Dealmaster: Breaking down the Galaxy S9’s pre-order situation

Enlarge (credit: Ron Amadeo)

Samsung's next big phone is nearly upon us. At first blush, the Galaxy S9 looks to be a decent, if unremarkable, update. The fingerprint scanner isn't as awkward to reach as it was on the Galaxy S8, the speakers should be louder, and the adjustable aperture of the new camera could allow for better photos in low light. The Galaxy S9 won't be a revelation when it arrives on March 16, but then again the Galaxy S8 wasn't exactly a bad phone to begin with.

One thing that's all but guaranteed, though, is that the Galaxy S9 will be very popular. The reach of Samsung's advertising and sales channel in America remains unmatched by any smartphone maker that isn't named Apple. Given the modest sales of Google's Pixel phones, there's little reason to think the Galaxy S9 won't be far and away the highest-selling Android flagship of 2018, just as the last several Galaxy S phones have been.

That means plenty of people will be looking to get the new phone when pre-orders go live at 12am EST on Friday, March 2. The good news is that many of those Samsung fans will be able to save a little bit of cash by ordering early. The bad news is that, per usual, the mobile carriers of America haven't made buying the phone an entirely uniform process. Shocking, I know.

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