Samsung Galaxy S8 is by far one of the biggest success stories of 2017. The device not only quashes the bad memories of Note 7 but also marks a new benchmark with a beautifully crafted infinity display and a number of mind-boggling capabilities. The class of a Galaxy S device never went unnoticed, but this one is taking the bar higher than ever. People are loving their new Galaxy, and have already started speculating on the next member of the family, the Galaxy S9.
Though we’re not even halfway through 2017, the word about Samsung’s next shiny rectangle is already in the air. Nothing’s official till now, but we’ve got a quick sum-up of everything that suggests what Galaxy S9 could look like!
Design Language
Samsung is expected to introduce some tweaks in Galaxy S9, but not a complete design overhaul. Word goes around that the South-Korean giant would consider the faults in Galaxy S8, especially those associated with its oddly placed fingerprint scanner, besides the rear camera. The company is said to change the position of the fingerprint scanner, moving it a tad lower or beneath the front screen. This could be a major change, but as we said, none of it has been confirmed.
Among other things, the device is expected to follow the same of suit of a metal and glass body, which is already creating a big buzz in the global smartphone market. The front of the device will be mostly covered by the Infinity display with bezels getting slimmer than ever, even those on the top and bottom.
Galaxy S9 Display
Samsung’s meticulous work with Galaxy S8’s infinity display has started fresh rumours about its successor’s capabilities. Word goes around, the 2018 smartphone could upgrade to a 4k panel with VR and 3D touch capabilities. Galaxy S9 could be boasting a beautifully crafted 7th-gen OLED display with more than 800 pixels per inch. This could be a remarkable upgrade, especially when other manufacturers are still catching with old OLED panels. The 7-gen OLED panels are said to go into production soon and would be ready for use by the time S9 launch comes around.
Yi Choong-hoon, CEO of a local display research firm UBI Research, had said in a report, “Its smaller rivals will be catching up with Samsung in production volume of sixth-generation OLED panels in the coming years. Samsung is likely to turn its eyes to the larger seventh-generation OLED panels for better productivity”.
In a nutshell, when it comes to the display, 4k resolution and an upgraded OLED panel are definitely on cards. Things could go south anytime, but for all we know, Samsung has deployed 2k panels for far too long and upgrading to 4k looks like the best way to go.
Internal Specifications
A report published by The Investor claimed that Samsung and Qualcomm are teaming up again for the Galaxy S9. The new phone, as per rumours, may use the next-Exynos flagship chipset or the as-yet unconfirmed Snapdragon 845 processor. The two giants are said to be working on the high-power chip and once it’s finalised, manufacturing duties may be given to Samsung or Taiwanese company TMSC.
To recall, Samsung worked closely with Qualcomm on the Snapdragon 835 processor, which powers the Galaxy S8. While other phone makers are also announcing phones with SD835 inside, Samsung had the monopoly on the chip initially, and even now, the supply is low. The close relationship between the two firms has been successful, but another year of exclusivity on the new chip won’t go down well with Qualcomm’s other partners.
As of now, little has been shared about SD845 or the next Exynos SoC. The octa-core chips would apparently bring enhanced power and battery efficiency, but there’s no word on their official release. Even other S9 internals are pretty much in the dark right now. Galaxy S8 boasts seamless performance SD835 and 4GB RAM, but considering the upgrade to native 4k, it would be nice to see an upgrade to at least 6GB of RAM.
Dual-Camera Capabilities
The camera improvements on the Galaxy S8 weren’t enormous, so it would be good to see Samsung go the way of the iPhone 7 Plus, Mate 9 and LG G6 and introduce a dual-lens camera into the Galaxy S9. Several Note 8 concepts also suggest the inclusion of dual camera capabilities, which ultimately could pass on to S9, making things picture-perfect for smartphone photographers. Apart from this, the front-camera could see an upgrade but rest would remain unchanged.
What’s More?
Among other tweaks, we expect to see a much-improved version of Bixby with Galaxy S9. In a first, Samsung did a nice job with the addition of its own AI assistant – Bixby – into Galaxy S8. The assistant is well integrated into the OS and boasts a decent user experience. But, if Samsung actually wants to move ahead with its onboard AI and take on Siri and Google Assistant, we’d like to see more widespread Bixby integration on S9.
Release and Pricing
If Samsung wants to launch Galaxy S9 at MWC, like it has done in the past, then we could get a reveal around February 2018. However, if it wants to launch the phone at its own event, like this year, we could be seeing S9 a bit late – maybe around March or even April. For now, it’s more than a year to go and the tech-giant is completely tight-lipped about its future launches.
As for pricing, the Galaxy S8 costs a whopping £689 and is selling well across the globe. The company has no major reason to slash the price of its successor by a thick margin. Galaxy S9 will be pitched as a premium flagship phone, so something slightly shy of £700 is highly plausible. The fans still expect a minor a price cut, but given the critical success of this year’s handset, we don’t Samsung would pull the strings back on the Galaxy S9.
As this story is still being developed, we’ll keep you posted with further updates on the Galaxy S9 and its official launch!