The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 isn’t expected to be released until toward the end of the year, as the Note 8 only just launched this past fall, but as is standard with every highly-anticipated smartphone, the rumors are already rolling. Naturally, artist renderings accompany the whispers churned out by the rumor mill, and we now have a new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept that’s based on some of those rumors.
Advanced face scanner in Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept
This new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept comes from designers at Upcoming Phones. It basically amounts to a wish list of features the designer would like to see based on the rumors we’ve been hearing. Of course, we’re still many months away from the Note 9’s launch, so it’s very unlikely that this Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept will end up being totally accurate. Still, the design is quite nice, even though it lacks one of the key features rumors have focused on recently.
First up on the list of features included in this Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept is a face scanner that can be used to unlock the phone. The designer states that the scanner works well even in the dark. Facial recognition technology is still in the very early stages, so it’s unclear whether Samsung will have the technology ready for this by the time the Note 9 comes out.
Many were disappointed by the face scanner on the Note 8, especially after Apple revealed the iPhone X with its Face ID scanner. Apple’s Face ID ultimately proved to be more secure because, while not perfect, it seems to be more difficult to fool than the facial recognition feature in the Note 8.
Other specs in the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept
This Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept features a dual-lens camera on the back with both lenses sporting 12-megapixel sensors. The concept also includes a dual-tone flash on the rear camera, while the front-facing camera features an 8-megapixel sensor for “amazing selfies.”
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept sports 8GB of RAM and comes in 64GB and 128GB storage options. The 6.5-inch 4K Infinity display with 3,840 x 2,160 resolution is framed by “very thin” top bezels and a bottom edge with no bezels at all. The 4K display would certainly be in line with the rumors we’ve been hearing, which have Samsung reserving 4K resolution for the Note 9 and skipping over the Galaxy S9, which is expected to be revealed very soon.
The concept also features a 3,900mAh battery and supports wireless charging. The phone in this Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept weighs 190 grams and is 165.1mm x 76.2mm x 8.2mm in size. We’ve embedded the full video describing this Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept at the bottom of this post.
Here’s what isn’t in that Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept
Perhaps the biggest thing that’s missing from this Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept is the fingerprint scanner under the display. A tipster from China recently tweeted that the Note 9 will indeed have a fingerprint scanner under the display, a feature that many hoped to see in the iPhone X, although in the end, it seems the technology just wasn’t ready (or perhaps Apple was trying to keep the bill of materials in the already-expensive handset down) by excluding it.
Chinese handset maker Vivo revealed a phone with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the display at CES earlier this month, so we now know that the technology is ready for use. We just don’t know where Samsung is on it (or Apple, for that matter). All we know is that in 2017, rumors repeatedly pointed to an embedded fingerprint sensor, especially in the iPhone X, but follow-up rumors indicated that Apple and Samsung were having trouble getting the technology to work. The result was back-and-forth rumors about this one highly-anticipated feature, so it seems that the technology was close then.
Other rumors about the Galaxy Note 9
Something else the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 concept above lacks is that notch that appeared in the iPhone X and also in this concept. If Samsung were to employ such a notch, it would be only seconds after the unveiling that someone would poke fun of the company for copying Apple.
The concept above also lacks any mention of water resistance, although IP68-level certification has become standard. As a result, it’s hardly worth mentioning anymore, unless, of course, Samsung were to make a massive error in judgment and exclude it, like it did with the Galaxy S6 and S6+.
We can also expect the S Pen stylus to make an appearance, as it is the trademark feature of the Note line. Samsung executives said in October that the Note 9 that the S Pen will be getting some major upgrades in the Note 9, although we haven’t heard many rumors about what those upgrades might entail. Samsung did unveil a new S Pen for its Notebook 9, which was unveiled at CES this month, but it’s unclear whether the exact same pen will be included in the Note 9 or if it will be tweaked a bit.
It seems likely that the S Pen in the Note 9 won’t be exactly the same as the one included with Samsung’s Notebook 9, but it will probably include many of the same features. Early reviews of the Notebook 9 Pen indicate that the included S Pen is very similar to that included with the Note 8.
