Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Latest leak may have uncovered the Galaxy S9’s most exciting secret

Published Feb 19th, 2018 10:08AM EST
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Release Date
Image: SquareTrade

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Look, we already apologized for calling Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ boring. The company was said to be working on a bold new design for the Galaxy S9 duo that offered even larger displays with screen-to-body ratios that reached up above 90%, which would have given them the most impressive “all-screen” design of the year among widely available flagship phones. But Samsung decided to cancel that new design and instead release Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ models that look just like their predecessors.

It remains unclear why Samsung opted to cancel the redesign and stick with last year’s look, but we finally came to our senses earlier this month: Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are still two of the best-looking phones the world has ever seen, so why not use the design for a second straight year? Heck, if Apple can use the same phone design for four consecutive years, we shouldn’t give Samsung any grief over reusing its sleek Galaxy S8 design for a second year. And the good news is even if you do find the look to be boring, leak after leak has shown that Samsung has packed plenty of excitement into this year’s flagship Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ phones.

The camera is among the most important parts of any smartphone experience, and we already know from countless leaks that Samsung’s upgraded cameras on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be impressive. In fact, the new camera is shaping up to be the best camera ever seen on any smartphone, Pixel 2 and iPhone X included. The smaller Galaxy S9 will get a new single-lens camera on the back, while Galaxy S9+ phablet users will enjoy even more new features courtesy of a dual-lens setup.

We can’t wait to put the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ cameras through the paces, but it turns out that the cameras might not even be the most exciting thing about Samsung’s upcoming new flagship phones.

Last week we told you about a Reddit user who got his hands on a Galaxy S9 and hosted an AMA session. Tons of details were spilled in that Reddit thread, which has since been deleted from the site. Now, it looks like someone else has followed this user’s lead, except he supposedly has both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in his possession.

This user tried to host a few different AMA threads on Reddit, but none of them got any traction so there isn’t much information contained within them. There is one juicy morsel though, and it’s found right within the user’s intro.

“I got the S9 and S9+ rev 1.1 so it’s very close to the final product and I would say if you are going to buy the S9 it looks on par with the S8 and performs like with normal use but if your going with the plus it has dual lens camera and about a 1.5 day battery life,” Reddit user BihPandamonium wrote. “If your currently on the S8 I wouldn’t upgrade unless you find a really good deal and I do not know anything about pricing or release date. The phones are also thicker and heavier and they don’t feel as glossy as the S8 the S9 has a much better grip. If you have any questions about this device I will try to answer it.”

Wait, what was that? According to this Redditor, the larger Galaxy S9+ can deliver about a day and a half of battery life. We could barely squeeze a full day out of the Galaxy S8+, so this would be a tremendous improvement. Add to that the fact that Samsung’s new phones will support the latest and greatest fast charging technologies, and the Galaxy S9+ could be the most impressive flagship handset we’ve ever seen when it comes to battery performance.

Samsung will unveil the new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ during a press conference this coming Sunday in Barcelona, Spain. The phones are expected to be made available for preorder on March 1st, and the release date is said to be set for March 16th.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.