Every February, the biggest players in mobile technology meet in Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress. Mobile World Congress is “the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry,” according to its website. Here, developers share their ideas and visions about the current and future state of mobile. It’s also where some of the largest manufacturers unveil their newest mobile products. Samsung announced the follow-up to their smash-hit Galaxy S8 with the Galaxy S9 and S9+.

What’s New

The most touted change to these phones happens exclusively in the larger of the two, the S9+. The Plus model now offers a dual-lens camera system, first found in the Galaxy Note 8 launched last year. The secondary, telephoto lens allows users 2x optical zoom, and the ability to take portrait photos similar to a DSLR.

The S9+ is also Samsung’s first flagship phone to incorporate a mechanically adjustable aperture. The aperture can be switched from f/1.5 to f/2.4, depending on lighting conditions. The lower number (f-stop) allows the camera to take in more light, which helps improve low-light photos.

The S9 also has improved camera performance on its single-lens camera. According to The Verge, both the S9 and S9+ feature the lower aperture to produce 30% better low-light shots. They also feature what Samsung calls its “second-generation, dual pixel autofocus,” for faster and clearer photos.

The cameras on the S9 models also record at higher resolutions and frame rates. Both models can record 4K video at 60 frames per second. However, they are now able to record super-slow motion video (960 frames per second at 720p).

Samsung has also put more of an emphasis on augmented reality with these phones. The camera app on the S9 now includes what Samsung calls AR Emoji. With it, users can create emoji versions of themselves to share in messages, similar to Apple’s “Animoji” with the iPhone X.

For those more interested in specifications, the S9 has the cutting-edge Snapdragon 845 processor, with the S9+ now having 6GB of RAM. A higher amount of RAM allows the phone to load applications and multitask at a higher level. These are improvements compared to the Snapdragon 835 and 4GB found in the S8+.

The phones also have smaller improvements, such as stereo speakers, a repositioned fingerprint scanner on the back, and support for higher capacity microSD cards.

What’s The Same

Samsung’s approach to the design of the S9 models is a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

According to CNET, the S9 and S9+ feature the same 5.8″ and 6.2″ displays from the S8 models at the exact same resolution. While these displays are among the best available on phones, Samsung says they’ve made them brighter.

The front-facing camera on the phones are also identical to the S8 models. However, the sensors to support AR Emoji are only in the S9 models.

Battery capacity has also remained the same, with 3000 mAh and 3500 mAh for the S9 and S9+, respectively. In spite of this, Samsung says battery life should be improved due to the more efficient processors. The S9 also retains the same 4GB of RAM found in the S8.

Notably, the phones retain their IP68 water and dust-resistance, microSD card functionality, and headphone jack.

Pricing and Availability

Both models of the S9 will be available for preorder on March 2, and in stores on March 16. They will be available on all four major U.S. carrier installment plans, in black, purple, or blue.

Pricing direct from Samsung is $720 for the S9, and $840 for the S9+.