We previously heard that Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ ahead of schedule, as early as January 2018. Now a new report surfaced from Venture Beat claims Samsung is looking to show off the successor of this year’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ a little earlier than previously thought, during the CES 2018 tradeshow (January 9 – 12).
However, the source who has apparently been briefed on the company’s plans claims the company will merely tease the new smartphone during the Las Vegas event, with the official launch scheduled for late February, perhaps at MWC 2018 (February 26 – March 1). So it’s unclear at this point how many details about the Galaxy S9 will be revealed during CES.
Some additional information about the new models were also shared with VentureBeat. For starters, Samsung’s next-gen flagships are expected to more a refinement than revolution, as the Galaxy S9 duo is said to be nearly identical in appearance to their predecessors.
The two handsets – codenamed Star 1 (SM-G960) and Star 2 (SM-G965) – will come boasting 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch curved InfinityDisplays, just like the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ before them did. Sources also claim the Galaxy S9 duo will be based on a chipset designed using 10-nanometer fabrication techniques, which probably means the flagships will take advantage of Qualcomm’s next-gen high-end SoC, the Snapdragon 845 (with Exynos models in select regions).
But unlike their predecessors, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will apparently differ between one another. Apart from having a larger display, the Galaxy S9+ is said to include more RAM (6GB) and to pack a dual-camera setup, while the smaller Galaxy S9 will feature 4GB of RAM and a single lens on the back. Where the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will coincide once more is the storage department – as they will include 64GB built-in storage.
Both models will also take advantage of redesigned backs. Yesterday we got a glimpse at how the Galaxy S9+ could look like thanks to the Ghostek case render leak . Other than that, the flagships will pack 3.5m headphone jacks and AKG stereo speakers.
