Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ launched in India on 6 March; which of these features excite you most?

South Korean giant Samsung launched its latest flagship smartphone, Galaxy S9, on Sunday, 25 February, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The smartphone stole the show. Mere days after that, on 6 March, Samsung has launched the smartphone in India, reaffirming just how important the country is for the company.

The smartphone is Samsung’s response to Apple’s iPhone X and comes with a newly improved camera – with a variable aperture – and augmented reality capabilities. Samsung has launched two models of the device: a 5.9-inch S9 and 6.2-inch S9+. The former has a single-camera setup, while the latter comes with a dual-camera setup. The rest of the specifications are top of the line, as you’d come to expect with a flagship smartphone.

It’s got Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 processor in the USA and an Exynos 9810 for the rest of the world models. There is a 3,000 mAh battery. The software has been upgraded to Android Oreo.

Both models of the smartphone feature a bezel-less Infinity Display’s like last year’s Galaxy S8/S8+ and subtle design changes. Most of the significant upgrades are under the hood.

The 64GB variant of the S9 has been priced at Rs 57,900 and the 256GB version will cost you Rs 65,900. The S9+, on the other hand, will set you back Rs 64,900 for the 64GB variant and Rs 72,900 for 256GB of storage. Both these smartphones will be available starting 16 March, same as the global launch date.

The smartphones will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple and can be purchased from Airtel online store, Flipkart and Samsung's own offline and online stores and other major retail stores across the country.

The four main features of the smartphones are as follows:

1. Dual lens camera with variable aperture

The highlight feature of the Galaxy S9+, according to Samsung themselves, is the dual lens camera that comes with a variable aperture. It’s the first variable aperture system built into a smartphone. This means that low-light photographs should come out much cleaner. The new camera stitches together 12 photos and combines them to produce the best photo possible.

Furthermore, the camera includes a slow-motion mode that can shoot up to 960 frames per second. Essentially, that means that a 2-millisecond recording can be turned into six seconds of video.

2. Stereo speakers

Samsung for the first time ever has put stereo speakers on their flagship smartphone. Both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ feature stereo speakers specifically tuned by AKG for a Dolby Atmos effect and better sound. Samsung has traditionally lagged behind its competitors in this respect but not anymore. The sound is 40% louder, according to Samsung.

3. Headphone jack

Samsung is one of the few companies that have stuck with the headphone jack in their smartphones. With the S9 and S9+ they’ve kept the 3.5mm headphone jack intact.

4. AR emojis

AR Emoji is Samsung’s answer to Apple’s animoji. You snap a photo with either camera and the software generates Bitmoji-like version of yourself. There are also a variety of GIFs created that you can send to your friends. You can also animate yourself by blinking & talking and letting the camera record you.

Which of these features is the most exciting and is that feature enough to get you to shell out over Rs 55,000 for the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+?

Once we’ve had the smartphone for a couple more days, we’ll be able to give you a clearer picture and solid answer to that question.