A new rumor suggests Samsung is already working on the Galaxy S9 – here’s what we want to see from the phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 only hit stores earlier this year, but we’re already hearing rumors of the Samsung Galaxy S9, with one report claiming the phone is already in the first few stages of production.
The rumors are now coming thick and fast for what the new phone will look like, especially as we’ve now seen the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone 8 is imminent, so we’ve rounded up the best of them here – as well as answering some key questions.
The latest leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy S9 will support modular accessories but without a fingerprint built into the screen (sadly, still around the back) . It’ll (rather predictably) have the new powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset powering things but it will stick with 4GB of RAM, rather than 6GB as other modern smartphones have.
Based on current projections, we’re expecting the Galaxy S9 to come in around the same price as its predecessor, meaning you’ll be looking to spend at least £639 / $725 / $1200. Given we’re not expecting massive design changes, we doubt too high a price rise.
While the recent rumors suggest the S9 will launch in January, that’s too early given people are locked into contract cycles. The smart money is it being shown in March, but Samsung could go earlier and head to MWC 2018 to join the parade of new handsets.
We so far know nothing about when the Samsung Galaxy S9 will be announced, so we’ll just have to go off what Samsung has done in the past.
Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 in late March, so we’d expect it will follow up with the Galaxy S9 roughly a year later, at the end of March 2018.
But it was late in announcing the Galaxy S8 in 2017 – the company waited about a month longer than normal, so it’s possible that the S9 will land around the end of February, in which case it might be launched at Mobile World Congress 2018, as that’s likely to take place at that sort of time.
Recent rumors state that – due to the fact the OLED screens that are likely to be used in the phones are being created earlier than usual – the Galaxy S9 will launch in January, but that would be far too early for many reasons, not least because people wouldn’t be eligible to upgrade to it right away.
What we can safely predict is the Samsung Galaxy S9 is sure to be expensive, as the Galaxy S8 launched at $720, £689, AU$1,199.
Not much is known about the Samsung Galaxy S9, but some sources claim the company has already started work on producing its next flagship phone.
The Bell reports unnamed industry sources saying that Samsung has been hard at work on the display panels for the Galaxy S9 since late March 2017. If Samsung has started work on the S9’s display panels that’s apparently about 6 months earlier than usual.
That doesn’t come as a massive surprise, as many companies start work on their phones before one generation has even been announced, but it’s good to get the rumors flowing already about the next Samsung phone.
Samsung and Qualcomm have also started working on a new mobile chip according to The Investor. The chip is apparently likely to be called the Snapdragon 845 – up from the Snapdragon 835 found in some versions of the Galaxy S8 – and is supposedly going to be used in the Samsung Galaxy S9.
The Snapdragon 845’s use has again been rumored, this time by a reasonably reliable source, so it’s looking likely.
So far we don’t know anything about the power or performance of the Snapdragon 845 chipset, but we’d wager it won’t be the only one Samsung uses, with a new Exynos chip likely headed to S9 handsets in some parts of the world.
And speaking of a new Exynos chip, Samsung has revealed that it has developed LTE modems for the next generation of its chips. Why should you care? Because these modems support theoretical download speeds of 1.2Gbps – faster than any other phone, meaning you could potentially download an HD movie within just 10 seconds.
However, it seems unlikely that we’ll get 6GB of RAM inside, which is what many smartphone brands (especially Asian ones) are doing – with Samsung set to stick with the much-more-sensible 4GB spec instead .
It seems one of the big chipset developments may allow the company to include a much bigger battery too. A new report suggests Samsung will now use Substrate-like PCB tech that will allow the Exynos chipset manufacturer to include a bigger battery without increasing the size of the processor.
It may mean the extra battery won’t be on the Qualcomm Snapdragon toting Galaxy S9, but it could mean big improvements for those who get the Exynos version.
One of the big issues with the Samsung Galaxy S8 was the fact the fingerprint sensor was shoved to the back of the phone, after rumors abounded that the reader was supposed to go under the display’s glass but it just didn’t work.
However, the new Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensor can sit below quite thick displays, and OLED technology (used in Samsung flagship phones) was specifically mentioned.
Then again, one tipster claims an in-screen scanner isn’t in the cards, so don’t count on that feature just yet.
And the Galaxy S9 is sure to get some new features too, one of which could be a modular design, with magnets on the back letting you attach hardware accessories (which could take the form of battery packs, zoom lenses or any number of other things) , a bit like Motorola’s Moto Mods.
Only one source has mentioned this possibility so far, so we’d take it with a huge pinch of salt, but it could be a key selling point of the S9 if true.
Aside from that, in late 2016 Samsung licensed a new glass coating technology that makes water bounce off your smartphone screen. Samsung plans to include this tech in an upcoming phone, so it may mean the Galaxy S9 is much easier to use in the rain. Watch the video below to see how the technology works.
As you can imagine, the rumors remain thin on the ground at the moment, but we’ll be scooping our way through the best and worst of them – so bookmark this page if you ever want to know the very latest on the Samsung Galaxy S9.
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