Samsung’s Galaxy S9-branded phones are already on sale.

Buy one Galaxy S9/S9+ and get one Free! No trade in required. Plus, $150 prepaid card when you switch to Verizon.

Verizon in the US is offering a buy one, get one free offer on Galaxy S9 handsets, while AT&T is offering customers a discount of $595 off the price of handsets. Both of these sales are unusual. However, it's worth noting that, in the case of the Verizon deal, it’s not up front. You’ll get your “free” handset as $799 promo credits spread over 24 months, though it's still a great deal if you want to buy a Galaxy S9 phone.

These offers suggest the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are not the hits that Samsung was hoping for, and to back those indications up, analysts at BayStreet Research have reported that Galaxy S9 preorders are down as much as 40 per cent compared to preorders to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S8. As a result, the company's overall sales are down an estimated 20 per cent, which is a massive blow.

In Pocket-lint's review of the standard Galaxy S9, we said it’s not perfect. However, the Galaxy S9 is a fantastic device. It’s got a brilliant display, great camera, brilliant performance all-round, and in a body that’s easily one of the most elegant ever released. Its stereo sound makes such a difference to media consumption, too. The Samsung Galaxy S9 (or its larger S9 Plus sibling) aren't bad by any means.

In other words, Samsung continues to impress with some of the best Android-powered smartphones money can buy.