No real surprises in the Samsung Galaxy S9

The Samsung Galaxy S9 will launch at 4am on February 26 AEDT, but almost everything about the new device(s) has already been leaked.

No real surprises 

The S9 isn't looking like a phone to redefine the space. All the rumors, leaks and speculation to date point towards an iterative update. For those hoping for a game-changing device in the Galaxy portfolio, you may have to wait until 2019.

It won't just be the S9 being launched though, with rumors heavily hinting at the larger Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus set to arrive alongside - following the trend of launching dual flagship phones that the firm started back in 2015 with the Galaxy S6.

Design

• The S9 will resemble the Galaxy S8 but will have a slightly smaller bottom bezel
• The rear panel on both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus has changed design
• The rear fingerprint sensor has been re-positioned centrally below the camera(s) 
• IP68 dust and water resistance retained
• New launch colours: Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple and Coral Blue

Displays

• Galaxy S9 (5.8-inch) and Galaxy S9 Plus (6.2-inch) ‘Infinity’ display sizes are unchanged from their predecessors
• So are their Super AMOLED panels with native 2960 x 1440 resolutions 

Cameras

• Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus have upgraded 12MP primary rear cameras with class-leading F1.5 apertures. Samsung will heavily promote low light photography
• Galaxy S9 Plus exclusively has a second rear camera with F2.4 aperture for Portrait Photos and 2x optical zoom
• ‘Super slow-mo’ video recording will shoot up to 960 frames per second, a new smartphone benchmark
• The front camera specifications on both phones are unchanged at 8MP with an F1.7 aperture

Above: Titanium Grey. Right: Coral Blue

 

Facial Recognition

• Upgraded sensors combine Iris and facial recognition for faster, more accurate and secure facial unlocks
• ‘3D Emoji’ mimic Apple's Animoji but go a step further letting users create 3D avatars of themselves

Performance

• In the US both S9 devices will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset, while the rest of the world has models powered by Samsung’s (much faster) Exynos 9810
• Galaxy S9 Plus has 6GB RAM, the Galaxy S9 only 4GB
• 64GB of UFS 2.1 storage comes as default, no word on larger models
• The popular microSD memory slot and headphone jack remain on both models
• Dual SIM support is expected in most regions, if not worldwide for the first time
• AKG-tuned dual stereo speakers also feature on both models for the first time

Software

• Ships with Android 8.0 Oreo 
• New ‘Samsung Experience’ (the successor to TouchWiz) user interface with numerous tweaks and improvements

Battery

• Unchanged from last year: Galaxy S9 (3000 mAh), Galaxy S9 Plus (3500 mAh) but battery life improvements via software and hardware expected
• Fast wireless charging

Where to watch the S9 Launch Event

Samsung is promoting the S9 announcement on its own site. You can sign up using your email address to get a reminder of the event or just remember to show up to the Galaxy UNPACKED page at February 26, 4:00AM AEDT.

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