BARCELONA, KOMPAS.com - Lama dinanti, Samsung akhirnya mengumumkan duet flagship Galaxy S9 dan Galaxy S9 Plus , pada Minggu (25/2/2018) waktu setempat, serangkaian dengan ajang Mobile World Congress (MWC) di Barcelona, Spanyol. Lini tersebut membawa beberapa fitur baru, antara lain super slow-motion (960 fps pada 1080p) untuk meningkatkan efek dramatis pada sebuah video, aperture f/1.5 yang bisa diandalkan untuk membidik objek pada kondisi remang-remang, serta animoji untuk meningkatkan pengalaman berkomunikasi virtual. Lantas, berapa harga Samsung Galaxy S9 dan S9 Plus? Corporate Marketing Director Samsung Indonesia, Jo Semidang, mengatakan keduanya akan dilepas mulai Rp 11,5 juta hingga Rp 14,5 juta. Lebih detail, Samsung membanderol Galaxy S9 di Indonesia dengan harga Rp 11.499.000 untuk model dengan RAM 4 GB dan memori 64 GB. Sedangkan harga Galaxy S9 Plus terdapat dua versi, Rp 12.999.000 untuk model RAM 6 GB/memori 64 GB dan Rp 14.499.000 untuk model RAM 6 GB/memori 256 GB. Baca juga : Apa Bedanya Galaxy S9 dan Galaxy S9 Plus? Patokan harga Galaxy S9 dan S9 Plus ini lebih tinggi dibandingkan pendahulunya Galaxy S8 dan S8 Plus, yakni masing-masing secara berurutan Rp 10,5 juta dan Rp 12 juta. "Barang baru, teknologi baru. Kalau orang Indonesia yang target marketnya seri S sebenarnya bukan soal harga, tapi value barangnya apa," kata Jo Semidang pada KompasTekno setelah acara peluncuran Galaxy S9 di Barcelona, Spanyol, Minggu (25/2/2018). Galaxy S9 dibekali kamera utama berkualitas 12 megapiksel dengan bukaan (aperture) yang bisa diatur secara mekanik, antara f/1.5 dan f/2.4. Galaxy S9 Plus dibekali kamera berkemampuan sama, hanya saja ditambah kamera kedua dengan lensa telephoto. Spesifikasi lain dari Galaxy S9 antara lain layar AMOLED berukuran 5,8 inci, prosesor Exynos 9810 atau Snapdragon 845, RAM dan memori 4GB/64GB, serta baterai 3.000 mAh. Sementara itu, varian Plus lebih besar dengan layar AMOLED 6,2 inci, prosesor Exynos 9810 atau Snapdragon 845, kapasitas RAM dan memori 6GB/128GB, serta baterai 3.500 mAh. (Baca juga : Spesifikasi Lengkap Galaxy S9 dan Galaxy S9 Plus ) Baca juga: Melihat Galaxy S9 dan Galaxy S9 Plus dari Berbagai Sisi
Samsung just announced the Galaxy S9, and now we’re getting details on how much retailers and wireless carriers are going to charge for it. The cheapest way to get the phone (without a trade-in) is through Samsung itself. But pricing gets surprisingly more complicated when you bring in wireless carriers: AT&T and Verizon are charging extra, but they’re also offering trade-in discounts that can more than offset the price increase.
Here are the details we have so far — we’ll be updating with more info as it comes out. In all cases, preorders start March 2nd and sales start March 16th.
Buy it outright: S9 for $719.99; S9 Plus for $839.99.
Monthly installments: $30 per month for 24 months for the S9; $35 per month for 24 months for the S9 Plus. Prices are a cent more expensive than buying it outright.
Buy it outright: S9 for $790.20; S9 Plus for $915.
Monthly installments: $26.34 per month for 30 months for the S9; $30.50 per month for 30 months for the S9 Plus. Those come to the same prices as buying the phone outright.
Buy it outright: $800 for the S9; $930 for the S9 Plus.
Monthly installments: $33.33 per month for 24 months for the S9; $38.74 per month for 24 months for the S9 Plus. You save a few cents paying this way instead of buying outright.
Trade-in: $100 to $350 off the S9 or S9 Plus when you buy it on an installment plan and trade-in a working phone in good condition. In order to get the $350, you have to trade in a Galaxy S8, iPhone 8, or newer (so realistically, only very serious Samsung fans will take this trade-in offer). Other flagships from last year fetch $300; and you can get $200 off for two to three year old phones. Phones like the iPhone SE and Galaxy S5 get $100. The trade-in value is broken up across the life of your payments, so you’re still looking at two years of bills.
Monthly installments: $30 per month for 24 months for the S9; same for the S9 Plus, but it also requires a $120 down payment. That’s $720 in total for the S9; $840 for the S9 Plus.
Trade-in: Up to $360 off an S9 or S9 Plus when purchased on an installment plan. You can trade in flagship phones as far back as an iPhone 6S or a Galaxy S7 and get $360 off. T-Mobile will also give $200 off for trade-ins of flagships as far back as the iPhone 5S and Galaxy S4. The discount comes with bill credits, so you’ll have to stay with T-Mobile to get the full offer.
Monthly installments: $33 per month for 24 months for the S9; $38 per month for 24 months for the S9 Plus. That comes to $792 and $912, which is more expensive than through Samsung.
Trade-in: Sprint says it’s offering up to $350 off with an eligible trade in, but it doesn’t list which phones are eligible. It appears you’ll get the discount spread across your monthly payments for the phone.
Promo: $100 off if you preorder through Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint on March 2nd only. After that, Best Buy is advertising a discount of “up to $100,” which suggests different carriers might receive different discounts.
Trade-in: $150 to $350 off when trading in specific smartphones. You’ll get the most for last year’s top Apple and Samsung phones, and you’ll get the least for the iPhone 6 an Galaxy S6.
Xfinity Mobile
Buy it outright: $719.99 for the S9; $839.99 for the S9 Plus.
Monthly installments: $30 per month for 24 months for the S9; $35 per month for 24 months for the S9 Plus. Prices are a cent more expensive than buying it outright. (They’re also the same as what you’ll get from Samsung itself.)
Trade-in: $200 to $350 off when you trade in an eligible phone. One of the nice perks here is that you can get this discount even if you choose to buy the phone outright — you’re not required to take it month by month on an installment plan that keeps you locked in.
Last year, Samsung walked out of the ashes of the Note 7 debacle and launched the Galaxy S8, which was one of the best phones of 2017 and one of the best products Samsung ever made. So it’s not much of a surprise that this year’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, which will be available for preorder on March 2nd and arrive in stores on March 16th, aren’t hugely different from the S8 phones.
In fact, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are so similar to their predecessors that on passing glance, they look and feel exactly the same. The S9 pair maintain the S8’s attractive and efficient design, with extra tall 18.5:9 screens, curved sides, and glass front and backs. The 5.8-inch (S9) and 6.2-inch (S9 Plus) screens are the same Super AMOLED panels with 2960 x 1440 pixel resolutions, though Samsung says they are slightly brighter this year. Also interesting, though the phones look and feel the same as last year’s models, they have slightly different dimensions and weigh a little more, so don’t expect to be able to use an S8 case on an S9.
The other reason you won’t be able to reuse cases is the one major exterior change: Samsung moved the fingerprint scanner from the right of the camera to below it, which should make it much easier to use, especially on the larger S9 Plus. Though it’s not an in-screen fingerprint scanner, as some might have hoped for, it will likely be a noticeable improvement over the old design. Otherwise, the button layout (including the dreaded Bixby button) and other hardware features, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack, remain the same as before. You won’t see the difference with the S9’s new speakers, which now produce stereo sound and are 40 percent louder, according to Samsung, but you’ll sure be able to hear them.
If you’ve been following the numerous leaks of the S9 ahead of today’s official announcement, none of the following will be a surprise, but I’ll confirm the specs for you here: the S9 runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor (in North America, other markets can expect to see Samsung’s latest Exynos processor); has either 4GB (S9) or 6GB (S9 Plus) of RAM; comes with 64GB of storage and support for microSD cards; has a 3,000mAh (S9) or 3,500mAh (S9 Plus) battery; is IP68 dust and water resistant; and supports both fast wired and fast wireless charging. Like the S8, the S9 is a gigabit phone, but this year it can support speeds up to 1.2Gbps and supports 600MHz frequencies for T-Mobile.
The S9’s camera has a mechanically adjustable aperture
The big, highlight new feature is the S9’s new camera system, which comes as a single lens on the S9 and a dual camera on the S9 Plus. The new camera is Samsung’s first with a mechanically adjustable aperture (not counting the China-only flip phone launched late last year), which can switch between a very bright f/1.5 to a smaller f/2.4 depending on exposure conditions. The bright aperture lets in 28 percent more light than the S8’s f/1.7 lens, and the f/2.4 aperture is said to help prevent overexposure in bright scenes, such as a sunny outdoor day. The camera app is able to switch between the apertures as necessary, or you can manually control them using the pro mode in the app. Of note: the aperture can switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4, but cannot be set to values in between. Still, two aperture options are basically twice as many as you get with any other phone.
In addition to the new adjustable aperture, the S9’s 12-megapixel camera sensor includes second-generation dual-pixel autofocus tech for faster and more reliable focusing, improved multi-frame noise reduction for a claimed 30 percent better low-light performance, and the ability to record slow-motion video at up to 960 frames per second (at 720p resolution). The camera app has also been redesigned with quicker access to its various modes by swiping between them, much like how the iPhone’s camera app works. Copycat or not, it’s an improvement over the old app.
The S9 Plus’ second rear camera does not have the variable aperture feature but works similarly to the Note 8’s dual camera system. It has an f/2.4 lens that gets you two times closer to your subject than the wide-angle camera and allows for portrait-mode blurring effects (which Samsung calls “Live Focus”). Both phones have the same 8-megapixel f/1.7 autofocus front camera as last year’s models.
Integrated into the new camera app is Samsung’s take on the iPhone X’s Animoji, which it calls AR Emoji. It lets you capture an image of your face, and using over 100 points, it builds a custom 3D character with your features. The app then creates 18 animated GIF “stickers” that are accessible in the keyboard for use in messaging apps. You can customize the look of your character with different hairstyles, glasses, and outfits, as well. AR Emoji aren’t quite the same as Animoji — the tracking isn’t nearly as precise and it’s not animals — but it’s more similar to a 3D Bitmoji character.
For software, the S9 will launch with Android 8.0 Oreo, but much like the hardware, the design isn’t hugely different from the software on the S8. Samsung has redesigned parts of the Bixby app, most notably the camera features, which can now be used to estimate calories in food and provide faster real-time translation. The company has signed up new partnerships with retailers such as Sam’s Club and Nordstrom to let you purchase items directly through Bixby, as well as makeup from Sephora and Cover Girl.
The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus work with the same Gear VR that launched alongside the Note 8, as well as Google’s Daydream View headset. They also work with last year’s DeX Station, which lets you use the phone as a full computer with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Samsung is also releasing a new DeX device called the DeX Pad. The Pad does not prop the phone up like the station, but instead allows it to lie flat, where it can be used as a trackpad or keyboard. The S9 can support external displays up to 2K resolution, and Samsung says it has signed up between 30 and 40 partners to make DeX optimized applications. One of those is the Final Fantasy XV, which will come preloaded on the device.
Though Samsung didn’t make a lot of changes to its formula for the S9, the ones it did make should be appreciated, and it will likely be a popular phone this year. It’s interesting how there are more things different between the smaller S9 and larger S9 Plus this year, which might make it harder for those looking for a compact phone with all of the bells and whistles.
The S9 will be available on all major carriers in the US as well as unlocked direct from Samsung. Pricing for the unlocked models is $719.99 and $839.99 , while carrier pricing ranges from $720 and $840 to $800 and $930. US customers will be able to choose between black, purple, or blue color options at launch, while a grey model will also be available internationally. It’s likely that other color options will be made available later in the year.
We’ll have plenty more to say about the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
