What to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

On Sunday, February 25th, Samsung will officially unveil the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, the company’s flagship duo for 2018.

The handset, however, is barely a surprise at this point, thanks to the monstrous amount of leaks, mostly courtesy of Evan Blass. That said, ahead of next week’s launch, we’ve compiled all of the rumours and information regarding the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ that Canadians can look forward to.

This is a current spec sheet of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ based on our collection rumours. When the device is officially unveiled the sheet will be updated to reflect the confirmed specs.

Design

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will look nearly identical to the Galaxy S8 and S8+, according to everything we’ve seen so far. Samsung went with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy when designing the new duo of flagships.

The S9 is expected to feature a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display with the company’s 18:5:9 aspect ratio. Another rumour points to the Samsung handset utilizing a 5.7-inch display. Further, it’s set to use the same curved display and rounded corners that the company featured in the Galaxy S8.

Samsung has slightly shifted the phone’s top bezel arrangement, according to a leak that suggests the South Korean company will combine the handset’s selfie shooter and iris scanner.

These are the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ https://t.co/deXGg39m0d pic.twitter.com/RNGezrF4Bs

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 26, 2018

As for the S9+, it will feature a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display. While it’s tipped to feature the same display size as the S8+, the S9+ should be a smaller phone, as previous rumours indicate the handset will include a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio in comparison to the S8+, which only featured an 84 percent screen-to-body ratio. It’ll also feature an 18:5:9 aspect ratio, with a curved display and rounded edges, like the smaller variant.

Unlike the smaller variant, the handset will have a separate iris scanner, making it resemble the S8+ from last year. Included within the top bezel is an SVC LED, a proximity sensor and light sensor, a proximity sensor emitter, and an Iris LED that powers the iris scanner.

Going to the rear, both handsets will use the same back glass from last year. Moreover, the rear of the phone will feature different fingerprint scanner placement. Instead of the highly critiqued placement of the S8’s fingerprint sensor, Samsung will move the sensor to below the camera setup. This makes it more reachable than the S8’s, which was higher up and located right next to the camera lens.

The phone will continue to use a Bixby button. It will also feature an aluminum band between the front and back glass panels together. Both devices will also retain their 3.5mm headphone jack. Further, the handset is tipped to feature stereo speakers and will be IP68 water and dust resistance.

As for colours, apart from limited edition variants, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will come in Coral Blue, Midnight Black, Titanium Gray and Lilac Pink, according to Blass.

Display

Both the S9 and S9+ will reportedly use Y-OCTA display technology. The technology integrates the touch layer in the encapsulation layer of the OLED display, rather than using a distinct film-type layer like previous generations of Samsung’s displays.

Y-OCTA was only used on the Galaxy S8, but with the new generation, both the S9 and the S9 + will take advantage of it. Y-OCTA displays are thinner and contain better optical properties.

Otherwise, both the S9 and S9+ will use a Super AMOLED display with a 2960 x 1440 pixel resolution, on both handsets.

Camera

According to rumours, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ feature slightly different camera setups.

The Galaxy S9 will likely have a 12-megapixel single lens setup, which isn’t surprising. What’s new here is that the S9 will use a variable aperture.

This aperture can mechanically change between a f/2.4 aperture all the way to a f/1.5 aperture. As you might expect, the smaller aperture lets the handset take crisper, more detailed images, while the wider aperture is perfect for low-light photography.

The Samsung Galaxy S9+, on the other hand, features a dual camera setup. The two 12-megapixel sensors will use different fixed apertures. One lens will have a f/1.5 aperture, while the other is expected to use a f/2.4 aperture.

While some rumours point to 1,000 frames per second, others claim state the handset will use the new ISOCELL camera sensor that tops out at 960 frames per second at 720p quality. While at 1080p, the slow-mo should reach around 460 frames per second.

New features

Rumours point to the S9 lineup combining its iris scanning and facial scanning technology to create what the company calls, “Intelligent Scan.” This is likely Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Face ID. Intelligent Scan should offer better security than the S8’s previous options.

Intelligent Scan will also allow the S9 to use a new animated emojis feature similar to Apple’s animojis. While it’s unknown exactly what the 3D emoji will entail, the company’s latest ad for the phone showcased a 3D character resembling the user.

Availability

Evan Blass tweeted the launch schedule for the Galaxy S9 this past January and was only a day off. The handset will be unveiled on the 25th and not the 26th. Going by his tweet, the pre-orders will be available starting March 1st with a release date of March 16th.

At this point, pricing still remains unclear. In the U.K. it seems the handsets are set to be 100 GBP more than last year’s smartphone. If that is a global increase, then it’s possible the device will cost more than $1,200. However, news stemming from ETNews points to the S9 retailing for 925,000 won in South Korea. If that is the global price, it’ll amount to approximately $1073 CAD for the S9.

According to a C-level executive at a major casemaker, the go-to-market schedule for Galaxy S9 / S9+ is as follows:

Launch – 2/26
Pre-orders – 3/1
Ships/releases – 3/16

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 16, 2018

With this uncertainty, it’s best to wait until the company officially reveals the product before making any assumptions.

We’ll have more on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9+ next week when the smartphone is officially revealed. Let us know what you are most excited about for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the comments!