Samsung has through and through proven its mettle in the highly competitive smartphone market with their Galaxy S series of smartphones. Last year, the world was wowed with the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ which sport the company’s Infinity Display. This virtually borderless OLED affair boasts an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, offering users a truly immersive viewing experience.
If last year’s S8 series was all about the Infinity Display, this 2018, the Korean giant underscores camera technology–bells and whistles included. With remote communication going beyond just simple SMS and calls, we now communicate through images and videos to better relay our emotions. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ were built on this.
Among the firsts to come out of this year’s MWC, the newest iterations of Samsung’s highly-loved flagship series sport skillfully melded polycarbonate and aluminum form factors. A curved Super AMOLED display dominates the front with a tad space for the front camera, receiver, and Iris scanner atop. It has the same 18:5:9 aspect ratio as the S8 line, but with its bezels significantly slimmed down. Surprise, you get more screen! On top of that, the S9 line comes with a deep-black screen to better give a sense of seamlessness build-wise.
Now onto the camera. The Galaxy S9 has a Super Speed Dual Pixel 12 MP OIS rear camera with dual aperture (f1.5/f2.4) and an 8 MP autofocus front shooter with f1.7 aperture. Camera technicalities for both phones are pretty much the same. The only difference is that the S9+ has an additional f2.4 12 MP OIS sensor to round out its dual rear camera system. Permitted a few hours one on one with the S9 and S9+, we can say that this line offers photography features shutterbugs and social media butterflies will surely come to love.
On top of its quality sensors, the camera app is full to the brim with modes and features to give you the time of your life. First is its Super Slow-Mo mode which can shoot videos at professional-grade 960 fps and has motion detection, automatically identifying moving objects to capture in slow motion. And as icing on cake, there’s also an option to overlay your slow motion clips with pre-installed background music or those from the user’s music gallery for added drama, as well as turn it into animated GIFs. Its dual aperture along with multi-frame noise reduction allow capturing of vivid, quality, and fine-detailed photos from well-lit to low-light situations. It functions like the human eye, automatically adjusting to whatever the lighting condition may be so that photos come out bright every time.
The new S9 phones also come with the AR Emoji feature, which as the name suggests combines augmented reality and emojis. Beyond embedding emoji’s and fun filters on your portraits and selfies, you can also create your own 3D avatar that mirrors your facial movements–made possible with 3D face modeling algorithm and face tracking technology. Users can also make animated stickers from their own avatar. Another feature is Art Bokeh, which can be accomplished through either the Select Focus (S9) or Live Focus (S9+).
The S9 line also comes with high-power stereo speakers tuned by audio leader AKG, an IP68-rated waterproof body, iris scanning or face recognition for added security, Bixby integration (with dedicated button), and more AR features.
Quick Specifications:
Samsung Galaxy S9
- Display: 5.8-inch curved Super AMOLED, with 18:5:9 aspect ratio
- Cameras: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12 MP OIS (f1.5/f2.4) + 8 MP AF (f1.7)
- Processor: 10nm, either Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 octa-core (quad + quad)
- RAM: 4 GB
- Internal Storage: 64 GB, expandable via microSD slot
- Operating System: Android 8.0 Oreo
- Battery: 3,000 mAh
- Network: Enhanced 4×4 MIMO/CA, LAA, LTE Cat.18
- Other Features: Face Recognition, Iris Scanner, Fingerprint Scanner, IP68, water- and dust-proof, USB Type-C, wireless charging
- Available in midnight black and lilac purple, coral blue
PHP 45,990
Samsung Galaxy S9+
- Display: 6.2-inch curved Super AMOLED, with 18:5:9 aspect ratio
- Cameras: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12 MP OIS (f1.5/f2.4) + 12 MP OIS (f2.4) + 8 MP AF (f1.7)
- Processor: 10nm, either Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 octa-core (quad + quad)
- RAM: 6 GB
- Internal Storage: 64, 128, or 256 GB, expandable via microSD slot
- Operating System: Android 8.0 Oreo
- Battery: 3,500 mAh
- Network: Enhanced 4×4 MIMO/CA, LAA, LTE Cat.18
- Other Features: Face Recognition, Iris Scanner, Fingerprint Scanner, IP68,water- and dust-proof, USB Type-C, wireless charging
- Available in midnight black, lilac purple, coral blue
PHP 60,990 (256 GB)
PHP 55,990 (128 GB)
PHP 52,990 (64 GB)
Accessories for the S9 line of phones include Hyperknit Cover cases (PHP 1,199), Protective Standing cases (PHP 1,199), and the Samsung DeX Pad which turns your phone into a touchpad and a gaming device with HDMI connection, and two USB 2.0 ports.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be available for pre-order via Globe, Smart, Lazada, Abenson, and select Samsung authorized dealers starting February 27 to March 6, 2018. Pre-order bundle includes and exclusive gift of the customer’s choice along with various giveaways and a 10-percent discount on Samsung Wearables. Meanwhile, the phones will be officially available for purchase starting March 16 except for the 256 GB variant of the S9+, which will be rolled out on March 23.
Stick around for our quick hands-on of the Samsung Galaxy S9+.