Samsung Unfurls Galaxy S9 & S9+ with Dual Aperture, Super Slow-mo, AR Emoji

Samsung's latest flagship smartphones feature a number of innovations for India such as Carrier Aggregation through which they can stream data 2.5 times faster, Samsung Rewards and exciting offers 

Samsung Electronics has launched its flagship smartphones, Galaxy S9 and S9+ in India, with the world’s best camera featuring a Dual Aperture lens, Super Slow-mo capability, AR Emojis that look like you, and stereo speakers tuned by AKG with Dolby Atmos®, among other path-breaking features, reimagining the way people communicate, share and experience the world.

The smartphones have also been reimagined for India with a slew of ‘Make for India’ features that will delight Indian consumers. With Carrier Aggregation, Galaxy S9 & S9+ will be able to stream data 2.5 times faster. They will come bundled with several exciting offers as well as Samsung’s very own loyalty program, Samsung Rewards.

HC Hong, President and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia, said, “Galaxy S9 and S9+ are made for today’s age where communication and expression is increasingly happening through images, videos and emojis. India has one of the highest number of social media users, is one of the biggest 4G data markets and one of the fastest growing cashless economy in the world. With Galaxy S9 and S9+, we have reimagined the smartphone for today’s and tomorrow’s India, so that you can ‘Do what you can’t.”

Galaxy S9 and S9+ herald the next level of innovation with Samsung’s advanced camera that has been redesigned with a new Dual Aperture lens that powers a super low light camera like no other smartphone, Super Slow-mo video capabilities at 960 fps and personalized AR Emoji that ensure users do not miss a moment and make their everyday epic.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ deliver an enhanced entertainment experience with powerful stereo speakers tuned by AKG, immersive audio with Dolby Atmos® and a refined edge-to-edge Infinity Display[1], an innovation that Samsung pioneered in its flagship smartphones last year.

“Galaxy S9 and S9+ are smartphones in a class entirely of their own. With the camera reimagined, now consumers can shoot photos and videos like they can’t with any other smartphone. With cool features like Super Slow-mo and AR Emoji, consumers can express themselves in a way that’s unique and personal to them. Through our partnership with leading operators, Galaxy S9 and S9+ consumers can experience data speeds like never before for faster downloads and uninterrupted streaming. We have also reimagined how you can own these devices with retail and operator partnerships. With this launch, Samsung will further consolidate its leadership in the flagship smartphone segment in India,” said,
Asim Warsi, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India.

Camera Reimagined

Today’s cameras are for more than just clicking pictures – they are for connecting and communicating. Consumers want a smartphone camera with state-of-the-art technology, so they can express themselves with high-quality images and tools to tell their own, unique story. Galaxy S9 and S9+ cameras are built with these consumers in mind, equipped with a Super Speed Dual Pixel sensor with processing power and memory to take amazing shots with high photo quality.

Galaxy S9 and S9+’s camera features include:

• Camera that adjusts like your eye: Good lighting is the secret to any great photo. But often, photos are taken in less-than-ideal lighting conditions and most smartphone cameras have a fixed aperture that can’t adjust to low or bright lighting environments resulting in grainy or washed out pictures. Similar to the way the iris of a human eye expands and contracts, Galaxy S9 and S9+’s Dual Aperture lens automatically adjusts and lets in more light when it’s dark with an industry first F1.5 aperture and switches to F2.4 aperture in bright conditions allowing less light, ensuring crisp and clear photos.
• Capture the moment within the moment with Super Slow-mo: Make every day moments epic with dynamic, slow-motion video that captures 960 frames per second. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ also offer automatic Motion Detection, an intelligent feature that detects movement in the frame and automatically begins to record in Slow-mo – all users have to do is point and shoot. After capturing the Super Slow-mo video, users can select background music from 35 different options or add one of their favourite tunes from their playlist. Users can also easily create, edit and share GIF files with a simple tap in three playful styles of looping – Reverse Loop, Forward Loop and Swing – to watch the action over and over again.
• Express yourself with AR Emoji that looks like you: Samsung lets consumers create emojis that look, sound and act like them. AR Emoji uses a data-based machine learning algorithm, which analyzes a 2D image of the user and maps out more than 100 facial features to create a 3D model that reflects and imitates expressions, like winks and nods, for true personalization. AR Emoji shares users’ real-life emotions not only in video but also with a range of stickers and uses a standard GIF file format so users can share their emojis across most third-party messaging platforms.
• Learn about your surroundings with Bixby: Samsung’s intelligence platform, Bixby, is integrated into the camera and uses augmented reality as well as deep learning technologies to provide helpful information about a user’s surroundings.[3] With real-time object detection and recognition, Bixby instantly generates information directly on top of the image that the camera is pointing at. Users can also translate foreign languages and currency in real time with Live Translation by just pointing the camera at the text.

Entertainment Reimagined

Smartphones are often our go-to choice for entertainment, which is why Samsung has created a device that offers an immersive visual and audio experience.

With dual stereo speakers tuned by AKG, consumers can enjoy crisp and clear sound – whether they are watching their favorite movie or streaming their favorite artist’s latest album. The addition of Dolby Atmos® delivers rich and vibrant surround sound giving a theater-like audio experience.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ audio experience is complemented by Samsung’s revolutionary Infinity Display. First introduced on Galaxy S8, the bold, bright Super AMOLED Infinity Display blends right into the phone with virtually no distracting notches.

Make for India Innovations

Samsung has reimagined Galaxy S9 and S9+ for India and is introducing first of its kind features on the smartphones:

• Carrier Aggregation for 2.5X faster data speeds

Today, data streaming on Galaxy devices is limited by the amount of spectrum the operator owns. The more the amount of spectrum, the higher the bandwidth. Smartphones usually connect with individual spectrum bands, accessing the bandwidth allocated to just that one band, which is limited.

For Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung has partnered with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to bring LTE Carrier Aggregation where spectrum across different bands merge into one single pipe, giving users higher bandwidth, faster streaming and quicker downloads making them the fastest smartphones on 4G networks in India. Galaxy S9 and S9+ can stream data at approx. 250 Mbps, which is 2.5 times faster than the average smartphone connected to the same network.

• Samsung Rewards

Samsung’s flagship mobile payments service, Samsung Pay has been a big success in India since it was launched last year and has revolutionized the way India pays. Simple and Secure, Samsung Pay can be used to make purchases almost everywhere you can swipe or tap your debit or credit card to make payments. There are new partnerships with more banks, UPI payments, a Gift Card Store and the option to pay bills seamlessly.

Now, using Samsung Pay in India will be even more rewarding with Samsung Rewards, a new loyalty program. Samsung Pay users will be able to accumulate reward points when they spend across payment modes such as Cards, government’s UPI, digital wallets such as Paytm and Mobikwik and make bill payments. Samsung Reward points can be redeemed for attractive benefits such as movie tickets, shopping or F&B vouchers. They can also be used to get discounts on Samsung products.

The Best Comes Standard with the Galaxy Foundation
Samsung sets the gold standard for smartphones with IP68 water and dust resistance and fast wireless charging and goes a step beyond with Galaxy S9 and S9+. The devices now support expandable memory of up to 400GB with a Micro SD Card and are equipped with the latest premium application processors offering powerful performance and sophisticated image processing.

In addition, Galaxy S9 and S9+ give users peace of mind knowing that their phone is protected by Knox 3.1, Samsung’s latest defense-grade security platform. Galaxy S9 and S9+ support three different biometric authentication options – iris, fingerprint, and facial recognition – so users can choose the way they want to protect their device and applications.

The devices introduce 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. Galaxy S9 and S9+ also introduce Dedicated Fingerprint, giving users the option to use a different fingerprint to access Secure Folder than the one used to unlock the phone.

Device that Fits a Connected Lifestyle

For those constantly on the move, the next-generation Samsung DeX Pad empowers a mobile lifestyle by enabling a full-screen desktop experience using the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Users can easily connect Galaxy S9 and S9+ to a larger monitor, keyboard and mouse to expand the mobile experience with enhanced document editing capability and full screen entertainment. While connected to the Dex Pad, the Galaxy S9 or S9+ can also be used as a touchpad to navigate the rich desktop-like experience of Galaxy Desktop on your connected external monitor.

Price & Availability

Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be offered to consumers at a price of INR 57,900 and INR 64,900 respectively for 64GB variants and INR 65,900 and INR 72,900 respectively for 256GB variants.

The smartphones will be available in India starting March 16, 2018, the same day as the Global Launch, in three distinctive colours—Midnight Black, Coral Blue and a new hue, Lilac Purple. They will be available at select retail stores and online exclusively on Samsung’s official online store Samsung Shop and Flipkart.

The 256GB variant of Galaxy S9+ will be sold exclusively at Reliance Digital stores, Samsung exclusive stores and on Samsung Shop.

Samsung has reimagined how users can own Galaxy S9 and S9+ with a range of partnerships delivering immense consumer value.

Users can get a cashback of INR 6,000 when they purchase the device by scanning the Paytm Mall QR code at select retail stores.

They can alternatively get a cashback of INR 6,000 if Galaxy S9 and S9+ are purchased using ‘No Cost EMI’ on HDFC Bank debit and credit cards. They will also be eligible for the cashback when making a full payment using HDFC Credit Cards or by paying through HDFC CD Loan.

Under the Samsung Upgrade program, loyal Samsung Galaxy users will be eligible to get additional INR 6,000 bonus over the regular exchange price when they upgrade to Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+.

Samsung has partnered with top operators in the country to bring amazing value to bring users unmatched data, unmatched tariffs and unmatched entertainment packages.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ users can avail a ‘Double Data’ offer on Airtel’s popular Infinity Postpaid plans. With Infinity 499, users get 80 GB of data, unlimited calling, and a one year Amazon Prime membership worth INR 999. With Infinity 799, users get 120GB of data, unlimited calling, a one year Amazon Prime membership and one free child connection. Both plans also offer free subscription to Airtel TV and Wynk Music. A special Prepaid Pack @ INR 199 with 1.4GB data/day and unlimited calling for 28 days is also being offered.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ users on Jio get an exclusive offer of 1 Terabyte of high speed 4G data with unlimited voice & SMS for one year worth INR 15,000 at only INR 4,999. The users can now enjoy uninterrupted digital services without any daily data usage limit. Additionally, users are entitled to complimentary Jio Prime Membership as a part of this offer.

Galaxy S9 & S9+ users, who are new or existing customers of Vodafone, will get free subscription to Netflix for a year on Vodafone Red plans starting INR 999 till April 30, 2018. Also, prepaid users who recharge with INR 199 get unlimited voice and 1.4GB/day and an additional 10GB free data every month for their next 10 recharges.