Microsoft is now selling customized models of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, Samsung’s latest Android flagships announced late last month in the run-up to MWC 2018. Both devices are available for purchase directly from the Microsoft Store accessible via the banner below. In a statement provided to Trusted Reviews, a representative of the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant referred to the new offering as the “Microsoft Edition” of Samsung’s high-end lineup, revealing the devices are customized with a number of the firm’s mobile apps. The term “Microsoft Edition” isn’t mentioned by the listings themselves and Samsung previously protested against attaching the company’s brand to its products in such a manner, regardless of whether they come pre-installed with any apps or are retailed directly by the Windows maker.
Both handsets are presently available for pre-orders from the Microsoft Store and will start shipping by next Friday, March 16, which is also the global release date of the Galaxy S9 series. The smaller phablet is priced at $719.99, whereas its larger counterpart will set you back $839.99 if you purchase it directly from Microsoft. Samsung’s $350 trade-in deal also applies to these models but only if you buy them from one of Microsoft’s brick-and-mortar stores. Once booted for the first time, both devices will automatically install a suite of Microsoft-made Android apps which includes the Microsoft Launcher, formerly known as the Arrow Launcher. The handsets offered by the company are otherwise standard U.S. models with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 and 64GB of internal flash memory.
Consumers who pre-ordered the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus from most of Samsung’s wireless carrier partners around the world can expect their new devices to start shipping as of today, whereas Microsoft’s units don’t come with any such promise attached to them. The first special variant of the new flagship family is coming in the form of the Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition Samsung Germany announced earlier this month, though it’s presently unclear whether the same series is also meant to launch in the U.S. Special enterprise-focused models of both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 launched stateside over the course of the last year and are still offered along with a promise of three more years of updates and robust security functionalities, among other benefits.
Buy Samsung Galaxy S9 From Microsoft