Samsung is about to announce its next major smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and thus Galaxy S9 leaks are beginning to emerge. Certainly there will be some major changes when the Galaxy S9 emerges, but some aspects of the handset are expected to remain rather similar to the Galaxy S8 generation.
Early Galaxy S9 leaks
In particular, early Galaxy S9 leaks suggest that the physical design of the device will be almost identical to the previous Galaxy S8. Images of what are purported to be the Galaxy S9 have already been released online, and the physical appearance of the device will certainly resemble that of the Galaxy S8. This means that the controversial Bixby button will be retained from the 2017 releases, with a less maligned bezel-less display also present.
The latest Galaxy S9 leaks suggest that the display will not even be increased in size over the Galaxy S8 series. This can perhaps be considered a little surprising, as Apple is readying several iPhone releases for 2018 with larger displays than have ever appeared in the iconic smartphone previously.
But we can possibly expect a 5.8-inch screen to be fitted in the Galaxy S9, with some debate over whether this features the same resolution at last year’s release, or whether Samsung pushes the boat out and stretches to 4K resolution. The smart money is on the former, as 4K resolution is likely to be reserved for the Galaxy Note 9, which will probably be released in September.
Snapdragon 845
One thing that does seem fairly consistent among Galaxy S9 leaks thus far is the suggestion that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor will feature in the United States and Chinese versions of the mobile.
This new processor will ensure that the Samsung flagship is absolutely state of the art, while reports have suggested that the Korean electronics giant has already signed an exclusivity deal for this unit. This means that the Snapdragon 845 may only appear in the Galaxy S9 during the early months of 2018, with other manufacturers effectively locked out of embracing the technology.
Meanwhile, Samsung will also produce a Galaxy S9 Plus, which will feature a 6.2-inch display. 6GB of RAM will also be on board the larger device once more, with Samsung choosing to retain the 4GB of memory for the Galaxy S9 that also appeared in the Galaxy S8 smartphone.
However, Galaxy S9 leaks suggest that the storage quantity of the device will be doubled over the previous series, meaning that Galaxy S9 consumers will benefit from 128GB of native storage. It is also highly likely that Samsung will embrace the flexible micro SD technology once more, as the enthusiasm of the Korean Corporation for this card system is well-known.
Blass talk
The notorious Evan Blass has provided one of the most reliable Galaxy S9 leaks, suggesting that the camera upgrades will be central to the marketing of this new release. In particular, we can expect the phablet version of the Galaxy S9 to feature a dual-lens snapper, which will enable it to rival the iPhone X from Apple. It is perhaps surprising that this will be limited to the Galaxy S9 Plus, although Apple didn’t arm all of its 2017 releases with dual-cameras either.
However, one of the more discouraging Galaxy S9 leaks for Samsung involves the performance of the forthcoming smartphone. In benchmark testing, the Galaxy S9 was unable to reach the levels of performance of the iPhone X, meaning that it is probably more appropriate to compare the Galaxy S9 with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, rather than the premium Apple unit.
Blass also released some marketing renders of both the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9 Plus, which the Android-following community has largely authenticated already. While these images don’t tell us a great deal about the phone that we don’t know already, there is one intriguing morsel of information included.
The date of March 16 appears on the displays of both phones in the marketing blurb, suggesting that this will be ultimate release date of the Galaxy S9 series. If so, the Galaxy S9 leaks from close to the Samsung supply chain which suggested that the release date could be moved forward this year have turned out to be inaccurate.
Camera changes
One other aspect of the phone’s photographic system will also be of particular interest. The primary lens included in the Galaxy S9 devices will represent an improvement over the Galaxy S8 snapper, particularly in featuring an adjustable aperture. This will make it able to transition rapidly from f/2.4 to f/1.5, while the apertures earmarked for the Galaxy S9 are the most highly-quality in any smartphone release ever.
Video capabilities will also receive a boost, with a super slow-motion mode being among the most prominent leaks thus far. Blass notes that this feature enables the Galaxy S9 to record at 480 frames per second during rapid movement; certainly an impressive technical specification.
Samsung is also expected to retain the headphone jack, which will be a boon to those who opposed Apple’s decision to go wireless. Galaxy S9 leaks ahead of the release of the device have also focused on the improved artificial intelligence capabilities of the smartphone, with this being a focus of Samsung this time round. Certainly AI has garnered more headlines in the last year or so thanks to the chess-playing performance of Google’s Alpha Zero.
Final release
When the Galaxy S9 is released it will probably appear on all major US carriers, with an unlocked model appearing probably six weeks after the carrier version. Pricing will be challenging for Samsung considering the increasingly crowded mobile sphere, but we can probably expect a modest increase over the last generation Galaxy S8.
All in all, this should be one of the standout mobile releases of the year.
