

In the US, it cost $839.99 for the S9 Plus unlocked through Samsung's official website. Its price was more expensive at launch than the S8 Plus in the US and UK. The official Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus release date was Friday, March 16, 2018, two weeks after pre-orders opened on February 25 (UK and Europe), and March 2 (in the US). Storage: 64GB or 128GB (region dependent) The S9 Plus remains on our best Samsung phone list, and is still a solid choice if you don't want to spend a lot of money, don't need a stylus, but still want a phone with a big Samsung colorful screen. The now-cheaper Galaxy S8 Plus is an incremental downgrade, while the S10 Plus is ideal if you want a slightly bigger screen with only a small punch-hole notch in the top right corner. What’s interesting is that Apple’s and Google’s handsets aren’t the fiercest competition for the S9 Plus – it’s Samsung’s own phones. The S9 Plus tries to match everything Apple can do, but at a larger screen size (at least until the iPhone XS Max and now iPhone 11 Pro Max arrived) and with a 3.5mm headphone jack – and it also bests the Google Pixel 2 XL’s low-light photography in some (but not all) scenarios. If you’re thinking a sudden emphasis on stereo speakers, face unlock, AR Emoji and vertically stacked 12MP dual cameras sounds as if these are Samsung’s take on iPhone X features, you're right. Addressing another shortcoming of the S8 Plus, Samsung finally gives its flagship phones stereo speakers for superior sound. It’s a more natural location, although you may not even need it thanks to the face unlock and iris scanning onboard and working at the same time. Samsung has listened to the negative feedback regarding last year’s handsets, and has wisely moved its offset rear fingerprint sensor to a center-aligned position. It's rather unimpressive, unlike the rest of the phone. It's Samsung's spin on Apple's Animoji, but don't get too excited about it. Its primary lens can also capture super-slow-motion video at 960 frames per second if you’re serious about video and, if you’re not, uses its 8MP front-facing camera to paint your face with AR Emoji props and masks. The S9 Plus benefits from a rear dual-lens camera, too, giving it the same telephoto capabilities as the previous year’s Note 8 (the S9 has one lens on the back). Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: Lilac Purple is the hot new color on this year's Galaxy phones
