After all the hype and the excitement, Samsung has finally brought the latest Galaxy juggernaut to India today. And at first glance, its mighty impressive. So lets quickly get down to the stuff that will really impress with the phones.
For starters, it’s quite obvious that Samsung has finally lavished love on the phone cameras, an area it had been ignoring dangerously we thought. And it makes it up with a bang! The new Galaxy S9 marries its always solid screen based on super AMOLED technology, with some nifty camera improvements and tricks. With the main camera lens coming with two aperture setting of f/1.5 and f/2.4, the camera is straightaway the leader when it comes to low light photography. The f/1.5 setting is clearly the best you can get on a camera right now, while the other setting will continue to serve you well for better light and wider shots. And with a screen size of 5.8 inches for the S9 and 6.2 inches on the S9 plus, you will never miss a good canvas for your pictures.
Coming back to the camera, The S9 has also introduced a new term for camera enthusiasts this time, Multi Frame Interpolation. We checked, and what this means is that when you take a picture, the phone actually snaps off 12 in three groups of four each, after which the AI or smart software takes over to make one amazing picture for you. We know, no one will ever feel perfectly right when claiming credit for a picture they take on the S9, but hey, the pictures will be amazing!
The second feature, in case you have missed the many Samsung commercials playing near you, is the super slow-mo. It’s one of those features that is amazing to have, but we have serious doubts about how many people actually use it. However, as a party trick with a group of friends, we guarantee laughs and appreciation for you, if you pull it off well. With 960 FPS slo-mo at 720p resolution, besides options of 240 fps at 1080p and 60 fps at 4K, the S9 stands alone here.
Other than these two, there is a new AR Emoji function, which is the predictable counter to the Apple Emoji. With the added twist as always. So don’t just stop an emoji here, go ahead and make whole gifs and more, as the AR Emoji will copy your expressions with some training, once again giving you bragging rights over your friend with an Apple emoji.
The S9 has got all the other Samsung goodies reserved for its top end, be it wireless battery charging, water resistance, and hopefully, a great deal. The Samsung Galaxy S9 with 64GB storage option is priced at Rs 57,900, while the 256GB option comes with a price tag of Rs 65,900. The Galaxy S9+ is priced at Rs 64,900 for the 64GB storage variant, while the 256GB option is available at a price of Rs 72,900.We believe the handsets are not offering a compelling case for a switch. Yes, if you are an Android fan with no budget issues who needs the best Android phone everytime a new Apple pops out, this is the phone for you. But for more balanced buyers, these phones will make sense with a great deal, preferably offering worthwhile benefits and discounts worth Ts 10-12 K to make a switch quickly. Going by the state of the market and the brand’s clout, let hope we see those deals soon.
We know, people will point to the iPhone prices in India and tell us to compare with those. But that is precisely the point. Sometime after the iPhone 6, we have never recommended the Iphone’s on any price logic at all, and we continue to hold the view that the brand premium the iPhone has been charging is a thing of wonder. Brands like OnePlus and Motorola have proved in the past that latest technology in a smartphone always doesn’t cost a bomb.