Samsung has finally unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona earlier this week. The South Korean tech giant's latest premium handsets share striking similarities with their predecessors, the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, although they possess features that make them stand out, particularly an upgraded camera hardware and a powerful Qualcomm mobile chipset.

As covered by The Verge, the Samsung presentation at the MWC 2018 reveals that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus retains the curved edge, all-screen display of their predecessors. Both variants sport a tall display with 18:5:9 screen-to-body ratio. The Samsung Galaxy S9 has a 5.8-inch Super active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) screen while the larger S9 Plus has a 6.2-inch display, both handsets having 2,960 x 1,440-pixel resolutions. In spite of the similarities with the Galaxy S8, it is advised to not use the same case protector for the Samsung Galaxy S9 due to slight variations in dimensions and weight.

Perhaps the major highlight of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus is Samsung's latest camera system. To note, only the Samsung Galaxy S9 makes use of a dual-lens rear camera setup, while the regular Galaxy S9 has a single-lens snapper, although both devices boast a new camera configuration with mechanically adjustable aperture. This camera system allows users to switch between f/1.5 aperture to a smaller f/2.4, based on the current exposure conditions.

The brighter f/1.5 aperture in the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus permits 28 percent more light into the capture, compared with the Galaxy S8's fixed f/1.7 lens. Moreover, the f/2.4 aperture will help in preventing too much exposure in the pictures taken in a very bright environment. The Galaxy S9's special camera app will be able to switch between these two apertures by itself, although the user can also adjust the aperture settings by himself using the pro mode, CNET reported.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are also the first smartphones unveiled this 2018 powered by Qualcomm's latest high-end chipset, the Snapdragon 845. However, only those Galaxy S9 units distributed in North America will receive the Snapdragon 845 chip, as other markets will have the latest Exynos processor instead. The smartphones will include 4 GB to 6 GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage, and expandable memory via microSD card.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be available for pre-order on March 2, while the units will hit the shelves on March 16.