Images of the expected Galaxy S9 and S9+. (Credit: Evan Blass)
The top dog in the Android phone space is due for a refresh next week.
Samsung is expected to introduce the 5.8-inch Galaxy S9 and the 6.2-inch Galaxy S9+ next week just before Mobile World Congress starts in Barcelona on February 26. The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2018 event will happen on Feb. 25, 2018, in Barcelona, coinciding with the MWC 2018 trade show, according to the Samsung invite.
This year don’t expect major physical design changes, as it’s mostly a “component upgrade,” according to Evan Blass, writing about the phones at Venture Beat.
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Some of the expected upgrade highlights are:
Motion-activated super slow-mo: Slated for a refresh are imaging hardware and software, which includes “motion-detected, ‘super slow-mo’” video capture, according to Blass. When fast movement is detected, the frames per second (FPS) gets a boost, going as high as 960 FPS, according to various reports.
Aperture switching: Both phones will have “variable aperture” on their main 12-megapixel cameras, Blass wrote. That feature allows you to switch between f/2.4 and f/1.5. The ability to switch aperture sizes allows you, for example, to blur the foreground and background around your subject.
The Galaxy S9+ will add another 12-megapixel rear camera module, though this one will be a fixed aperture.
The front selfie cameras are expected to be 8-megapixel in size.
Stereo speakers: A pretty big change will be speakers on the bottom and top of the phone, according to a recent report from ETNews via 9to5Google.
3D Emoji: The same ETNews report claims that Samsung’s 3D emojis will be more advanced than Apple’s – though that, of course, remains to be seen.
“3D stickers and tag shot”: Another report at Venture Beat via SamCentral says this feature will let you “add stickers or images to pictures that were taken with dual cameras and then adjust the depth of the stickers or images.” Tag shot will tag photos with the current location and weather.
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Intelligent Scan: This feature would combine face and iris scanning to improve accuracy when there is very low light or very bright light, according SamCentral.
Processor and storage: The two phones will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 in the U.S. The larger S9+ will have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The S9 will have a 4GB/64GB configuration, same as the last generation, according to Blass.
Expected colors include Coral Blue, Titanium Gray and Midnight Black.
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