The Galaxy S8 went on sale only a few days ago, and it has received a good response from consumers. The edge-to-edge Infinity display is one of the biggest highlights of the Galaxy S8. However, the phone still has bezels on the top and bottom. A new concept of the 2018 Galaxy S9 imagines what Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy device would look like without the top bezel.
The concept Galaxy S9 has a stunning display
The concept, designed by Sunny Gandhi, has a three-edge Infinity display with 4K resolution. It means the screen is curved on three sides, including the top. The bottom bezel still exists, and houses the Samsung logo. The earpiece speaker is somehow integrated under the display glass.
Gandhi has taken inspiration from Xiaomi’s Mi Mix. The concept Galaxy S9 houses the front-facing camera and other sensors at the bottom front. The incredibly thin concept device has a “SuperCapacitor” battery that can be fully charged within two minutes.
The fingerprint sensor is embedded under the display. You can touch anywhere on the screen to unlock your device and authenticate payments. The current Galaxy S8 houses the fingerprint scanner on the rear panel because Samsung was running out of time to integrate it into the display.
6GB RAM, Bixby 2.0, Snapdragon processor
Gandhi imagines the phone with 6GB or 8GB of RAM, which doesn’t seem far-fetched. The China-bound Galaxy S8 already features 6GB RAM. The concept phone has 256GB of built-in storage. It runs an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 9XX based on the 7nm manufacturing process. The current flagship Galaxy S8 is powered by Snapdragon 835, which is built using 10nm FinFET process. Moving from 10nm to the 7nm process would be revolutionary, making the phone more powerful and energy efficient.
Qualcomm, Samsung working on Galaxy S9 chip
Samsung is expected to launch two variants of the Galaxy S9 next year – one running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor and another powered by Samsung’s in-house Exynos chipset. Citing Aju Business Daily, Korean publication The Investor reports that Samsung and Qualcomm have already started working on the next-gen Snapdragon 845 processor.
Samsung is working to integrate the Snapdragon 845 into the Galaxy S9. It doesn’t mean the Korean company would bag the contract to manufacture the Snapdragon 845. Once Qualcomm has fully developed the chip, it would award the contract to Samsung or Taiwan-based TSMC.
Samsung, which is responsible for manufacturing the current Snapdragon 835, was initially hoarding the chips for its own Galaxy S8. As a result, other vendors such as LG that had hoped to use the latest Snapdragon in their flagship phones had to opt for an older processor or delay the release.
Even if Qualcomm picks TSMC over Samsung, the Korean company’s fabrication facility will have plenty on its plate. It will be churning out Exynos chips for the Galaxy S9 and the upcoming Note phones. TSMC, on the other hand, has already bagged the contract to make A11 chips for Apple’s 10th iPhones.
The current Snapdragon 835 delivers an impressive performance. It is 27% faster, but consumes 30% less battery than its predecessor built using 14nm manufacturing process. The performance boost is necessary to support new features such as augmented reality and virtual reality.
Other rumored features
Earlier this month, Korean site The Bell reported that Samsung has already started working on the Galaxy S9. The phone’s display reached production stage at the end of March. The first display samples were supposed to be ready by mid-April. Other components are expected to enter the development stage from May onward. The S9 display is rumored to have a new glass coating that makes water bounce off the phone’s screen. It means you’ll be able to use the phone in the rain without any problems.
Another rumored feature intended for the S9 is a dual-camera system, which has become a trend lately with the iPhone 7 Plus and LG G6. The Galaxy S8 brought only minor camera improvements. We can expect Samsung to add the dual-camera setup with the S9.
When will Galaxy S9 launch?
The latest Galaxy S8 was announced on March 29 and went on sale on April 21st. But the S8 was an unusual case. Samsung had to delay its release by a month because of the Galaxy Note 7 disaster. Samsung traditionally unveils its Galaxy S phones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in late February or early March, and brings it to the market a few weeks later. We can expect the company to announce the S9 at the MWC event in Barcelona next year.
