Fine Print – What is included in Airtel’s Rs. 9990 Galaxy S9 / S9+ offer?

Airtel, India’s leading telecom service provider has introduced this year’s Samsung Flagship duos; the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ in their online stores to purchase, on March 16. The S9 phones can be purchased from a starting price of Rs. 9900 with few interesting benefits bundled. The Galaxy S range of phones from Samsung sell like wildfire in most countries and have a great appeal in India as well. But the pricing of such premium phones isn’t always pocket friendly, which is why most of us end up adding the phones to our wishlist, hoping that we can buy it, someday.

The Galaxy S9 (64 GB variant) is available to purchase at a low down payment of Rs. 9900 with 24 monthly installments of Rs. 2499, which includes a Postpaid plan with 80 GB of data (with data rollover). The plan also includes unlimited Local, STD & National Roaming calling benefits with 1 year of free Amazon prime subscription and Airtel TV, Airtel Secure & Wynk Music subscription as well. The 256 GB S9 variant comes with similar benefits but with a higher down payment of Rs. 17,900 and an EMI of Rs. 2499.

It’s bigger brother, the Galaxy S9+ (64 GB variant), can be purchased at a down payment of Rs. 9900, but a slightly higher EMI of Rs. 2799 for 24 Months. The S9+ also comes with a postpaid plan included; with 80 GB data (with rollover), unlimited calling & roaming benefits, 1 year Amazon prime membership and Airtel Secure, Airtel TV & Wynk Music subscription. The 256 GB S9+ would cost you more, with a down payment of Rs. 17900 and 24 monthly installments of Rs. 2799 with similar benefits.

Vani Venkatesh, Chief Marketing Offier, Bharti Airtel said, “As India’s leading smartphone network, we are thrilled to have the latest Samsung flagship on our Online Store. We have made it very convenient for customers to own this premium device by removing the price barrier and offering instant and seamless financing. We invite customers to take the benefit of this exciting offer and enjoy a great smartphone experience.”

On surface, the offer seems exciting until we calculate the final price of the devices. Here is an estimate of what you end up paying.

Samsung Galaxy S9 64GB offer

• Rs. 9900 down payment
• EMI of Rs. 2499 for 24 months: Rs. 59976
• Total cost: Rs. 69876
• Actual price of the phone: Rs. 57990
• The amount you pay extra: Rs. 11886

Samsung Galaxy S9+ 64GB offer

• Rs. 9900 down payment
• EMI of Rs. 2799 for 24 months: Rs. 67176
• Total cost: Rs. 77076
• Actual price of the phone: Rs. 64990
• The amount you pay extra: Rs. 12086

The consumer has to decide whether the benefits bundled with it are worth the extra amount you are paying. If you are already on Airtel network and are paying some amount for a postpaid connection, this should be a good step in case you are looking to buy the phone because it comes to around Rs. 500 per month for the next 24 months as a monthly rental. But then, the only problem here seems the length of EMIs, i.e. 24 months which is quite a long period.

For the additional benefits, 1 Year of Amazon Prime membership would cost you Rs. 999, and 1 year of wynk music for non Airtel users would cost you Rs. 1188 and Rs. 348 for Airtel users, and Airtel TV yearly subscription would cost Rs. 1088 for the Super Value pack. Yearly cost for Airtel secure would cost around Rs. 948. The final sum would come around Rs. 4223 per year individually (without a postpaid plan). While a similarly priced postpaid plan from Airtel with 90 GB of monthly data would cost you Rs. 1199 for 24 months with same benefits would come around Rs. 28776.