Galaxy Note 9 will launch in India at a Samsung event scheduled for August 22
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is set to launch as the company's latest flagship smartphone in India on August 22. After unveiling the handset globally earlier this month, Samsung has now confirmed its launch date in India as well. Previously, it was reported that Samsung will launch the Galaxy Note 9 in the country next Wednesday, but the company has now started sending out media invites for the event. Interestingly, the India launch of the Galaxy Note 9 will take place just two days ahead of its global availability - August 24 - but that is not surprising considering the market's importance to Samsung. The highlights of the smartphone are an upgraded S Pen with Bluetooth support, a bigger battery, and the biggest display yet in the Note series. Gadgets 360 has also learnt that the event will be attended by DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, and that this will be his first visit to India.
As per the invite sent by Samsung, the company will launch the Galaxy Note 9 at an event in Delhi NCR on August 22 at 12pm. Interested buyers are currently able to pre-book the handset via online and offline channels. However, the pre-bookings will close on August 21. As reported earlier, the price in India of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 starts at Rs. 67,900 for the 6GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage variant, while the 8GB RAM/ 512GB inbuilt storage model costs Rs. 84,900.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 First Impressions
Notably, online pre-bookings can be done on Amazon, Flipkart, and the Samsung Mobile Store. Buyers can choose to pay the entire sum at the time of pre-booking, or they can choose to opt for no-cost EMIs on credit cards and Bajaj FinServ cards.
The launch offers for the Galaxy Note 9 can be availed via the Samsung Mobile Store. The smartphone will be available with a Rs. 6,000 cashback on transactions made using HDFC Bank cards. Additionally, you will get a Gear Sport worth Rs. 22,900 for Rs. 4,999 if you pre-order the new phone. Finally, there is an exchange discount of up to Rs. 6,000 via Samsung Shop. Amazon has the same set of offers along with an exchange discount of up to Rs. 15,850, while Flipkart also offers similar deals with up to Rs. 15,950 off on exchange.
Customers can also buy the Galaxy Note 9 via the Airtel Online Store. The telco is offering the handset with a down payment of Rs. 7,999 and 24 EMIs of Rs. 2,999. Buyers will also get 100GB data per month (with rollover), bundled local and STD calls, free national roaming calls, Airtel Secure device protection, Amazon Prime membership for a year, as well as access to Wynk Music and Airtel TV. Notably, just the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant of the Galaxy Note 9 is available under Airtel's EMI plan.
In India, Samsung will launch the dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy Note 9. It runs Android 8.1 Oreo along with Samsung Experience UX on top. The smartphone sports a 6.4-inch Quad HD+ (1440x2960 pixels) Super AMOLED Infinity Display panel. The India variant of the Galaxy Note 9 is powered by the Exynos 9810 processor, coupled with 6GB and 8GB RAM options.
The Galaxy Note 9 features a horizontally-placed dual rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel dual pixel sensor along with a wide-angle lens that has a variable f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture and a 12-megapixel sensor along with a telephoto, f/2.4 autofocus lens. Both sensors are powered by dual OIS (optical image stabilisation) and support features such as 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom. At the front, the smartphone has an 8-megapixel sensor backed by an f/1.7 aperture, autofocus lens. There is a scene optimiser with 20 scene types. Additionally, the phone has features such as flaw detection that can detect the blinking of eye, lens smudge, and backlight to improve images. Further, there are HDR and live focus modes and an AR Emoji feature that first arrived on the Galaxy S9 models earlier this year.
When it comes to storage, the Galaxy Note 9 packs 128GB and 512GB of inbuilt storage options that both are expandable via microSD card (up to 512GB). There are several connectivity options, including 4G VoLTE (LTE Cat. 18), dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, ANT+, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, heart rate sensor, proximity sensor, RGB light sensor, Iris sensor, and a pressure sensor. There is also a fingerprint sensor that sits below the rear camera setup.
The Galaxy Note 9 packs a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging support, and it is compatible with wired and wireless charging technologies. Samsung has also embedded street speaker tuned by AKG and an enhanced security offering through Samsung Knox and biometrics. In terms of dimensions, the Galaxy Note 9 measures 161.9x76.4x8.8mm and weighs 201 grams. The Bluetooth-enabled S Pen measures 5.7x4.35x106.37mm and weighs 3.1 grams. Besides, both the Galaxy Note 9 and its S Pen are IP68 rated.
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