UPDATE on 2018.03.02: Globe Postpaid plans changed from PhP1,499 + PhP1,200 to PhP 1,499 + PhP1,000 for their Plan 2499 offering.
The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ is one of the most anticipated smartphone release this year, and it’s now officially announced! Pre-orders of the handset begins today, February 27, and both network providers Smart and Globe has already released their offerings for the said handsets.
But which one is the best for you considering the cost and offerings? We’ll compare it now with the first edition of our new feature called Better On Paper, where we will compare items and services and see which one will be the best for the people who are on a budget.
We are still in the process of making our way to get our hands with one unit for a review, but this article should guide you if you are eyeing to get the Galaxy S9 and S9+ through these postpaid plans.
Smart Postpaid
Smart is the first one to announce their postpaid offerings for the said handsets – actually, only minutes after the actual reveal keynote at Barcelona.
If you don’t want to directly pay in cash the hefty price of the Galaxy S9, they are offering the handsets with their recently-announced GigaX plans for as low as PhP2,499 (PhP1,499 + PhP1,000 for device payment) for 24 months.
On the other hand, you can also get the 4GB / 64GB variant Galaxy S9+ at PhP2,799 (PhP1,499 + PhP1,300) per month. But we have some recommendations later, so read the rest of this article for you to see.
Smart’s inclusion for the GigaX Plan 1,499 is 5GB of open access data and a separate 10GB of data allocated just for video streaming apps (YouTube, iFlix, NetFlix, iWantTV & FOX+). It also includes 60 minutes of all network calls, and unlimited texts to all networks.
Here’s a breakdown of Smart Galaxy S9 postpaid plans
| GigaX Plan 599 | GigaX Plan 799 | GigaX Plan 999 | GigaX Plan 1499 | GigaX Plan 1999 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data for all apps and websites | 2.5Gb | 2.5GB | 4.5GB | 5GB | 7GB |
| Data for video streaming | None | 10GB | 10GB | 10GB | 10GB |
| All-Net Calls | 20 minutes | 20 minutes | 50 minutes | 60 minutes | 70 minutes |
| All-Net Texts | 150 | 150 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Data Rollover | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
And here’s the table if you plan to cash it out.
| Cash Outs | GigaX Plan 599 | GigaX Plan 799 | GigaX Plan 999 | GigaX Plan 1499 | GigaX Plan 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S9 64GB | Php33,000 | Php32,000 | Php30,000 | Php24,000 or Php1,000/month |
Php21,600 or Php900/month |
| Galaxy S9 Plus 64GB | Php42,000 | Php39,000 | Php36,500 | Php31,200 or Php1,300/month |
Php28,800 or Php1,200/month |
| Galaxy S9 Plus 128GB | Php43,000 | Php41,000 | Php39,000 | Php33,600 or Php1,400/month |
Php31,200 or Php1,300/month |
| Galaxy S9 Plus 256GB | Php48,000 | Php46,000 | Php44,000 | Php40,800 or Php1,700/month |
Php36,000 or Php1,500/month |
Note that unlike the Galaxy S8, Smart has removed the option to get the Galaxy S9 for subscribers of Plan 399. Instead, you’ll have to be subscribed to at least Plan 599 to get the said handset.
Subscribing to Plan 2499 (and above) is a sure method to get the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ easily without shelling out the hefty PhP45,990 / PhP52,990 cash price respectively. Do the math, you’ve only paid PhP24,000 / PhP31,200 for the phone, the rest is for the services that you are consuming.
But if you don’t want to pay in installments (IDK why, but sure), you can pay PhP24,000 straightforward to lower the monthly payment to just PhP1,499.
Sure, that sounds great.
Get the 128GB variant for just an additional PhP100
But, just for an additional PhP100 per month, you can already opt-in for the Galaxy S9+ variant with a 128GB internal storage. It’s a PhP2,899/month (versus Php2,799/month of the 64GB variant).
“You are already paying a hefty price so why not.”
Learn more about Smart’s GigaX Postpaid plans HERE.
Globe Postpaid
Globe has announced today their offerings for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, with their ThePLAN 2,499 being the recommended option as well (Plan 1,499 + PhP24,000 cashout) or go for the installment route at PhP1,499 + PhP1,000 for 24 months via credit card or charge to bill.
Globe’s offering for its ThePLAN 1,499 includes 8GB of data allocation (which is noticeably smaller than Smart’s combined 15GB (5GB open-access + 10GB video-allocated data), with unlimited calls to only Globe / TM as well as unlimited texts to all networks (which is a pretty standard for plans with that price).
While Globe’s plan might appear costlier than Smart’s offering, its other inclusions are 6-months subscription for video streaming service NetFlix, as well as 3-month Spotify Premium subscription.
You just need to add PhP1,000 in order to avail the practical offering Globe has – a total of PhP2,499/month.
Here’s the breakdown of Globe’s postpaid offering for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+:
| CASHOUT/PLAN MATRIX | ThePLAN 599 | ThePLAN 799 | ThePLAN 999 | ThePLAN 1299 |
| Samsung Galaxy S9 (64GB) | PhP33,600 | PhP31,500 | PhP30,000 | PhP27,600 |
| Samsung Galaxy S9+ (64GB) | PhP41,600 | PhP39,200 | PhP37,200 | PhP35,600 |
| Data Allocation | 1.5GB | 2.5GB | 4GB | 6GB |
| Calls | 150 Minutes to Globe/TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM |
| Text | 150 All-Net Texts | Unli Texts to Globe / TM | Unli Texts to Globe / TM | Unli All-Net Texts |
| Spotify | Basic (1GB/mo for 24 months) | Basic (1GB/mo for 24 months) | Premium (3 months) | Premium (3 months) |
| Netflix | N/A
|
6 months | 6 months | |
| Consumable(s) | N/A | |||
| GadgetCare | Yes | |||
| CASHOUT/PLAN MATRIX | ThePLAN 1499 | ThePLAN 1799 | ThePLAN 1999 | ThePLAN 2499 |
| Samsung Galaxy S9 (64GB) | PhP24,000 | PhP21,900 | PhP19,600 | PhP15,600 |
| Samsung Galaxy S9+ (64GB) | PhP32,000 | PhP29,600 | PhP27,300 | PhP22,800 |
| Data Allocation | 8GB | 11GB | 16GB | 16GB |
| Calls | Unli Calls to Globe / TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM | Unli Calls to Globe / TM |
| Text | Unli All-Net Texts | Unli All-Net Texts | Unli All-Net Texts | Unli All-Net Texts |
| Spotify | Premium (3 months) | Premium (3 months) | Premium (3 months) | Premium (3 months) |
| Netflix | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months |
| Consumable(s) | N/A | PhP502 | ||
| GadgetCare | Yes | |||
Learn more about Globe’s offering HERE.
Conclusion
With these details, we can now sort out the question we’ve asked earlier – what’s the best pick for those people on a budget?
Removing the network provider preference into consideration, it actually depends on what you are doing, your needs and what services are you using.
Note that we’re talking about our recommended amount and plan: PhP2,499
If you are a heavy internet / mobile data user, then you can go for Smart’s offering. Their 15GB (5GB open-access + 10GB video-allocated data) offering is appealing, especially if you love to stream videos on YouTube or NetFlix (a subscription is required, though).
It’s inclusion of 60 minutes of calls to all networks is also appealing. In contrast, Globe offerings only offers unlimited calls to Globe/TM, which is a bummer, considering that you pay a hefty amount and still get network-restricted.
To be honest, I’d rather separately pay for a Spotify Premium subscription (that’s only PhP129) or NetFlix subscription, and have the freedom to rather enjoy better benefits with Smart’s offering.
Lastly, both plans do have the option to pay only PhP24,000 straightforward incase you wanted to decrease your monthly payable in the future.
The only consideration you’ll think about if you want to go for Globe’s plans is network coverage in your area or if you are heavily customed on Globe’s unli-call offering.
Learn more about Smart’s GigaX plans HERE
Learn more about Globe’s ThePLAN offerings HERE.
