Galaxy Note 9 Renders Leaked: Only Minor Changes On The Back

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A large number of Samsung fans were disappointed that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus looked almost identical to their predecessors. If you were one of them, you are going to get upset once again when Samsung releases Galaxy Note 9 later this year. Famous tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer aka @Onleaks has shared fresh Galaxy Note 9 renders in collaboration with 91Mobiles. Steve has an insanely good track record when it comes to smartphone industry leaks. These are not the official Galaxy Note 9 renders, but there is little reason to doubt their accuracy.

The renders suggest that Samsung’s upcoming flagship will look almost identical to the Galaxy Note 8, except for a few minor changes. The Galaxy Note 9 renders look convincing, and if they turn out to be accurate, the fingerprint sensor will sit below the rear camera module. It will help prevent unwanted smudges on the lenses while unlocking the phone. It also means that the Note 9 would launch without an in-display fingerprint scanner. The rumor mill claims next year’s Galaxy S10 would be Samsung’s first phone with an optical fingerprint solution.

According to the Galaxy Note 9 renders, the dual camera sensors would be placed horizontally unlike Galaxy S9 Plus, which has vertically aligned dual cameras. However, the rear camera setup appears to have become smaller than it was on the Galaxy Note 8. Unlike most other Android vendors, Samsung has decided not to adopt the display notch.

The Galaxy Note 9 renders share the design language with the Galaxy S9 Plus. It features a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display with slim bezels at the top and bottom. The power button and volume rockers appear to be located on the left side while Bixby button is on the right side of the phone. It retains the 3.5mm audio jack. The phablet would come with an ejectable S Pen stylus and a USB Type-C port.

Galaxy Note 9 Renders
Image Source: @Onleaks / 91Mobiles.com (screenshot)

Steve Hemmerstoffer revealed that the upcoming handset would measure 161.9 x 76.3 x 8.8mm, which would make it 0.2mm thicker than its predecessor. The tipster has also shared a 360-degree video render. The video shows that its front panel would look almost identical to Galaxy S9 Plus, and the rear panel will see only small changes. The phablet is still a few months away, so Samsung could tweak a few things before releasing it.

Earlier this month, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported that the Galaxy Note 9 would feature an upgraded camera. Samsung’s rival Huawei offers P20 Pro with a triple camera system on the back, which has crushed the Galaxy S9 Plus, iPhone X, and Google Pixel 2 in camera tests. Samsung needs to up the game in photography department to take on the rivals. The Note 9 is expected to borrow the super slo-mo and dual apertures from the Galaxy S9 Plus. It could also bring HDR video, a feature that wasn’t available in the S9 Plus.

The Korea Herald recently reported that Samsung Display has already started mass production of display panels for the Note 9. Twitter tipster Ice Universe has also noted that the Note 9 would be a boring upgrade with only “small adjustments.” Its display would have the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio as its predecessor. The phablet is said to have an IP68 rating for water- and dust-resistance. Other rumored features include 6GB RAM, 64GB base storage, a microSD card slot, wireless charging, and dual-SIM support.

According to the rumor mill, the Galaxy Note 9 would pack a huge 3,850mAh battery, which is 15% bigger than the Note 8’s battery. Samsung will also introduce Bixby 2.0 AI assistant with the Note 9. The company is testing Bixby 2.0 with more than 800 partners around the world. The improved Bixby would offer enhanced natural language processing, improved noise resistance, and quicker response times.

Ice Universe has also revealed that the Galaxy Note 9 would feature a new Crown UX skin on top of Android Oreo. The Crown skin will replace Samsung’s existing Experience UX skin. Depending on the region, the phablet would run Exynos 9810 or Snapdragon 845 chipset. The Korea Herald has also learned from reliable sources that Samsung could introduce the neural processing unit (NPU) in the Note 9 to handle AI-related tasks.

According to Bloomberg, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note 9 on August 9th at an ‘Unpacked’ event in the New York City. The phone would go on sale towards the end of August. If Bloomberg’s timeline is accurate, Samsung will be releasing the new flagship earlier than usual. Last year’s Galaxy Note 8 debuted on August 23 and went on sale in September. Samsung is reportedly bringing the new model early due to poor sales of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus.

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