Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) India Launch Date Reportedly Set for November 4, Features Four-Camera Setup

According to a new report, Samsung's most innovative mid-range smartphone in a long time, the Galaxy A9 (2018) will be launched in India on November 4. The smartphone made its global debut at an event in Malaysia earlier this month.

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At its “4X fun” event earlier this month, Samsung launched the world’s first smartphone to feature a quad-camera setup at the rear, dubbed Galaxy A9. According to an exclusive report published by 91mobiles, the Galaxy A9 (2018) launch event for the Indian market will be held on November 4, 2018. The camera-focused smartphone does have the potential to be very successful in India, although that will largely depend on its pricing. Unfortunately, however, the report does not mention any information regarding the possible pricing of the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) India Launch Reportedly Set for November 4

The report claims that the Galaxy A9 (2018) India launch date has been confirmed by sources in Samsung’s retail chain. If the information is accurate, we can expect the smartphone to go on sale in India by early next month. Samsung had partnered with Flipkart for the Galaxy A7 (2018) but it remains to be seen if the Galaxy A9 (2018) will also be exclusive to Flipkart. The Galaxy A7 (2018), which was launched in India in September, costs INR 23,990 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, on the other hand, is priced at INR 28,990. Since the Galaxy A9 (2018) is superior to the Galaxy A7 (2018) in most areas, we expect it to be priced above the INR 30,000 mark in the country. In fact, Samsung has priced the Galaxy A9 (2018) at EUR 599 in Europe, which translates to INR 50,500 based on the current exchange rate. That would mean the smartphone will need to take on “affordable” flagship smartphones such as the ASUS ZenFone 5Z (Review) and the OnePlus 6T. While there is no doubt that the Galaxy A9 (2018) offers an innovative quad-camera setup at the rear, it may not be enough to lure Indian consumers away from the competition.

Does the Galaxy A9 (2018) Have What it Takes to Be Successful in India?

The Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) sports a 6-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 2220 Full HD+ resolution and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Apart from offering an impressive viewing experience, the Infinity Display on the Galaxy A9 (2018) comes with the Always on Display feature as well. The feature allows users to view information such as time, weather alerts, and incoming notifications without having to unlock the device. The smartphone runs on an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 14nm processor clocked at up to 2.2 GHz with an Adreno 512 GPU. Samsung has paired the octa-core processor on the Galaxy A9 (2018) with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. However, in select markets, the smartphone will ship with 8GB of RAM instead. While the Galaxy A9 (2018) does not disappoint when it comes to design and display, the mid-range Snapdragon 660 chipset powering the handset can simply not compete against the flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset that powers smartphones like the ASUS ZenFone 5Z, POCO F1 (Review), and the OnePlus 6 (Review).

In the camera department, the Galaxy A9 features an impressive 24MP + 8MP + 10MP + 5MP setup. While the quad-lens setup does sound quite impressive on paper, it remains to be seen if it can actually provide flagship-grade camera performance. The 24MP front-facing camera, however, will likely be quite impressive. Battery life is another area where the Galaxy A9 (2018) is expected to impress. It packs a 3800mAh capacity non-removable battery with fast charging support.