Samsung announces the Galaxy S9 with 'the most advanced camera ever'

Samsung today announced the Galaxy S9 and S9+, its highly-anticipated flagship smartphones. The devices come packed with a Snapdragon 845 chipset (or Exynos 9810, depending on your market), something that Samsung once again seems to have first dibs on, as it did last year with the 835.

The firm says that its new handsets have the company's "most advanced camera ever". With what Samsung is calling the Super Speed Dual Pixel sensor, the company says that it can combine 12 images into "one amazing, high quality photo". This also promises great low light photography, since it has an adjustable aperture of f/1.5-f/2.4. This allows it to let in more light when it needs to.

The devices can capture slow motion video at an insane frame rate of 960fps. With Motion Detection, the S9 will automatically detect movement in the shot and begin to record.

As expected, Samsung is including AR Emoji in its phones, which are similar to Apple's Animoji. This uses a 3D-style emoji to copy your facial expressions and movements, creating an animated video that you can share with friends. AR Emoji adds the ability to create custom emojis though. You can create your own animated avatar that looks like you.

The company also touted the audio experience of its new flagships, as they support Dolby Atmos surround sound. This complements the Infinity Display for an immersive experience.

That display hasn't changed much since the S8 though, coming in at 5.8-inch Quad HD+ on the S9 and 6.2-inch Quad HD+ on the S9+, with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Aside from the sizes though, there are a couple of notable differences between the S9 and S9+. For one thing, you can see that the S9 has a single-lens camera configuration, while the S9+ is dual-lens. This means that the S9+ will support things like depth effect.

Also, the S9+ has more RAM - with 6GB while the S9 has 4GB - and a larger battery - with 3,500mAh while the S9 has 3,000mAh. Aside from that, the two devices are the same.

In the United States, the two handsets will be available in Lilac Purple, Midnight Black, and Coral Blue. Pre-orders kick off on March 2 and you'll be able to get it from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, Xfinity Mobile, Best Buy, Amazon, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart, and Samsung.com. The devices will be available on March 16, with the unlocked S9 costing $719.99, and the unlocked S9+ coming in at $839.99.