See some Galaxy S9 super slow-mo videos here!

Between the adjustable aperture and the option to record “super” slow-motion videos, it’s hard to say which of the two Galaxy S9 camera features Samsung is prouder of. For the regular consumer, slow-motion videos make for better marketing material, and Samsung has certainly not been shy about touting how its new flagships can take awesome slow-mo clips. For those who haven’t been keeping up, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ can take slow-motion videos at 960 frames per second – that’s the slowest you can go on any smartphone out there with a motion detection feature that automatically captures slow-mo clips every time there’s movement in the frame.

Galaxy S9 super slow-mo videos

That’s not all. The camera also adds a music track to every slow-motion video, with the option for you to choose between various preloaded tracks or your own music. We’ll be holding back a detailed look at the Galaxy S9 and S9+’ slow-motion capabilities for our review, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait to catch a few real-life examples of slow-motion videos recorded by the new Samsung flagships. We’ve managed to capture a couple of super slow-mo videos around the streets of Barcelona, and they’re embedded below for your viewing pleasure. Check them out and let us know your thoughts down in the comments section!

If you haven’t already, read our hands-on experience and also check out some high-resolution photos of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+. Also read how Samsung went about making the Galaxy S9 and S9+ more durable compared to the company’s previous flagships. We also have a few deals that you can take advantage of to get discounts and other bonuses on the S9 or S9+, sorted by country.

Last but not the least, the official wallpapers from the Galaxy S9 are available as well. For other coverage on the new phones, we have a list of all our articles in this post, so go ahead and get up to speed with what the latest and greatest Galaxy flagships offer.

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A new Galaxy J3 model is probably headed to the US

The United States may be the biggest market for premium smartphones, but there is enough demand for low-cost devices as well for Samsung to launch budget models every year. Samsung launched the Galaxy J3 with support for all US carriers last year under different names and model numbers. Device benchmarks and Wi-Fi certification point to a new Galaxy J3 launch in the US this year as well.

A new Galaxy J3 likely headed to the US

Last year’s Galaxy J3 in the US launched with the model numbers SM-J327A, SM-J327V, SM-J327T, and SM-J327P on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint respectively. Hinting at a successor, devices with model numbers SM-J337A, SM-J337T, and SM-J337P have surfaced online at different places, revealing some of their specifications. Of these devices, the SM-J337T model has already received Wi-Fi certification on February 22, hinting at an imminent launch in the US.

In terms of specifications, these devices will run Android Oreo 8.0 out of the box and sport a 5-inch 720p display, 2GB RAM, and 16GB storage. The Geekbench results point to an Exynos 7570 processor for the SM-J337A model and an Exynos 7885 chipset for the SM-J337P variant. It is not clear if Samsung will indeed use different processors for the same model on different carriers. Also, the Exynos 7885 is a premium mid-range chipset found in the recently launched Galaxy A8 (2018) and A8+. It is doubtful Samsung will use this chipset for a budget device like the Galaxy J3.

Samsung has also filed trademark applications for the names ‘J7 Refine’ and ‘J3 Achieve’ with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 23. Nothing else is known about these two devices currently. Earlier this month, Samsung has also filed trademark applications for the ‘J3 Star’ and ‘J7 Star’ names with the same office. Last year’s Galaxy J3 model was sold as J3 Eclipse on Verizon Wireless and J3 Emerge on Sprint, Boost, and Virgin Mobile. So, it is possible that the new Galaxy J3 models will launch under the new trademark names.

It is worth remembering Samsung’s Galaxy J series models differ in specifications and naming from market to market. Last year’s Galaxy J3 in the US was different from the one available in the rest of the markets. The same may be true for this year’s models as well.

As usual, nothing here is final until Samsung makes the official announcement. So, take all this information with a pinch of salt.

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Galaxy J6 possibly outed in benchmark listing

Last month we came across many unannounced Galaxy device codenames and model numbers in the leaked Galaxy Note 8 Oreo build. Galaxy J4 and Galaxy J6 were two of the budget devices spotted in that list. At the time of the leak, there was nothing more than a few codenames and model numbers about the existence of these devices. In the last couple of weeks, however, we have come across more circumstantial evidence about the existence of these devices.

Yet another budget Galaxy device

First, we came across the alleged Galaxy J4 in the Geekbench database. Now, a device bearing the model number SM-J600F has made an appearance on the same benchmarking website. Going by Samsung’s naming convention it could point to a new handset called the Galaxy J6.

The Galaxy J6 will be a budget device with modest specs according to the benchmark. The device runs on Android 8.0 which should bring Treble support out of the box. The device is powered by an Exynos 7870 processor clocked at 1.6 GHz and comes with 2GB of RAM.  It’s the same chipset found in other Galaxy J series phones such as the Galaxy J5 (2017), Galaxy J7 (2017), Galaxy J7 Prime, etc.

Samsung has been facing stiff competition in the budget segment from the Chinese OEMs, particularly Xiaomi. Whether the strategy of adding more and more Galaxy J series smartphones to its budget lineup helps Samsung in battling the onslaught from Chinese players remains to be seen.

While Samsung working on a new Galaxy J series phone is hardly surprising, it still doesn’t mean this benchmark is indisputable. Benchmark results can be faked without much difficulty, and so any information derived from these benchmarks should be taken with a dose of skepticism.

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Here’s how the Galaxy S9 is more durable than the Galaxy S8

The glass-heavy design language of Samsung’s mid-range and flagship smartphones these days warrants the use of a case for anyone not willing to risk seeing the glass shatter and pay a huge price to get it fixed. When your phone has a slab of glass on the front and back, it’s prone to damage no matter how durable it may be. Of course, luck’s a huge factor in deciding whether a drop will let your phone get by with a few minor scratches or make it shatter on impact, but Samsung isn’t sitting around idle, either. For its latest flagships, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, the company has made a few key design changes to improve durability compared to the Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Stronger metal, thicker glass equals higher durability

First, the front glass has been made slightly thicker – the S9’s front glass’ thickness value stands at 0.6T, while the S8’s was 0.5T. Just thicker glass isn’t enough, however, so Samsung has also upgraded the metal on the sides of the device. The company has used AL 7003 high-strength aluminum on the S9, and AL 7003 doesn’t deform as much as AL 6013, the aluminum used on the Galaxy S8. The metal rim on the S9 and S9+ is 0.2 mm thicker, and thanks to the stronger type of aluminum, the metal transfers 1.2 times less shock to the glass around it upon drop impact.

That might not seem like much, but when that glass is curved, as on every Samsung flagship these days, we’re guessing even such small improvements can do wonders. These build changes do mean the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are slightly thicker (0.5 and 0.4 mm respectively) than the S8 or S8+, but we’re told that’s also partly because of the repositioned fingerprint sensor and because Samsung wanted to keep the same battery capacities (3,000 mAh and 3,500 mAh).

Again, when fortune smiles on you, you can get away with dropping a flagship phone bought with your hard-earned money without much damage. But there’s only so much luck can do for you, so it’s great to see Samsung has taken the necessary steps – however minor – to make its latest flagships more durable than the ones that came before.

For more on the Galaxy S9, check out our extensive coverage.

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How to use the Galaxy S9 in landscape mode

So the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are in our possession, and we’re working on getting a review out as soon as we can. Playing around with the devices, we’ve already discovered a slew of minor and major changes and new features. As we had revealed earlier, the Galaxy S9 finally makes it possible to use the home screen (and app drawer) in landscape mode, something many Samsung fans have been asking for for years. This follows another change the company had recently made to screen rotation: On the latest iterations of the Samsung Experience UX, you can lock the screen to landscape or portrait orientation, and landscape mode for the home screen was the logical next move.

Samsung still isn’t allowing the lock screen to work in landscape orientation, but hey, one step at a time, right? Also, landscape mode for the home screen isn’t enabled by default, so we’ve decided to write this post to help (future) Galaxy S9 owners activate landscape mode on the device inside apps, the regular user interface, and on the home screen.

How to use the Galaxy S9 in landscape mode

Part I: Switching to landscape mode via quick toggle

Many of you already know how you can switch to landscape orientation on a Samsung device (or Android devices in general), but those who don’t can follow the steps below. This particular option will enable landscape mode for everything except the home screen, although some apps that don’t deliberately work in landscape will continue to work in portrait orientation because, well, that’s what the developer of that particular app deemed would offer the best user experience.

Step 1: Access the notification shade by swiping down from the top of the screen (this can be done from anywhere in the interface), then swipe down again to access the quick toggles.

Step 2: Here, tap the screen rotation toggle repeatedly till it says Auto Rotate. 

Step 3: Then, rotate the phone to make the screen flip to landscape (horizontal) orientation. Now, while the phone is in landscape orientation, bring up the toggles again (that is, follow steps 1 and 2 again) and tap the screen rotation toggle till it says Landscape. This will fix the screen orientation to landscape and prevent it from flipping to portrait unless an app doesn’t support it.

That’s it for switching to landscape mode and keeping it that way. To go back to portrait orientation, simply follow the reverse process: Enable auto rotate by tapping the screen orientation toggle, flip the phone to portrait (vertical) orientation, then tap the rotation toggle again until it says Portrait.

Part II: Enabling landscape mode for the home screen

The option to enable the home screen to work in landscape orientation doesn’t have a quick toggle but is found in the home screen settings. Follow the steps below to enable landscape mode for the home screen. Needless to say, if you prefer your home screen in portrait orientation, you can skip this part altogether.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on the phone, then go into display settings by tapping Display.

Step 2: Tap the Home screen option to go to home screen settings.

Step 3: Here, at the bottom, you should see an option named Portrait mode only. It will be turned on by default, so tap the option to uncheck it and enable the home screen to work in landscape.

That’s it. Once you’ve enabled landscape mode for the home screen, you can enable screen auto rotation on the phone (following the steps in Part I of this guide) and the home screen will also switch to landscape every time you tilt your phone horizontally.

Check out the images in the gallery below to see how the home screen (and app drawer) looks in horizontal orientation.

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We’ll be covering more Galaxy S9 tips in the coming days, so make sure to bookmark our dedicated landing page for all such tips.

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Rumor: Galaxy S9 launching in India on March 6

After months of anticipation and endless leaks, Samsung finally unveiled the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on Sunday at a special event in Barcelona. Now that the official unveiling is done, details about availability and pricing are beginning to flood the Internet.

Fastest Galaxy flagship launch in India?

We have received a tip that the Galaxy S9 could launch in India on March 6. Samsung has not officially confirmed the news but considering that the company is already accepting pre-booking money in India, it won’t be surprising to see a launch event so soon. If the Galaxy S9 launch indeed happens on March 6, then this may be one of the fastest Galaxy flagship launches in India.

It is worth noting that while the official launch in India may be on March 6 in the form of a launch event, actual sales will probably kickstart from March 16 or later like most other markets. Pricing, variants, and availability should be officially announced at the event, but we have already seen credible reports about possible pricing in India today. From the information available so far, we also know that India will get the Exynos variant of the Galaxy S9 and S9+.

The Galaxy S9 brings many incremental updates to the already well-received Galaxy S8 lineup. It is not yet clear if any of the new features that Samsung launched with the S9 and S9+ are compelling enough for users to upgrade. While Samsung is confident that the Galaxy S9 duo will outsell their predecessors, it will be interesting to see how cost-conscious markets like India respond to an incremental upgrade.

In case if you have missed our exhaustive coverage from the Galaxy S9 unveiling, you can check our hands-on and specs comparison to get started.

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Possible Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ prices for India leaked

What impressed us most about the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ is that Samsung isn’t asking for an exorbitant premium over last year’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ despite the new features and improvements. Sure, the prices of the new flagships will vary from market to market, but the difference between the S9 and S9+ and their predecessors seems to be around $50/€50 in general. This seems to be the case in India as well – prices of the S9 and S9+ for the country have leaked online, and they suggest the company is going to be following its usual course as far as raising prices for its flagships in the world’s second-largest smartphone market is concerned.

Possible Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ prices for India leaked

91Mobiles has gained access to a document that lists out the maximum retail price (MRP) for both the 64GB and 256GB models of the Galaxy S9 and S9+: Rs 62,500 and Rs 71,000 for the two S9 variants, and Rs 70,000 and Rs 79,000 for the 64GB and 256GB S9+ variants respectively. The markup on the 256GB model, which is the only higher storage variant set to launch in the country according to Samsung India’s website, is similar to what we saw with the 6GB RAM + 128GB Galaxy S8+ that launched in India last year. The 256GB model is only listed with the black color option, but Samsung is thankfully launching the higher storage model (and at least three color options) more widely this year.

It’s also worth noting that the Korean giant doesn’t usually release new phones at their MRP value in India, so the actual prices are bound to be lower. The document lists deal prices lower than what the S8 and S8+ cost at launch, so Samsung is also likely to have offers such as credit card cashbacks for early bird customers. Of course, we’ll have to wait for official word on how much these handsets will cost. The Indian market is expected to get Samsung’s new flagships faster than usual this year, as evidenced by the company already charging a prebooking amount for the S9 and S9+ in the country, so the wait shouldn’t be so long.

Don’t Miss: Here’s all our coverage of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+

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After Galaxy S9, Samsung no longer obsessed with ‘being the world’s first’

Smartphone manufacturers liberally throw around buzzwords like “world’s first” in their press releases to create hype for their phones. Samsung is one of those manufacturers even though it has introduced some genuine world-firsts with its flagship devices. However, the company is changing its strategy after the Galaxy S9 to developing more meaningful products instead of chasing after buzzwords.

Samsung’s mobile division boss DJ Koh mentioned during a press conference with Korean reporters in Barcelona that Samsung is changing its strategy after the Galaxy S9. He said that the company had been obsessed with being the first to bring new technology to market but that’s going to change in favor of developing more meaningful products.

Samsung wants to launch more meaningful products

Koh’s comments were in response to questions from reporters about Samsung’s roadmap for hardware innovation compared to its Chinese rivals who have already brought in-display fingerprint sensors and foldable smartphones to market. Samsung has long been rumored to be working on both but hasn’t launched them as yet.

“We developed mobile phones earlier than Chinese firms, and we were obsessed with being the world’s first and industry’s first, rather than thinking about how this innovation could be meaningful to consumers,” he said, adding that being first is no longer important today. Samsung’s strategy now will be to launch something that consumers find to be meaningful and valuable at the right time.

This basically means that Samsung will not launch devices with new technologies just for the sake of being the first to market. If that were the case we would have probably seen its in-display fingerprint sensor and foldable smartphone by now. The company will wait instead and only launch devices with such new technologies when they’re fully ready for the market.

Koh reiterated this strategy when asked about Samsung’s Bixby Speaker. He said that the company will only launch its AI-powered smart speaker “when it’s ready with top-notch quality.” Koh also said yesterday that Samsung’s Bixby Speaker will likely be launched in the second half of this year.

What do you think about Samsung’s new strategy? Should the company perfect new technologies before it brings them to market or participate in the race to be the first with Chinese rivals who don’t seem to be in a mood to slow down? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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