The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are both official now, but there's still the pesky question of where to pick one up. You can always go the unlocked route, but carrier deals can present a decent discount. Plus, you've got aesthetics to take into consideration. Will this retailer have that color? And where can you grab it first? If you can't focus past the adjustable aperture in your enthusiasm for Samsung's latest, don't worry. We've got those details here.

Samsung's official PR on the subject of pre-orders and availability is as follows:

In the U.S., Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be offered in Lilac Purple, Midnight Black and Coral Blue for carrier and Unlocked by Samsung versions. Preorders begin March 2, 2018. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless and Xfinity mobile will carry Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in stores beginning March 16, 2018, as well as at Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com, Amazon, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart. Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS will offer Galaxy S9 and S9+ in Midnight Black. Samsung Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition will be available in Midnight Black. The new devices will be available beginning March 16, 2018.

Available through Samsung.com and the Shop Samsung app, the Unlocked Galaxy S9 is $719.99 or $30/month for 24 months financing, and the larger Unlocked Galaxy S9+ is available for $839.99 or $35/month for 24 months financing[6].

Starting March 2, 2018, consumers who pre-order a Samsung Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ can save up to $350 with qualifying trade-in[7]. The promotion will last for a limited time and is available at Samsung.com, the Shop Samsung app and select retailers. Visitsamsung.com/us/trade-in for more information.

The statement gives some detail about the retailers and carriers stateside that plan to sling the S9 and S9+, and it includes unlocked pricing, but not carrier-related details. Thanks to the terror/magic of carrier-subsidies, that's gonna vary.

AT&T

Ma Bell AT&T plans on stocking the S9. If payment plans are your style, you can pick up an S9 via AT&T Next for $26.34 a month over 30 months (a cumulative $790.20), or the dual-camera S9+ for $30.50 a month over the same period ($915), excluding taxes.

Outright pricing through AT&T hasn't been disclosed—AT&T probably prefers not to say in the hopes that customers will remain tied in service for longer periods via payment plans. But it should be nearly identical to the cumulative pricing above, so around $790.20 for the S9, and $915 for the S9 plus. It also hasn't disclosed any trade-in or accessory promotions in relation to the S9 and S9+.

Color options on AT&T also haven't been revealed, but you can pre-order it as soon as March 2nd, with units in-store starting March 16th. (More details available here.)

Sprint

Sprint, like all the other major carriers, will be entirely too happy to sell you a Galaxy S9 or S9+, especially if you can rationalize doing so on a payment plan. Sprint's runs $33 a month for the S9, and $38 a month for the S9+, with outright pricing around $792 and $912.

Like previous phones, the Galaxy Forever program is available and included with all S9 and S9+ purchases, so you can continuously upgrade via monthly payments if that's your thing.

Sprint will have the phones in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Lilac Purple, with pre-orders opening March 2nd, and purchases on March 16th. Sprint is also selling the phones through Boost Mobile, probably with similar terms, but more limited color availability: just black. For more details, check out the full PR.

T-Mobile

The house of Legere will also supply interested parties with Samsung's new flagship. For $30 a month you can pick up either phone on T-Mobile's Equipment Installment Plan, but the S9+ will cost you an extra $150 up front.

Either can also be purchased outright, with the smaller S9 running $720, and the S9+ $840. (That's the same price that the monthly payments work out to, FYI.) Postpaid voice and business customers can also get up to $360 off a maximum of twelve of the phones on trade-in with the discount being returned by billing credit over 24 months (among other terms and conditions).

T-Mobile will stock both phones in the colors Midnight Black, Lilac Purple, and Coral Blue, and you can pre-order them beginning on March 1st at 9:01PM PT (or March 2nd in ET, like all the other carriers), with stock hitting stores on March 16th. You can sign up for related notifications here, and T-Mobile's full press release on the subject is just over here.

US Cellular

If you want to pick up an S9 or S9+ from US Cellular, it hasn't announced specific pricing just yet, but it's running the same trade-in promo for up to $350 off that the other carriers and Samsung are doing, with financing available.

Unlike the other carriers, US Cellular is also running a few accessory-related promos. You can grab your phone together with a power bundle that gets you a wireless charger, car charger, and portable battery for an extra $124.99 (with financing available).

Pre-orders start on March 2nd, like everyone else, and US Cellular will offer the phone in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Lilac Purple, with in-store and general availably on March 16th.

Verizon

Like every other carrier, Verizon will be happy to sell you the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Big Red's pricing runs $33.33 a month for 24 months in the case of the S9 and $38.74 over the same period for the larger S9+.

Just as the monthly costs at Verizon run a bit more expensive, so too is the outright pricing, with the S9 and S9+ retailing for $799.99 and $929.99, respectively. Like T-Mobile, Verizon is also running a trade-in promotion—alternately claiming $500-$350 off eligible phones. Like T-Mobile, it's in the form of a bill credit, with terms attached.

What Verizon seems to lack in discount it makes up for in volume, as the company is also running five other related deals in parallel:

  1. $150 prepaid MasterCard when porting in a new line of service
  2. Verizon Up Customers with an active Samsung smartphone will get $10 off select Samsung accessories.
  3. 50% off select Samsung tablets with 2-year agreement
  4. $100 off Gear S3 smartwatch with purchase of Galaxy S9 or S9+
  5. Samsung Fast Charge Power Bundle for $99.99

For the full details, you can check out Verizon's announcement.

Retail

Samsung directly announced sales at Best Buy (store and site), Amazon, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, and Walmart beginning on March 16th, but other retailers will probably also get in on the action. It remains to be seen which participating retailers will be involved in pre-orders, though. You'll also be able to pre-order directly from Samsung's online store.

Samsung plans on selling the handset directly for the same prices as last year's S8 and S8+, at $719.99 in the case of the smaller S9 and $839.99 for the larger S9+, with financing options available ($30/month for 24 months and $35/month for 24 months). Samsung also has a trade-in plan, like last year, which can save you up to $350 if you're willing to give up a qualifying handset.

UPDATE: 2018/03/02 10:08am PST BY

Pre-orders for the S9 and S9+ are now live, and the links have been added to this post.

PRESS RELEASE