A report earlier this week claimed that the Galaxy S9 will be fairly similar to the Galaxy S8 when it comes to overall design and features. Since then, BGR published images showing the alleged design of the handset. Even a Samsung official hinted that the Galaxy S9’s main feature may be its software.
A noted leaker now echoes that report, saying that the Galaxy S9 will basically be a “tock” year.
Evan Blass wrote on Twitter that the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are known internally as Star and Star 2 respectively. And that it’s “definitely a ‘tock’ year.”
Project Star: Samsung Galaxy S9 (SM-G960 – Star 1) and Galaxy S9 Plus (SM-G965 – Star 2). Definitely a "tock" year. More to come…
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 21, 2017
Great, so Three Stars happens to be working on two Stars as we speak — Samsung translates to “three stars.”
Known for his numerous accurate leaks, Blass did not reveal other details about Samsung’s Stars but hinted that there’s more to come. But his “tock” revelation isn’t exactly surprising. A Samsung official, whose identity was not mentioned, hinted as much recently. He had this to say about the Galaxy S9:
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 quote was included in a report that said Samsung plans to add 3D sensors to some of its 2018 devices, although the Galaxy S9 may not be one of them. The report also said the handset will have a dual lens camera and a new image sensor that will let it capture more than 1,000 images per second.
The abundance of Galaxy S9 rumors seems to support rumors that claim the phone will launch earlier than expected next year so that Samsung can better face Apple’s iPhone X in stores. But from the looks of it, the Galaxy S9 might not be the iPhone X rival you expect. Also, if “early” proves to be late February at MWC 2018, then it’s just regular schedule for the handset. The Galaxy S8’s late launch was an exception this year, a side effect of that unexpected Galaxy Note 7 recall.
