Samsung Galaxy S9: Everything We Think We Know About The New ...

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Samsung This article is more than 7 years oldSamsung Galaxy S9: everything we think we know about the new smartphonesThis article is more than 7 years old

Company’s new flagships expected to continue full-screen, curved glass design of S8, with a dual camera for the S9+

Samuel GibbsMon 19 Feb 2018 12.20 GMTLast modified on Fri 9 Nov 2018 17.05 GMTShare

Samsung will launch its new Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagship pair of smartphones, the follow up to the popular Galaxy S8 range, in Barcelona on 25 February. Here is everything we think we know about the new top-spec Android smartphones.

Same all-screen design

The Galaxy S8 ushered in a new all-screen design to the modern smartphone, which was followed by everyone from OnePlus to Apple with its iPhone X. The Galaxy S9 will have a similar design that is expected to match the sizes of the S8 and S8+ and come with curved edges, an elongated screen with rounded corners, metal edges and glass front and back, according to several well placed sources talking to the Guardian.

Improved single camera

A few details are expected to change for the new model, primarily around imaging. The Galaxy S8 had an improved version of the 12-megapixel camera fitted to the previous Galaxy S7. The Galaxy S9 is expected to come with an improved single camera and the S9+ with a version of Samsung’s dual-camera system that first debuted in the Note 8, according to two people familiar with the matter.

...in Lilac Purple. pic.twitter.com/p506mqDci4

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 5, 2018

The orientation of the camera equipment and the fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphones has been changed from horizontal to vertical, which is expected to make the biometric system easier to reach, two sources said.

Samsung’s teaser trailers for the S9’s camera suggest improved low-light performance and an ability to adjust the aperture, as well as an attempt to replicate Apple’s animoji.

Stereo speakers

According to reports, Samsung is also expected to push improved video recording for the S9 phones, including enhanced slow-motion video capture, as well as stereo speakers – a feature on rival Google’s Pixel 2 smartphones and Apple’s iPhone. Reports also suggest that the S9 will retain the headphone socket, making it one of the only top-end smartphones to continue to support the feature.

The S9 smartphones are expected to ship with two different processors, depending on region – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chip in the US and Samsung’s latest Exynos 9810 chip in the UK and Europe.

Face and iris scanning

Rumours also suggest that Samsung has improved its face and iris scanning technology for securing the S9, although whether it will be able to match up to Apple’s Face ID remains to be seen. The iris scanning technology built into last year’s S8 and the Note 8 is fast and accurate, but fiddly compared with Apple’s face-scanning system.

Finally, Samsung is also expected to debut a new version of its DeX system, which turns a smartphone into an Android-powered desktop computer, connecting with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 review: the future of smartphones

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review: a greatest hits package from the godfather of phablets

To find discount codes for Samsung Galaxy S9 retailers, visit discountcode.theguardian.com

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