The Galaxy S9 unveiling is just a few days away. Samsung is set to show off its newest flagship smartphones at the February 25 event in Barcelona. The rumor mill has done an incredible job so far spilling the beans on the Galaxy S9 specs ahead of its launch. Fresh leaks have confirmed almost all the Galaxy S9 specs besides revealing new information. Let’s check out what we know about the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus ahead of launch.
WinFuture and Evan Blass have said the Galaxy S9 would come in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Lilac Purple colors. The larger S9 Plus will be available in Coral Blue and Lilac Purple. Sources told WinFuture that the upcoming handsets will have the same screen sizes as last year’s models. The Galaxy S9 would sport a 5.8-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display with a 2960 x 1440 resolution. The S9 Plus would pack a 6.2-inch display with the same 2960 x 1440 resolution. The screen will be curved on the sides on both the devices.
https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/965603927835267072
In terms of design, both the phones would look almost identical to their predecessors, though there will be a few minor changes. For instance, the fingerprint sensor will be located below the rear camera module. Other Galaxy S9 specs include dual stereo speakers -one at the top and another at the bottom – to enhance the audio experience. The upcoming flagship models will also come with a pair of AKG headphones.
You can expect the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus to have a stellar camera. Both the phones will have an 8-megapixel camera on the front with an f/1.7 aperture. The front camera will have its own autofocus. On the back, the Galaxy S9 would feature a single 12-megapixel lens while the larger Galaxy S9 Plus would house two vertically-arranged 12-megapixel sensors. The rear camera will have a variable aperture of f/1.5 to f/2.4. Both the upcoming models will have optical image stabilization and dual-pixel autofocus.
The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be powered by the latest Exynos 9810 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chips, depending on the region. The US and China will likely get the Snapdragon version, which includes four 2.6GHz cores and four 1.7GHz cores. The rest of the world would get the Exynos version, which consists of four 1.9GHz cores and four 2.9GHz cores. The Galaxy S9 would feature 4GB RAM while the S9 Plus would offer a higher 6GB RAM.
Sources told WinFuture that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus would have 64GB of internal storage, which you can expand further by up to 400GB via a microSD card slot. The S9 should pack a 3,000mAh battery and the S9 Plus would offer a bigger 3,500mAh battery unit. The 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB Type-C port will remain where they were on the Galaxy S8 series. The Bixby button is not going anywhere either.
The Exynos version of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus would be much more powerful than the Snapdragon variant. It means the international version will be more powerful than the US model. Earlier this month, the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S9 was spotted on Geekbench. It scored 2378 points in single-core and 8132 points in multi-core tests. In contrast, the Exynos version received a single-core score of 3648 points and a multi-core result of an impressive 8894 points.
Now the larger Galaxy S9 Plus has also been benchmarked on Geekbench, scoring 3773 points in single-core and 9024 points in multi-core tests. The better performance of the S9 Plus could be attributed to a higher 6GB RAM. The Exynos-powered Galaxy S9 Plus hasn’t been benchmarked yet but its scores will certainly be better than the Snapdragon variant, as has been the case in the last few years. Despite the difference, both versions will be incredibly powerful. You are unlikely to notice a difference between the two in real-life usage.
Meanwhile, PiunikaWeb has spotted a Reddit thread where a user going by the name Wan997 shares their hands-on experience with the pre-production Exynos variant of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus rather than focusing on the Galaxy S9 specs. The user reportedly works at a retail location in the US, and recently underwent a training session with the upcoming devices. According to the Redditor, the Galaxy S9 runs a lot smoother than the Galaxy S8, but the camera and user interface are similar to last year’s models.
The Reddit user revealed that the Live Focus feature will be available only on the larger Galaxy S9 Plus. People buying the smaller Galaxy S9 will have to make do with Selective Focus. We reported a few days ago that Samsung would introduce a feature similar to Apple’s Animoji that will allow users to turn their facial expressions into animated characters. Samsung will call it AR Emoji, said the Reddit user. The new phones will offer real-time translation, thanks to the Bixby AI assistant. However, the Redditor said the new phones aren’t worth upgrading if you are using the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, or Galaxy Note 8. In short, the Galaxy S9 specs won’t be revolutionary.
According to the rumor mill, Samsung will start accepting pre-orders on March 1st and launch the phones on March 16th. Korean site ETNews has claimed in the past that the new models will be more expensive than their predecessors. The publication claimed the Galaxy S9 would cost $875-$925 in South Korea, which reflects a steep price rise from the Galaxy S8’s $720 starting price. However, Android Headlines reports that the Galaxy S9 would cost $750 in the US through AT&T at full retail. The S9 Plus is expected to cost around $850 through the same carrier.
