It looks like Samsung is preparing a gradual, yet radical switch in their design philosophy, possibly the biggest one since the Samsung Galaxy S6 was announced. And this has been evidenced on both the software and hardware front. The Galaxy A8 Star, announced some months ago, features a design that notably differs from Samsung's usual design language. The dual camera setup was cornered to the left instead of centered, looking more similar to something like an iPhone Xs.

This cornered camera trend was further continued with the Galaxy A7 (2018), which also introduced other first-time elements such as a triple rear camera setup and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Some of these elements are also expected to carry over to their 2019 flagship phones like the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10.

Now, Samsung has taken the stage to announce the Galaxy A9 (2018), the first Samsung phone with four rear cameras.

 

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Specifications

Category

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)

Dimensions and Weight

162.5 x 77 x 7.8 mm, 183g

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 @ 2.2GHz

GPU

Adreno 512

RAM

6GB/8GB

Rear Cameras

24MP (AF, f/1.7 aperture) + 8MP (wide-angle, f/2.4 aperture) + 10MP (telephoto, f/2.4 aperture) + 5MP (depth-sensing, f/2.2 aperture) w/ LED flash

Front Camera

24MP, f/2.0 aperture

Storage

128GB, expandable up to 512GB via microSD

Display

6.3-inch 1080x2220 18.5:9 Super AMOLED Infinity Display, 392 PPI

Audio

3.5mm headphone jack, speaker, FM Radio

Battery

3,800mAh battery w/ fast charging

Ports

USB Type-C (USB 2.0)

Fingerprint scanner

Yes (rear-mounted)

Software

Android 8.0 Oreo (Samsung Experience 9.0)

Connectivity

Dual SIMWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz/5GHz)Bluetooth 5.0LTE with VoLTEGPS / GLONASS (???)

Colors

Blue, Black, Pink

Pricing

Starting at €599/£549 (~$693)

Availability

Starting from November on select markets

Yep, we made no mistakes or typos earlier. The Galaxy A9 features a quad rear camera setup--the first Samsung phone with such a camera setup, and quite possibly the first mainstream phone with four rear cameras, too. It looks pretty odd even when compared with the triple-camera Galaxy A7.

The main 24MP sensor is helped by a 5MP depth-sensing camera, a 10MP telephoto camera, and an 8MP wide-angle lens--it's a pretty similar camera setup to the Galaxy A7, but with an added telephoto lens. It may not win any awards in quality for sure--after all, it's a midrange phone--but the 4 lenses should be able to cover just about every situation you run into. There are 19 different image enhancements modes from the combination of the 4 cameras, so it's definitely not lacking on features.

Samsung Galaxy A9 Star

Aside from the quad camera setup, the Galaxy A9 is no different from your average midrange phone. The specs are almost identical to those of the Galaxy A8 Star: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 with up to 8 GB of RAM powers the device, and the 3,800 mAh battery should carry enough juice to drive through your day comfortably. The device is powered by Samsung Experience 9 based on Android 8.0 Oreo, but knowing Samsung's update track record, an update to Android 9 Pie is unlikely to come soon.

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Pricing and Availability

The Galaxy A9 will be available in select European and Asian markets from November in black, pink, and blue finishes. The base model starts at €599/£549 (roughly ~$693), while the higher-end model will probably set you back €50 more. We should get to know more information in the coming days/weeks.

What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy A9 Star? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.