Given that we’re in the start of the summer season, and just coming out of the flagship device releases, it’s time to start looking ahead again. Yes, we’re ready to look to the horizon at what’s next. In other words, it’s time to gather up all of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors we can find.
Typically released in the fall, the bigger, stylus-friendly device comes from Samsung to carry us through the holidays. It’s also, not coincidentally, introduced to coincide with the latest phones from Google and Apple.
SEE ALSO: The big list of Google Pixel 3 rumors
With only a few months to go before its presumed introduction, things are starting to shore up nicely on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors frontier.
Let’s take a look at what we ought to expect from Samsung later this year.
Design
The current Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with a metal/glass body with curved edges and a dual-camera setup on the back. In essence, the Galaxy Note 9 will keep much of the same design. Most likely the upcoming plus-sized phone will bear similar aesthetics to its predecessor and recent brethren.
The bezels on top and bottom should be a tad slimmer than last year, although the differences won’t be considerable. Everything we’re hearing suggests the Note 9 will not stray far from the Note 8 build.
Colors
Samsung often intros its phones with unique colors for its handsets, turning to blues, purples, browns, and reds. Of course there’s always white and black options, too. As for the upcoming Galaxy Note 9, it appears Samsung is
Notch Your Preference?
We don’t anticipate that the Galaxy Note 9 will come with the notch at the top of the display. This is good news for some, bad news for others, but likely not going to matter to the masses. Reportedly, Samsung is going to stick to the design language that fans know and love — at least through this generation.
Fingerprint Sensor
Perhaps one of the hottest bits of gossip for the next-gen phone is that it might feature a fingerprint reader in/under the display. While it would be quite a departure, and really cool selling point, it doesn’t look to be happening, yet.
According to sources at SamMobile and ChozunBiz, Samsung will keep its new tech for the 2019 take of the Galaxy S series. Prominent, and oft-accurate leaker Ice Universe also reports that “it is almost certain” that it’s not coming to the Note 9.
Screen
The screen size is expected to grow a smidge, says a report from SamMobile. Moreover, a post from The Bell dovetails with the rumor, with bot putting it at 6.4-inches. Given that bezels can shrink ever so much, and the Galaxy Note 9 is likely to have the 18:9 aspect ratio, it means more screen in a smaller body.
Samsung GALAXY Note9:6.4inch
— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) April 10, 2018
We expect the device to boast a beautiful Super AMOLED display like always, quite possibly with Mobile HDR. In terms of resolution, the Note 9 could launch as Samsung’s first 4K handset. Although for now, we haven’t seen leaks suggesting a resolution increase.
Before we go on and talk about hardware, it’s worth reminding you about an interesting possibility.
Hardware and Performance
Like the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, the Note 9 will get the Snapdragon 845 treatment. That is, of course, provided leaked benchmark tests prove accurate. Some models will likely get Samsung’s Exynos chip, depending on the market.
The Galaxy Note 8 has 6GB RAM so we expect at least this much in the 2018 model. We are seeing select phones, such as the OnePlus 6, shipping with 8GB of memory so it remains to be seen what Samsung does here.
As for internal storage space, the base version of the Galaxy Note 9 might arrive with 128GB of storage. A recent rumor says that Samsung could go as high as 512MB of space. That will depend on your market, though.
When it comes to battery life, we might look for either a 3850mAh or 4,000mAh power source.
Note 9:
4000mAh or 3850mAh— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) April 11, 2018
Cameras
Huawei kicked off a new trend in mobile photography with its P20 Pro, having ushered in a device with three cameras on the rear. Will Samsung do the same for its big-screen experience? It doesn’t appear that will be the case just yet; the triple-cam setup might make its way to Samsung’s Galaxy S10.
We’ll just have to wait and learn more but we dare speculate the Note 9 will take advantage of a dual-camera with variable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture much like the Galaxy S9 Plus.
Samsung will probably opt for the same telephoto lens and wide-angle dual-camera setup for the back. The Galaxy Note 8 was the first to bring dual optical image stabilization into the fold so we anticipate the Note 9 will come with some worthy enhancements — be it in the form hardware or software.
Audio
Samsung focused heavily on audio this year, outfitting the Galaxy S9 with a pair of AKG-tuned stereo speakers. On top of that, there’s improved bass performance, less distortion at higher volumes, and access to Dolby Atmos surround sound tech. We expect the Galaxy Note 9 to borrow some of these features when it arrives.
Software
The Note 9 will arrive with Android Oreo (hopefully, the latest version) with its own Samsung Experience software on top. Moreover, it will also introduce a refreshed Bixby 2.0 interface and smarts.
At MWC 2018, CEO DJ Koh said that the latest version of Bixby will be introduced alongside the phone, adding Samsung is looking to develop an ecosystem of products for Bixby 2.0. Samsung already confirmed a Bixby-powered speaker is on the way.
S Pen
Because it’s not a Galaxy Note without an S Pen stylus, the next-gen phone is rumored to get its biggest S Pen overhaul to date. Recent chatter purports that it will feature Bluetooth technology in the pen itself.
As to what that really means to users isn’t clear but it may open the door to voice recording, making and taking calls, and/or writing on physical paper with the phone detecting and capturing digital copies.
Availability
Historically, the Galaxy Note phone arrives in the latter half of the year, often directly ahead of the IFA trade show in Berlin. The Galaxy Note 8, for what it’s worth, made its debut on August 23.
According to Bloomberg the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 should make its formal appearance on August 9. This rumor is substantiated by the fact that that its presumed model number (SM-960) has hit the FCC a month earlier than normal.
Price
Nothing has surfaced yet regarding price, but we anticipate something similar to what Samsung did for the Galaxy Note 8. In other words, maybe around $ 900-$ 950. With only a few weeks to go before the rumored debut, we should learn more soon.
Featured Image via DBS DESIGNING