Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Watch hit stores today

[Shawn Knight]

Recap: Samsung enters the lucrative holiday shopping season with two new gadgets on deck, the Galaxy Note 9 and the Galaxy Watch. Samsung's third new product, the Bixby-powered Galaxy Home smart speaker, doesn't yet have a release date or a projected price point.

Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the 6.4-inch Galaxy Note 9, is now available for purchase online and in retail stores across the US.

Samsung officially announced the Note 9 at an Unpacked media event earlier this month alongside the new Galaxy Watch and a Bixby-powered smart speaker. The category-defining smartphone offers storage options of 128GB and 512GB (with the ability to push total local storage to 1TB via microSD card slot), a redesigned S Pen with Bluetooth connectivity and the same rear camera array with dual-aperture lens that shipped on the Galaxy S9.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 is offered in two colors – lavender purple with a matching S Pen and ocean blue with a yellow S Pen – and starts at $999.99. The 128GB version is available at most major wireless carriers as well as retail stores like Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target. Those eyeballing the capacious 512GB model, priced at $1,249.99, will need to head to AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, U.S. Cellular or Samsung’s online store for purchase.

The Galaxy Watch, meanwhile, commands $329.99 for the 42mm Bluetooth version and $349.99 for the 46mm Bluetooth variant. A model with LTE connectivity is also available for $379.99 and $399.99 for the 42mm and 46mm models, respectively.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/76127-samsung-galaxy-note-9-galaxy-watch-hit-stores.html

 

[ghostf1re]

I'm sorry but these $1000 phones have to stop. It's ridiculous at this point. It's as if Apple set the price bar and now Samsung wants to jump in on that coolaid. I absolutely refuse to spend this much on a phone that will probably stop receiving updates after a couple years.

 

[Panda218]

I got my note 9 yesterday and have been loving it. My only BIG complaint is that I cannot disable the f@#ing Bixby button or use it for something else. Samsung really needs to stop trying to make Bixby a thing, Google assistant is clearly the better option.

 

[p51d007]

I'm sorry but these $1000 phones have to stop. It's ridiculous at this point. It's as if Apple set the price bar and now Samsung wants to jump in on that coolaid. I absolutely refuse to spend this much on a phone that will probably stop receiving updates after a couple years.

Well, if CONSUMERS would stop buying them, the price of economics would bring the price down, but, as long as Samsung/Apple side up with carriers (using the USA as an example) and subsidize the price of the phone, under a "no interest" 24-36 month deal, consumers pay less than 75/month, and think "it's no big deal", they will continue to inflate the price of these things.
The build costs on some of these things run between 200-400 bucks, but they will command 600-1200 bucks.
Every other aspect of consumer electronics, over the years has INCREASED in performance and designed, but come DOWN in price. Computers, flat screen tv's, DVD players, microwaves etc. But, up to this point in their evolution, smartphones have bucked the trend, and continue to INCREASE their price.

 

[noel24]

I got a theory, might sound stupid to Americans, but... phones suddenly cost over $1K, GPUs cost over $1K, everything is going up and corpos tell Us this or that story why it is, but maybe it's not everything went up in price. Maybe US$ dropped in value in last few years? They want more and more of our money , while our wages crawl up slower than that?

 

[ghostf1re]

Well, if CONSUMERS would stop buying them, the price of economics would bring the price down, but, as long as Samsung/Apple side up with carriers (using the USA as an example) and subsidize the price of the phone, under a "no interest" 24-36 month deal, consumers pay less than 75/month, and think "it's no big deal", they will continue to inflate the price of these things.
The build costs on some of these things run between 200-400 bucks, but they will command 600-1200 bucks.
Every other aspect of consumer electronics, over the years has INCREASED in performance and designed, but come DOWN in price. Computers, flat screen tv's, DVD players, microwaves etc. But, up to this point in their evolution, smartphones have bucked the trend, and continue to INCREASE their price.

Well this increase is compounded by younger people who live most of their lives through the use of their phone. Well, I say younger people, but it's affecting more and more people of all ages. How many times have you gone anywhere and saw people glued to their phone screens while they walk, paying absolutely no attention to anything going on around them? This mindless addiction to smartphones is the reason it's so easy to price these things as high as they are. I have a smart phone just like every other person with a phone these days, but I enjoy the world around me too much to sit and stare at a 5 or 6 inch screen while I'm out. I can't even tell you how many times I almost got bumped into at the mall the other day because of these people walking around glued to their phones.

 

[toooooot]

It isn't 1k really. When I was buying s8 plus, it was 800 new if I am correct. But because of promotions, people were getting them and reselling at 600. I got an open box for 570 and also selling my s7 which in good condition was not selling lower than 200. You will pay at least 30% less if you can keep your old expensive device in good shape and if you can search for local offers.

 

[Lew Zealand]

The build costs on some of these things run between 200-400 bucks, but they will command 600-1200 bucks.
Every other aspect of consumer electronics, over the years has INCREASED in performance and designed, but come DOWN in price. Computers, flat screen tv's, DVD players, microwaves etc. But, up to this point in their evolution, smartphones have bucked the trend, and continue to INCREASE their price.

Computers: Lots of top of the line $1000-2000 TR and i9 chips available for that price
TVs: Lots of 4K OLED TVs for upwards of $1000. Wayyy upwards
DVD players: dude, it's not 1998 anymore
Microwaves: Dude! It's not 1950 anymore!

Top of the line smartphones are every bit as affordable as those other top of the electronic categories. There are a lot of good midrange $200 smartphones if you want a competent computer in your pocket and can put up with not having a notch.