T-Mobile has kicked off a new ad campaign highlighting Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 in the run-up to its own pre-orders and promotional offers for the device. Despite the video’s title – EPIC All Day Unboxing with AskDes – this is not a typical unboxing. At just over three minutes long, the advertisement pits the longevity of the new phablet’s battery against the unbridled energy of the presenter from the company’s own Content Director and YouTuber Desmond Smith. Beginning with the handset charged up at 100-percent at around 9:00 am, Smith sets off on a day-long adventure full of rollercoasters, mountain climbing, jet-skiing, and paragliding. Of course, the video isn’t at all only focused on the battery life or even on the Galaxy Note 9 itself as T-Mobile also seizes the opportunity to talk itself up in the clip.
More directly, the ad starts out with Smith highlighting the handset’s “over a gig” download capabilities, with T-Mobile’s 4G LTE being prominently congratulated for making that possible. Meanwhile, fine print reminds users that its typical download speeds are closer to 32Mbps. Setting that aside, the company draws attention to the new flagship’s U.S. and China-specific Snapdragon 845 SoC before moving on to the features enabled by its 8-megapixel front facing and dual 12-megapixel main cameras. The results of the new hardware are self-evident in that some clips from the ad itself are noted to have been shot using the Galaxy Note 9. Smith specifically notes the f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures, as well as Super Slow-mo, Hyperlapse, Panoramic, and Live Focus features. Other specifications such as the Note 9’s expandable 128GB standard storage and available 518GB variant are also highlighted. Finally, Smith ends by talking up Samsung’s new Bluetooth-enabled S Pen before finishing out the day at 8:01 pm with 36-percent still remaining on the battery.
With all of that said, T-Mobiles new ad spot isn’t necessarily a good real-world representation of how Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9 will perform under normal use for the average user. The carrier also didn’t take the opportunity to tout its own promotional offer with regard to purchasing the handset itself. For those who pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, up to an additional 50-percent can be taken off of the original price for users trading in a Samsung flagship. Even though the total discount varies and will be applied via monthly service credit, that’s still a fairly good deal with consideration for the flagship’s $999.99 or $1,249.99 price tag – depending on which storage option is chosen. The deal is mentioned briefly in the video’s description on YouTube but it is a bit surprising T-Mobile didn’t spend any time focused on it in the advertisement.