Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
- Samsung's pricing for the Galaxy S9 isn't as expensive as many had feared.
- Three of the four major US carriers are charging than Samsung more for the Galaxy S9.
- On several levels - not just because of pricing - buying a smartphone from the maker itself is usually a better option when possible than buying it from a carrier.
Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones on February 25, and we were pleasantly surprised to learn about its pricing.
Samsung is selling the Galaxy S9 unlocked - meaning it's not tied to a particular carrier - for $720 from its website, and the unlocked Galaxy S9+ is going for $840.
That means the Galaxy S9 is actually $5 cheaper than the $725 Galaxy S8 when it was first launched in early 2017, which is refreshing to see when smartphone prices have mostly been on the rise. To be fair, the Galaxy S9+ costs $15 more than the $825 Galaxy S8+, but that's not a massive price increase to be concerned about.
Edoardo Maggio/Business Insider
Unfortunately, three of the major US carriers apparently don't think the new Galaxy S9 phones are expensive enough.
Verizon is selling the Galaxy S9 for $800 - $80 more than if you bought it from Samsung directly. As for the Galaxy S9+, that's going for $930 - or $90 more than buying it directly from Samsung.
AT&T is selling the Galaxy S9 for $790 - $70 more than Samsung's pricing. For the Galaxy S9+, AT&T is selling it for $915 - $75 more than Samsung.
Sprint is selling the Galaxy S9 for $792 - $72 more than Samsung's pricing. The Galaxy S9+ from Spring will cost you $912 - $73 more than Samsung.
The only major US carrier that's selling the new Galaxy S9 and S9+ at the same price as Samsung is T-Mobile.
Each carrier has its own incentive that discounts from the full price of the new Galaxy S9 phones, like trade-in programs, carrier switching programs, and pre-ordering discounts. Still, if you're not eligible for any of those programs, you'd be paying more from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint than you would from Samsung's own website.
Edoardo Maggio/Business Insider
The Galaxy S9.
And buying the new Galaxy S9 phones unlocked from Samsung's website comes with some nice little benefits, too. For example, you won't get your carrier's branding on the back of the phone, nor will you get the horrible carrier bloatware - extra apps from your carrier that shouldn't exist.
Best of all, unlocked models aren't tied to a specific carrier, which means you can switch carriers whenever you want.
As is the case with pretty much every smartphone out there, you're usually better off buying it unlocked directly from the company when you can.