Samsung today unveiled the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in Barcelona, Spain. The company’s flagship Galaxy S handsets for 2018 sport minor design changes compared to their predecessor but feature vastly improved camera and specifications.

In terms of design, the biggest change on the Galaxy S9 is the redesigned camera setup at the rear. Taking a cue from Apple, Samsung has rearranged the camera setup on the Galaxy S9 vertically. This has the added benefit of the fingerprint scanner being moved to the center of the device thereby making it easier to reach. The Galaxy S9+ also has a vertically placed camera setup at its rear, though it comes with dual-cameras at its rear.

At the front, you continue to get a 5.8-inch QHD+ and 6.2-inch QHD+ Infinity Display on both devices which supports HDR10 and wide-color gamut. The bottom chin has seen a slight reduction in bezel size but the difference is going to be barely noticeable to the naked eye. Every other aspect of the Galaxy S9 in terms of design is the same as its predecessor. This means you are still getting an aluminum frame sandwiched between Gorilla Glass panels at the front and rear. The S9 also features stereo speaks which Samsung says are up to 40 percent louder than the mono speaker found on the S8.

Specs

The Galaxy S9 packs a major internal upgrade. Samsung is using Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 845 chipset inside the handset for the U.S. variants. This chipset is paired with a 1.2Gbps LTE modem as well. The international variant will be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 9810 chipset which also comes with a 1.2Gbps LTE modem. Both chipsets are plenty powerful and are based on the second generation 10nm FinFET process from Samsung. Apart from upgraded CPU performance, the ISP, GPU, and MFC have also seen major performance improvements.

The smaller Galaxy S9 will come with 4GB RAM, while the bigger S9+ will feature 6GB RAM. Both handsets will come with 64GB of storage space, hybrid dual-SIM/microSD card slot, NFC, LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB-C connectivity. They also feature an upgraded iris scanner at the front which Samsung says is now faster and reliable than before.

Despite coming with more powerful internals and the same battery capacity as their predecessor — 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh — the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will offer the same battery life as the Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Camera

The camera on the Galaxy S9 has seen a major upgrade this time around. While the resolution remains the same at 12MP, Samsung has managed to use a variable aperture ranging between f/1.5 to f/2.4. The wider f/1.5 aperture will allow the Galaxy S9 to absorb more light in low-light scenarios, while the f/2.4 aperture will come in handy when there’s plenty of light available.

To be clear though, you can only switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture and nothing in between. There’s also the second-generation DualPixel AF system which is faster than before. Apart from the improved imaging hardware, Samsung is also using the powerful ISP for improved multi-frame noise reduction. The samples shown by the company showed a noticeable improvement in noise and detail when compared to the Galaxy S8. The powerful ISP also allows the Galaxy S9 to capture 960fps slow-motion videos at 720p resolution. This is paired with a redesigned camera app that is easier to use and makes it easy to switch between various modes

The Galaxy S9+ gets a dual-camera setup at its rear. While the primary camera remains the same as the S9, the secondary f/2.4 12MP telephoto sensor allows the handset to offer 2x optical zoom and capture photos with ‘bokeh’ effect thanks to Live Focus.

At the front, there’s an 8MP f/1.7 shooter as seen on the Galaxy Note 8 that is also capable of taking portrait selfies.

Software

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will launch with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. The Samsung Experience version on the handsets is similar to what we have already seen on the Galaxy Note 8 with some improvements thrown in. There’s also an improved version of Bixby on the device, though its unlikely to find many takers this time around as well.

There’s a new AR Emoji feature that makes use of the front camera to capture your face. It then creates a custom 3D character by using over 100 facial points. This 3D character can be used in 18 animated stickers that can be easily accessed using the keyboard for easy sharing in messaging apps. The 3D character can also be customised to one’s liking by changing its hairstyle, clothes, applying glasses, and more.

Availability and Price

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ go on pre-order from March 2 in parts of Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and a few other markets. It will launch on March 16, with the global rollout expected to complete by March 30. In the United States, the Galaxy S9 is priced at $719.99, while the Galaxy S9+ is priced at $839.99.