The Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are beautifully designed smartphones. They look better than Apple’s iPhone X and Google’s Pixel 2. But the S9 and S9 Plus are similar to their predecessors in terms of design, which were already powerful devices. So, most people are reluctant to spend money on the newest models. The upcoming Galaxy Note 9 phone is said to look similar to the Galaxy S9 Plus, but it would have its own set of unique features that would help it stand apart in the crowd.
Noted graphic designer Muhsin M. Belaal Auckburaully of DBS Designing has come up with a Galaxy Note 9 concept so good that you’d want to buy it if it were a real phone. The Galaxy Note 9 phone is only a few months away, so we expect more concept designers to imagine their own versions of the handset. Auckburaully’s render has a sleek design with squared off corners. The screen is curved on the sides. The top and bottom bezels appear to have become slimmer than before. The top bezel is thicker than the bottom one as it houses the front camera, iris scanner, ear speaker, and other sensors.
Auckburaully’s concept Galaxy Note 9 phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor, which means there is no physical fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. On the back, the handset has a vertically-arranged dual camera system. The LED flash and the heart rate sensor are placed on the right side of the camera. Accompanying the Note 9 is an S Pen stylus. Samsung executives have indicated that the S Pen would get a major upgrade with the Note 9.
Though the concept phone with an in-display fingerprint reader looks gorgeous, it is too early to say whether Samsung would incorporate the technology in the Note 9. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed last year that Galaxy Note 9 would be Samsung’s first smartphone to feature the optical fingerprint solution. But the analyst told investors last month that the Korean company was still facing “technological difficulties” with the in-display fingerprint reader and might not include it in the Note 9. The sensors reportedly suffer from low yield rates, speed, and accuracy issues.
Auckburaully’s Galaxy Note 9 phone render has a circular area marked towards the bottom of the display to show you where you are supposed to place your finger to unlock the handset. A recent report from The Investor claims that Samsung Display has developed 3-4 solutions to integrate the fingerprint sensor into the display, and Samsung Electronics is interested in using one of them on the Galaxy Note 9.
The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 or Samsung’s in-house Exynos 9810 chips depending on the region. It is said to have a 6.38-inch Super AMOLED display, slightly larger than the Note 8’s 6.32-inch. Just like its predecessor, the Note 9 will have a dedicated Bixby button on the side. In fact, Samsung says the Note 9 would come with an upgraded Bixby 2.0 AI assistant, which is currently in beta testing phase.
SamMobile reported recently that Samsung had started developing firmware for the Note 9. It is working on two Android builds: N960FXXE0ARB7 and N960FXXU0ARC5. One of them is for the Snapdragon variant while another is for the Exynos version of the phablet. The Note 9 firmware development began two weeks earlier than Samsung started firmware development for the Galaxy Note 8 last year. It has sparked rumors that the Note 9 could launch earlier than usual. The Galaxy Note 8 debuted on August 23 last year.
Samsung recently trademarked the “Note 9” moniker in Colombia. According to the trademark filing, the term “Note 9” is associated with consumer products and smartphones. It could also be used in the context of chargers, batteries, and type covers for smartphones and tablets. The trademark filing indicates that Samsung is not going to change the naming pattern this year, though the company is considering changing the naming system with next year’s flagship models.
Support pages for the Galaxy Note 9 phone were recently spotted on Samsung’s official websites for North Africa and South Africa. The phones had model number SM-N960U, where ‘U’ refers to the Snapdragon version of the phablet. The same model number has also been spotted on Geekbench. According to Androidu.ro, the official support pages for the Note 9 don’t detail any features or specifications. However, the Geekbench listing has indicated that it would feature 6GB RAM and run Android 8.1 Oreo-based Samsung Experience UI out of the box.
A recent report coming out of Korea claims that Samsung will launch the Galaxy Note 9 earlier than usual for two reasons. Samsung Display will start producing OLED panels for the handset later this month, which means the device could be unveiled in July or August. The biggest reason behind the early launch could be the poor sales of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. The second reason is that an earlier Note 9 launch could give it some more time before Apple launches the iPhone X successors in September.
