Samsung Galaxy S9 Series In Stores This Week – Here’s What You Need To Know

Samsung’s new Galaxy S9 series will be in stores starting March 16, and in spite of a poor preorder performance – according to BGR, S9 preorders are down 50 percent from last year’s S8 series – the first device on the market to feature Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 845 chipset is still tempting for those in the market for a new smartphone. The Inquisitr has all the details on what to expect from Samsung’s newest flagship phones.

According to TechRadar, which still gave the S9 series 4 stars out of 5, the S9 isn’t a huge jump from its predecessor, although Passmark still ranks it as falling just behind the Razer Phone in performance, a significant jump from the now-third-place HTC U11+ and fourth-place Google Pixel 2 XL. It is interesting, however, that Samsung’s latest flagship is still falling behind a device designed with last year’s flagship components; that said, it still blows the Razer Phone out of the water on most benchmarks, Razer’s 3D performance (on a device solely intended for gaming) picking up the slack in the overall rankings.

So what can you expect from the S9 series? Qualcomm’s newest chip delivers some of the best performance on the market, period. It falls somewhat shorter on memory; even the S9+ only carries 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, to its detriment as the first 2018 flagship, with the S9 only packing a rather pathetic 4 and 64. In fairness, both can handle up to 400 GB MicroSD cards, but that RAM loss is significant.

Unlike many of its top competitors, the Samsung Galaxy S9 series does feature a headphone jack, which alone may sway the decision for some buyers. It also sports the same 4K-capable Infinity Display as the S8 and S8+ and comes in the same 18.5:9, 5.8″ and 6.2″ ratio. In fact, physically, the S9 series is pretty much identical to the S8 series – albeit in a rather nicer set of colors, including the exquisite Lilac Purple model, intended to compete with Apple for their Rose Gold market.

Unfortunately, the S9 keeps the S8’s lackluster front-facing 8MP camera, but the S9 and the S9+ both come with fancy new dual-lens cameras, with the S9+ featuring a 2x optical zoom. Unfortunately for Samsung, reviews suggest that they still haven’t managed to top Apple or Google for image quality, but it’s certainly an improvement on the S8.

Otherwise, there really isn’t that much more to say about the S9 series, beyond the price: the Samsung Galaxy S9 will retail at $799.99, and the S9+ at $929.99, putting them roughly in line with Apple’s iPhone 8/8 plus pricing. Not bad, but not great either, considering that the OnePlus 5T or Essential Phone will only set you back $499 and that’s before the launch of their own 2018 flagships for a similar-performing device.

That said, if you’re a fan of Samsung, the S9 is hardly going to disappoint, but if you already upgraded last year, it’s not likely to impress, either.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be available in North American retail stores as of March 16, 2018.