Ladies and gentlemen, I can exclusively reveal that this is the Samsung Galaxy S9…
Working in collaboration with case maker Ghostek, we have followed up our successful Galaxy Note 8 exclusive and its flawless Galaxy S8 leak with a detailed render showing the final design of what will be Samsung’s most important smartphone in 2018. We are so confident in this information Ghostek is now taking orders for its line of waterproof Nautical cases built to this design.
Working with contacts across Samsung’s supply chain, this render shows the Galaxy S9 from every angle and it confirms Samsung will base it largely on the Galaxy S8. That said there are important improvements in many areas.
Notably the top and bottom bezels of the Galaxy S9 will be fractionally thinner than its predecessor and it will have a higher screen-to-body ratio than the iPhone X (whose score is impacted by its notch). The camera has been moved centrally with the flash adjacent and thankfully the fingerprint reader thankfully has also been repositioned centrally and a reasonable distance under the camera to reduce fingerprints on the lens.
It is worth pointing out the Galaxy S9 Plus will have a dual camera like the Galaxy Note 8. This will be the first time Samsung has split the camera capabilities between its smaller and larger Galaxy S models and - while controversial - is likely to drive customers to the larger (and more expensive) model. This is a leaf out of Apple’s book.
On the plus side the camera is almost flush to the chassis while Apple’s cameras protrude ever further from iPhones. It’s worth pointing out that what you do see of the camera protruding on the Galaxy S9 is mostly a protective metal camera ring so the lens isn’t directly impacted if the phone is dropped.
Elsewhere the polarising physical Bixby button remains and there is no sign Samsung will allow anyone to reprogram it without a fight. Given how little Bixby has evolved in its first year this is disappointing. But a more welcome retainment is the 3.5mm headphone jack. Once a universal feature, Samsung’s admirable refusal to remove it gives the Galaxy S9 a valuable differentiator. MicroSD also remains, the slot again sitting inside the sim tray.
With the exterior now exposed and the Galaxy S9’s internal specifications and battery size leaked yesterday, the only questions remaining are software. Should Samsung release the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus with Android Oreo they will have to be compliant with Google’s Project Treble, which aids much faster updates. If they launch with Android Nougat like the Galaxy Note 8 and newly launched (and otherwise great) Galaxy A8, Samsung’s traditional tortoise-like upgrades will continue.
I hope not. In combination with the genuinely exciting and innovative Galaxy X, Samsung looks to have two winners on its hands.
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