The much-rumoured Galaxy Note 9 has been certified by the US FCC, which indicates that its launch is imminent.
Samsung’s next flagship phone may not be too far away now. The much-rumoured Galaxy Note 9 has been certified by the US FCC, which indicates that its launch is imminent. Notably, the upcoming phablet sees an earlier certification compared to last year’s Galaxy Note 8, which received the FCC stamp around the end of July. While the Note 8 was launched on August 23 last year, the Galaxy Note 9 is being tipped for an earlier unveiling, possibly on August 9.
The Galaxy Note 9 model spotted at the FCC is the international version with model number SM-N960F with a list of various LTE bands on board. The US-specific version likely has the model number SM-N960U. The certification doesn’t reveal a lot apart from the fact that the phone supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and MST which is used for Samsung Pay.
Some CAD renders earlier this month gave us an idea of what to expect from the design of the phone. It’s not surprising that Samsung may just go with a similar look as the Galaxy Note 8, seeing as how the Galaxy S9 did not vary much from the Galaxy S8. What may be a relief for some is that Samsung is still saying no to the notch. The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to sport a similar 6.3-inch Infinity Display with narrow bezels on the top and bottom. The biggest aesthetical change may be seen on the back with regards to the placement of the fingerprint sensor. On the Galaxy Note 8, the sensor was placed right next to the dual camera setup, which made it difficult for some to reach and avoid smudging the camera lens. Renders of the Galaxy Note 9 suggest the sensor will be moved below the dual cameras.
As far the rest of the innards are concerned, the Galaxy Note 9 is expected to be powered by an octa-core Exynos 9810 for most countries including India, while the US variant is expected to carry the Snapdragon 845 chip. Additionally, the memory and storage configuration is said to start from 6GB to 8GB of RAM and 64GB to a whopping 512GB of storage, but we’ll know the exact details only at the time of launch. The upcoming phone is also expect to house a larger 3,850mAh battery compared to the underwhelming 3,300mAh battery inside the Galaxy Note 8.
The Galaxy Note 9 is also expected to come with an updated Bixby 2.0 with better voice recognition and language support. Cameras will likely be a key focus area as well and there are reports that the phone could bear a 16MP primary camera with f/1.4 aperture, which would be a huge upgrade over the Galaxy Note 8. Elsewhere, the Note 9 could sport a similar 12MP + 12MP dual camera setup as the Galaxy S9+ with dual aperture. We’ll know more about the upcoming flagship as we approach closer to its unveiling.
