Marat Kuzaev, TASS columnist:

In addition to the size and chamber, "nines" differ in volume random access memory(Galaxy S9 costs four gigabytes, while Galaxy S9 + has six gigabytes) and battery capacity: in one - 3000 mAh, in the other - 3500 mAh.

Both models support fast wireless charging and after charging station DeX, they can be connected to a monitor or projector to be used in place of a computer. The "nines" are equipped with a proprietary data protection system Knox, and if this data does not fit on the built-in drive, you can insert a memory card up to 400 GB. The inconvenient fingerprint scanner was moved under the camera, and a face recognition system was added to the iris scanner, like in the iPhone.

In short, the Galaxy S9 and S9 + have almost everything that happens in modern flagships, and almost nothing that last year's generation did not have. The 64 GB Galaxy S9 costs RUB 59,990, the Galaxy S9 + with the same memory costs RUB 66,990, and the 256 GB model costs RUB 74,990.

What do experts think about Samsung's competition with Apple?

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Eldar Murtazin, Head of Mobile Review, Lead Analyst at Mobile Research Group:

To date Samsung is the market leader in smartphones. The gap from Apple, if you count in pieces, is twofold.

Apple leads the market in terms of money due to its expensive devices. But this story is finite. And I think Samsung can continue to trade technology for Apple in a completely painless way. IPhone example X, where Samsung's screen sits, proved it. After all, for every iPhone X sold, Samsung makes a very good profit. At the same time, this screen, in comparison with those that Samsung itself puts on the products, is outdated by several generations. And people do not understand this, they do not need to understand this.

Samsung has a very simple approach. There is key technologies that are used only in their own products. After two or three years, they are very high price are released to the market, because there are still no alternatives, they actually control the production of components. And in the future, everything will be about the same.

Presentation Samsung Galaxy S8 / S8 +, flagships and their accessories

In New York, in the Lincoln Center building, Samsung showed the most important smartphones both for the market and for its future, this is the Galaxy S8 / S8 +. It so happened that the number of leaks on these devices was prohibitively high, even before the start of sales, we already knew almost everything about them. I presented my impressions in a separate article, in which today we will add photos of smartphones, a number of accessories, and a little later - a video. I will try not to repeat that text, especially since all the points related to the S8 / S8 + hardware are chewed in great detail in it. But something remained outside our discussion, we will talk about this in detail in this material... But I advise you to read that text, without it this material may be incomplete.

Let's start with the official specifications of the models:

And some photos of how they look in real life.

Most frequent question, which I was asked in connection with the S8 / S8 +, sounds like this: how easy it is to get used to a different screen geometry, how elongated the screen is comfortable in everyday use... I answer - it's convenient, you get used to it instantly and you don't feel any shortcomings, moreover, it's difficult to switch to the "old" screen, as if from big tv they are trying to transfer you to the little one. The side edges are not curved as much as in the S7 EDGE, these devices are closer to the Note 7, where the curvature was perfect, there are no false positives.

Sample photos

The settings of the device were not maximum settings quality, hence such low resolution pictures.

I'm already tired of talking every year about how Samsung is improving its AMOLED screens, make them engineering works of art, they simply do not have analogues on the market or those who can come close to them. It is clear that this fact upsets many, but this does not cease to be a reality. For the S8 / S8 +, they used technologies that were first used in the company's TVs. In addition to the fact that the phone analyzes the picture on the screen, not just a light indicator was added, but an indicator RGB colors which adjusts the picture to external conditions... The devices also support the Mobile HDR Premium standard, which appeared only at the beginning of this year for 4K devices.

However, in Everyday life these screens are comparable to the Galaxy S7 / S7 EDGE, with a few exceptions, in which the new devices perform better - but almost always it is difficult conditions, flashing light, semi-darkness or bright sun. The difference will be noticeable in such conditions, plus when watching colorful films, in all other cases, read, normal conditions, you will not pay attention to it. Basically, this comparison can be given for any modern smartphone, even budgetary devices do an excellent job with the picture in typical situations, we are always talking about changes in difficult conditions, about what you see on the screen.

Body color options

The UI update, as well as the updated chipsets, made it possible to achieve even faster rendering of the interface. Phones are getting faster every year and it seems like they have nowhere to grow, and this is happening for both Galaxy and iPhone. The current models are very comfortable, they don't have any brakes or lags, it's just that the new devices become a little faster, and this is perceived by the mind. A whole cohort of buyers has even appeared, those who see these changes and buy devices for them (I emphasize that such buyers are typical primarily for the iPhone market, and secondly for the Galaxy).

For Samsung it has become new part strategies to change the interface for key models that is, with the release of the Note 8, we will see an evolution of how the UI looks today on the S8. Look at the pictures of the interface.

In many ways, the devices look similar in terms of UI and settings to what we see on Android 7 on current flagships.

Now a few words about Bixby, this voice assistant grew out of S Voice, which has never been very popular. In the age of Siri Google now Samsung decided that it was useless for them to stay on the sidelines of progress and needed to do everything so that they had their own assistant. Initially, Bixby is able to work with built-in applications such as camera, contacts, gallery, messages and settings. Moreover, Bixby is not only a voice assistant, you can ask it by typing, not only ask, but also launch applications, create notes, and so on. The closest analogue is Google's assistant, the idea behind Bixby is exactly the same. But for obvious reasons, Samsung's solution is still simpler, it is not as functional. Let's see how it develops, while there is no reason to replace Google Now with Bixby, especially since Google Now knows a lot more about you - driving routes, preferences, your mail and hotel reservations, flights, and so on. It is necessary to watch how Bixby will evolve, but there are many questions, who will win, Samsung or Google, I would still put on Google, which has been doing this for several years and has been doing it systematically. For Samsung, the Bixby assistant is a program, a service, if you will, but for Google, their assistant is only a part, and a small part of, what they do from user data on Android. That's why I bet on Google.

Another important point Is a DeX docking station for S8 / S8 +, which has its own cooling, allows you to connect up to two USB devices, for example, a keyboard and mouse (USB 2.0). In some countries, this dock will be a gift along with pre-orders for the S8 / S8 +. Separately, this station will cost 149 euros.

In addition to the fact that you get the opportunity to connect your phone via HDMI to an external monitor and control it using a mouse and keyboard, there was DeX mode... It's not just broadcasting the contents of your phone screen to external monitor, and the redesigned interface, in particular, added support for MS Office, mobile applications Adobe for example Adobe lightroom Mobile. These apps have been completely redesigned for large screens, and so far this is only available for flagships from Samsung, but I am sure that later it will appear on a bunch of other devices different manufacturers... The most direct analogy is a similar mode from Microsoft, which was on Windows Phone smartphones... But the death of the platform put a cross on Continuum, and the fallen banner was picked up by DeX. First of all, this is a solution for corporate users, it is unlikely that it will be popular from the start, but this interesting direction for development. DeX has implemented support for remote access to your desktops, this is Citrix, VMware and Amazon Web Services, that is, nothing of your own and nothing new. Basically, on Android already you can use these services.

An interesting figure was named during the presentation. The S Health service is used daily by 11 million people around the world, about 60 million do it from time to time, and are counted as monthly users. Russia is one of the leading countries in the use of S Health, however, the same can be said about Samsung Pay, which once again confirms our love for technical innovations.

Together with the S8, they are releasing a whole set of new devices, for example, the update of last year's 360-degree camera - the Gear 360. new camera the original cost has been reduced, it is 249 euros, while 4K recording is supported. The accessory is not the most popular, but it is needed to popularize VR content.

To understand what such a camera can do, you can read the review of last year's Gear 360.

The new Gear VR glasses also have a joystick from Oculus for more comfortable control in games, but this is for fans of the VR theme.

As for me, the line of accessories for the new flagships is as wide as possible, everyone will find what they need, whether it be a cover with a keyboard or ordinary covers.

The beginning of sales of the S8 / S8 + is April 21, the cost is from 800 euros for the younger model and from 900 euros for the older one, this is minimum prices on the market, somewhere the devices can cost more. In Russia, the devices will appear on April 28, the price will be 54,990 and 59,990 thousand rubles, respectively. V pre-orders there will be gifts, which, I think, you already know, since the pre-order was supposed to start today. As well as the price you know for sure, unlike me when I write this text.

Finally, a few words about competitors. It so happened that Samsung sells the same number of flagships on Android as all other manufacturers combined, these are comparable volumes. Therefore, seriously consider Sony, LG, HTC, Huawei in the same price group as competitors Galaxy line it is forbidden. Each company individually has very modest sales, however, the same LG G6 - good apparatus on the old Snapdragon 821, which immediately takes it out of the competition. And the price in Russia of 52 thousand rubles makes it, to put it mildly, expensive, all other things being equal.

This is just one example of a device, and there are many of them, but in all cases, we will face the fact that other manufacturers act as catch-ups. Just remember the presence of protection against water, built-in wireless charging and other "little things". Real competitor for S8 / S8 +, I only see the iPhone, which will be released this fall, as other companies are moving down a notch. Today, the flagship market is firmly divided between Samsung and Apple, none of the other companies is even close. You should not be under the illusion that someone is capable of releasing similar devices, this is a delusion.

For many, the release of the S8 will mean that the previous generation will acquire additional attractiveness due to the price, in my opinion, the S7 / S7 EDGE will become one of the most popular on the market.

Tell us what you liked about the S8 / S8 +, which seemed uninteresting. How justified is the cost of these models, what is interesting from the new operating modes, accessories, share your impressions.

At the end of each summer, Samsung hosts a Galaxy Unpacked event. This year, according to rumors, we are waiting for a minor update of the line. Galaxy Note, smart watch and several other devices.

Galaxy Note 9

Undoubtedly main novelty presentation. The flagship will not receive major changes, but there is something to update for. So, Samsung is finally moving the fingerprint scanner under the camera module. The sensor was located next to the photosensors: it was almost impossible to hit it and not get the cameras dirty. The S Pen stylus will receive a Bluetooth module, thanks to which the functions remote control smartphone.

The device will get faster thanks to Snapdragon chipset 845 for the US and Exynos 9810 for the rest of the world, and the photo capabilities will improve to. At the very least, the novelty will borrow a variable aperture of f / 1.5-2.4.

There are at least two memory options: 128 and 512 GB. The latter, together with a 512 GB microSD, will add up to a terabyte of storage at once. Apparently, Samsung has overcome the problem of explosive batteries, because the battery will increase from 3300 to 4000 mAh. Stereo speakers like complete headphones, developed jointly with AKG.

Prices are also narrower, moreover Russian: the version with 128 GB of memory will cost 69,990 rubles, with 512 GB - 89,990 rubles. Fortnite fans will delight separately: smartphone exclusive access to the Android version of the popular title.

Galaxy Watch

Although rumors circulated online early last month that the new watch from the Koreans will run on Google's Wear OS, it looks like Samsung is running its own Tizen OS. It will be updated to the fourth version with the introduction of the Bixby voice assistant.

But the fact that the company will abandon the naming Galaxy Gear, everyone says. On the case measuring 48 or 43 mm, there will be two buttons and a rotating wheel, like in the Gear S3, the battery will increase to 470 mAh and a blood pressure sensor will appear.

Wireless Charger Duo

Can share energy with Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Watch at the same time. The kit includes a plug for fast charging.

The Russian price is 6,990 rubles. Thanks to the Samsung brand showroom in Moscow, which started selling devices ahead of time.

Smart speaker with Bixby

Rumors about a speaker with voice assistant from Samsung last year. A device priced at about $ 300 in the shape of a ball will be able to understand where a person is in order to direct sound to him. In addition, the speaker can become a hub for SmartThings smart home devices.

The presentation of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2018 will be held on August 9 in New York. The live broadcast will be available on the company's website. Whether leaks and rumors are confirmed, we will find out very soon.

At 11:00 local time (18:00 Moscow time), the presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S8 started in New York. On the this moment there is a live online broadcast of this important event for the world mobile technologies... The event itself is called Galaxy UNPACKED.

And we say this practically without exaggeration: after Galaxy release S8 smartphones will look different. Namely, the time will come for large and especially wide screens. At the same time, the dimensions of the devices themselves will even decrease.

Live online broadcast on YouTube

And in 360-degree format (for those who have the appropriate equipment):

The presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S8 itself is underway on English language, however, if you search, you can find options with translation or subtitles.

Undoubtedly main feature both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are huge screen(5.7 inches in case basic version and 6.2 in the case of the plus option). This time, it occupies most of the front surface, so the dimensions of the new products practically do not differ from the Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge.

For more efficient resource allocation, Samsung has equipped its flagships with the ability to change the screen resolution. So the user can now choose between maximum picture clarity and high speed work in pairs with better autonomy.

The hardware Home button, which Koreans could not part with for so many years, is finally a thing of the past. The fingerprint scanner "moved" to the back of the smartphone - to the right of the main camera. But the Galaxy S8 has a front-facing iris scanner, just like the failed Note 7.

The main camera of the "eighth galaxy" is based on Sony sensor IMX333 with 12 Mp resolution. Interestingly, Sony itself has not yet announced this module, however, it has already found application in the Samsung Galaxy S8. So you don't have to be afraid for the quality of the picture.

We will find out the rest of the points during the presentation. Turn it online!