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Huge Galaxy S9 and S9+ leak drops a week before Samsung’s official announcement

Updated Feb 19th, 2018 7:05AM EST
Galaxy S9 Release Date
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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The Galaxy S9 series will be the star of the Mobile World Congress, with Samsung set to unveil the handset on Sunday, a day before the most important mobile event of the year kicks off.

But with less than a week to go until the first Unpacked press conference of the year, a huge Galaxy S9 leak has just dropped. We’ve got press renders for both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ as well as specs and launch details for Samsung’s next flagship.

It’s German language site WinFuture with the Galaxy S9 scoop, which includes many of the things we’d already heard about the Galaxy S9 phones. But WinFuture throws in a bunch of press renders and marketing images that look too good to be fakes, as well as complete specs and launch details for the handsets.

Image source: WinFuture

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will resemble their predecessors, the report notes. But the rear panel has a different design for both phones. Notably, the Galaxy S9+ is getting a dual-lens camera, whereas the Galaxy S9 is “stuck” with a single-lens shooter, But both cameras have a vertical orientation, and they sit just above the fingerprint sensor.

The camera will be the main selling phone of the handsets. Both of them come with variable apertures (F/1.5 and F/2.4) just as we heard before, which should benefit low-light photography. The second camera on the Galaxy S9+ has a F/2.4 aperture, the report notes. All rear cameras have 12-megapixel sensors, optical image stabilization, and fast focus.

Image source: WinFuture

The selfie cam, meanwhile, has an 8-megapixel camera, F/1.7 aperture, and autofocus.

A super slow-motion mode is also in the cards, and both phones will be able to offer 960fps video shooting options.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with the same Infinity Displays as their predecessors. The sizes and resolutions are unchanged: 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED panels with 2960 x 1440 resolution. The position of the screen has been slightly altered, the report says so that the bottom bezel is slightly smaller.

Image source: WinFuture

The phones will be powered by the Exynos 9810 (Europe) and Snapdragon 845 (US and other regions) chips, and ship with 4GB and 6GB of RAM. However, only the Galaxy S9+ is getting more RAM.

The phones will ship with 64GB UFS 2.1 of base storage, upgradeable via microSD card. The report doesn’t mention other storage tiers, though rumors have said 256GB and 512GB options are in the works.

Image source: WinFuture

Other features include dual-SIM support, USB-C support, AKG-tuned stereo speakers, and Bluetooth 5.0. There’s no mention of the 3.5mm headphone jack, but the port is surely there. Iris and face recognition sensors will be found on the front of the phone, and both handsets should support a feature called 3D Emoji, which is Samsung’s Animoji version, other reports claimed.

Battery capacity sits at 3,000 mAh (Galaxy S9) and 3,500 mAh (Galaxy S9+), which is exactly what previous rumors said. Samsung is going with the same battery sizes it used for the Galaxy S8 series last year. Both phones will support wireless charging as well.

The phones will be IP68 certified for water and dust protection, and they’ll ship in four colors, including Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple, and Coral Blue.

Finally, the phones will run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the gate, with Samsung’s new UI on top. The report notes the phones will be available for preorder as early as February 25th and hit stores on March 8th.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.