Update: Pre-orders for the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are going live today, March 2, and you can find all the best places to pick them up below. In addition to the Best Buy trade-in and discount promo, Samsung has also rolled out deals on them as part of its student discount program—find out more at the relevant section below. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus have just been unveiled and literally tens of millions of people will want to buy them. The most popular Android smartphone series is back in force, bringing numerous small improvements to a beloved recipe that has been around for the better part of a decade. The dual aperture camera is the major highlight, but the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus shine overall thanks to the highly-polished experience they offer. Editor's PickSamsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus specs: All about refinements While last year's Samsung flagships featured more or less the same list of specifications (barring screen size, battery capacity, and dimensions), … [Read more...] about Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9 Plus: Release date, price, and availability (Updated)
Samsung
The Galaxy S9 might not be groundbreaking, but it’s the perfect phone for Samsung
The new Samsung Galaxy S9 is clearly a refinement of last year’s admittedly successful formula. One of the best smartphones from last year just got better, but it’s hardly groundbreaking. As the wheels of the smartphone market slow, the Galaxy S9 is the perfect and inevitable response to an industry consolidating around the big players. The phone remedies a number of quibbles, finally adding a stereo speaker system, making Bixby a bit more useful, and putting the fingerprint scanner in a logical spot the human hand can actually reach. These are positive moves, but hardly industry firsts or game-changing tweaks. The reality is the smartphone form factor has been distilled into a fine formula: big screen on the front, camera(s) on the back, and software that doesn’t get in the user’s way. OEMs simply have to be the best within this somewhat limited scope, and diverting from this formula could be fatal for a brand. Just look at the LG G5.For Samsung, … [Read more...] about The Galaxy S9 might not be groundbreaking, but it’s the perfect phone for Samsung
Spec showdown: Samsung Galaxy A8 series vs Galaxy A7 and A5
Galaxy A8 series is here, and it’s time to see how it stacks up against its predecessors. The Galaxy A8 Plus is the successor to last year’s Galaxy A7, while the Galaxy A8 succeeds the Galaxy A5. Do Samsung’s latest smartphones offer a lot more in terms of specs, or are are they only modest upgrades? Which one should you get? Let’s take a look. Specs comparison The Galaxy A8 and A8 Plus are similar smartphones. Not only do they look identical, they also have virtually the same specifications, with a few exceptions. The main difference is display size. The Plus model comes with a 6-inch screen, while its little brother features one that measures 5.6 inches. Both offer Full HD+ resolution and have an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.The A8 Plus has a larger battery—3,500 mAh compared to the A8’s 3,000 mAh—and comes with 4 or 6 GB of RAM. The A8 only has 4 GB onboard. Other than that, they are identical. They are powered by the Exynos 7885 chipset, have 32 or … [Read more...] about Spec showdown: Samsung Galaxy A8 series vs Galaxy A7 and A5
Four days with the Samsung Galaxy S9: great biometrics and enjoyable AR Emoji
It’s now a few days since we unboxed what could be one of the biggest phones of 2018, and we’re now getting to grips with the new handset and the features it offers.If you’ve not been keeping up so far, let’s have a quick recap of the Samsung Galaxy S9. Design-wise, things are almost identical to the Galaxy S8, but it’s under the hood that things are a little different.There’s far more power than last year, AR Emojis created from a single snap of your face to be used on social media, and an all-powerful camera that’s supposed to be excellent at low-light and slow motion video.We’ve been giving these features a good test each days, and we’re slowly forming a few impressions ahead of our in-depth review, which is coming up soon.AR Emoji - not uselessWe’ve been playing the most with AR Emoji, because it’s the most novel feature on the phone compared to previous models. We set up ours four days ago, and from there … [Read more...] about Four days with the Samsung Galaxy S9: great biometrics and enjoyable AR Emoji
Samsung Galaxy S9 deals and an exclusive discount on our favorite wireless charger
Wireless charging is pretty en vogue right now. Just about every major new phone supports wireless charging and a number of companies have released their own wireless charging pads. Of the dozens of options on the market, we ranked the RAVPower Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad as the best, giving it a 9 out of 10 in our review in October.Verge readers are being offered an exclusive discount on this charger until 11:59 PM PT on Monday, March 5th with the code 34CHARGE, which brings the price from $44.99 down to $29.99. In other smartphone deals news, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are now available for preorder and Samsung is offering a pretty great deal on its new flagship phones. If you missed the Best Buy deal on March 2nd, Samsung is the best place to go get the phone now. Not only are they offering up to $350 off for trade ins, but they also are selling the S9 at just $719.99, cheaper than any carrier. EXCLUSIVE AUDIO TVS COMPUTING SMARTPHONES MISCELLANEOUS Looking for gaming … [Read more...] about Samsung Galaxy S9 deals and an exclusive discount on our favorite wireless charger