Galaxy S9 said to come with ‘3-stack’ dual camera and higher price, release set for Q1
It seems that those who are expecting grand surprises from Samsung with the Galaxy S9 will be in for a surprise, as a Korean publication has probed a few sources in and out of the company, and has the following quote from one anonymous Samsung official.
“Although the Galaxy S9 may not have the innovative features expected by the market, we are focusing on enhancing the completeness of the Galaxy S8 hardware and an innovative user experience (UX)”, the official said .
Camera
With that out of the way, there will still be plenty of improvements worth waiting for, like a better camera, for instance. How much better? Well, take the dual camera of the Note 8, and slap it Samsung’s new 1000fps slow-mo sensor we’ve told you about before. It is similar to Sony’s 19MP 900fps wonder that is already in phones like the XZ Premium, but gets to the ultrafast capture speeds in a different, “3-stack layer” way, so as to avoid any patent fights. Coupled with an eventual new anti-glare coating, and maybe one of the two new sensors that Samsung announced not long ago, the S9 shooter may end up to be the best in its class, given that the Note 8 one is tied with the iPhone X for that title.
Specs
Apart from the new camera design on the rear, the Galaxy S9 is said to retain the 9:18.5 aspect ratio of the screen and shrunk bezels at the front that Samsung calls the Infinity Display design. It is said to come powered either by the company’s new Exynos 9810, or Snapdragon 845 for tricky CDMA markets like the US.
What else? Well, the talks about a 3D depth-sensing camera on the Galaxy S9 like on the iPhone X may have been premature, as it is simply too complex of an endeavor for Samsung to catch up to that quickly, but there will apparently be improved 2D face unlock option. The source doesn’t exclude that a true Face ID-style kit may come for Samsung’s later 2018 flagships, like the Galaxy Note 9, just as we’ve heard before.
Price
Furthermore, the average selling price of the Galaxy S9 may be slightly higher than the tag of its predecessor, confer the insiders, due to the much higher outlay for the new camera module. According to Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities:
When Samsung Electronics applies 3-stack layer laminated image sensors to smartphone cameras next year, the ASP of camera modules will double or triple to US$ 60 to US$ 90 due to the installation of super high-priced image sensors, camera module parts and design changes among others.
Release date
Last but not least, the Galaxy S9 is said to be unveiled around the time of the next Mobile World Congress expo in Barcelona, as usual. Samsung broke the tradition this year, announcing the S8 much later than that, but if the S9 will be the MWC 2018 showstopper, it means that we might see it announced as soon as February 25th, as Samsung usually unveils its spring flagship on the Sunday before the MWC expo starts. This would certainly jibe with the rumors that next year the Galaxy S9 may arrive earlier than its predecessor did.
To recap: the Infinity Display design and 5.77″/6.22″ diagonals would be here to stay on the S9 and S9+, we may have new processing power with the Exynos 9810 and Snapdragon 845 chipsets, and a brand new dual camera with enhanced speed and lens reflection coating, as well as eventually a tad higher price tag, but it will all be revealed for certain in February. Svelte.
