larger S9+ will have a 6.2 inch screen. Continuing to be water and dust resistant, both the devices are 8.5mm thin. The fingerprint sensor thankfully has been moved just underneath the camera module and the devices also come with 'Intelligent Scan', a new verification that intelligently uses the collective strength of iris scanning and facial recognition technology to quickly and conveniently unlock a user's phone in various situations.

The 'Dedicated Fingerprint' feature will allow users to use a different fingerprint to access Secure Folder, which can be different from the one used to unlock the phone. Both, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with stereo speakers tuned by AKG, immersive audio with Dolby Atmos. Powered by Octa-core, 10 nm processor, the Galaxy S9 comes with 4GB of RAM, and the S9+ with 6GB of RAM. Both the smartphones will be available in 64GB and 256GB of internal storage with expandable memory of up to 400GB.

On the camera front, S9 sports a single super speed dual aperture 12-megapixel camera whereas the S9+ has a dual-camera system on the back with a dual-aperture wide-angle camera and a telephoto camera on the back. Both S9 and S9+ have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and aperture f/1.5 to f/2.4 to click life-like images even in low ambient lighting conditions.
The S9 and S9+ can capture super slow-motion videos at 960 frames per second and the Automatic Motion Detection feature allowing auto-recording by detecting movement in the frame. After capturing the Super Slow-mo video, the S9 and the S9+ automatically select background music for the video that can be customized by the users from 35 different presets or add their favourite tune from the playlist.

Putting AI and AR technologies to use, Samsung has finally given Bixby the teeth that move it from kiddie's table to the adult's. Using real-time object detection and recognition, Bixby can now instantly generate information directly on top of the image that the camera is pointing at.  The Live Translation enables real-time language translation and currency conversion. Bixby also facilitates purchasing products seen in the real world.

The SmartThings app on the new phones is the central hub to manage every facet of the connected lifestyle at home, at the office or on the go. Samsung has also announced the next-generation Samsung DeX, a new docking system, using which users can easily connect the Galaxy S9 and S9+ to a larger monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Catching up with Apple's Animoji, Samsung has launched AR Emoji that allows user to create an emoji by analyzing a 2D image of the user and create a 3D model that reflects and imitates expressions, like winks and nods, for true personalization.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be offered in Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Coral Blue and a new hue, Lilac Purple and start shipping starting on March 16, 2018 in select markets. Customers in India can pre-book their S9 &/or S9+ for Rs. 2000 from the company website.