Samsung is reusing the Galaxy S8 design for at least one more year. The Galaxy S9 will be quite similar to its predecessor, although the fingerprint sensor “issue” will be fixed. The sensor is now centrally located under the camera, rather than next to it, which should make it a lot more accessible.
The Galaxy S9 may come with a “boring” design, but the phone should be even faster than the Galaxy S8 thanks to a next-gen chip. Also improved is the camera experience, with the Plus model getting a dual-lens shooter. And a new report seems to confirm a rumor that we heard a few weeks ago, that Samsung’s awesome “DeX” computer mode experience is about to get even better.
Many users don’t know about or choose not to use the computer mode on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. With the help of an accessory — the DeX Station — you can turn last year’s flagship phones in Android-powered computers. The accessory lets you extend the Galaxy S8 experience to a bigger screen by hooking it up to a monitor and regular peripherals.
That accessory is getting a massive redesign this year, reports have said in the past, and Samsung seems to have just confirmed it. The new DeX Station will be called DeX Pad. Samsung just trademarked the term, in time for the Galaxy S9’s launch next month. A document discovered by GSMArena explains the purpose of the DeX Pad:
Application software for projecting the screen of mobile device to displays via computer peripheral devices and wireless networks; Computer peripheral devices; Computer software for wireless network communications; Computer software for controlling user interface mode adaption; Computer software for use in computer access control.
The DeX Station can recharge the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, and DeX Pad should do the same thing. But because the phone will lay flat on the pad, the Pad may also come with built-in wireless charging components. This design change also allows the phone to be used as a touchpad or keyboard. That’s something you can’t do with the current DeX Station, which is basically a smartphone dock. The Galaxy S9’s faster processor should also improve the overall computer mode experience.
It’s unclear how much the DeX Pad will cost, but Samsung will tell us everything about it this February when the phone is announced. And of note, DeX Pad isn’t the only new Galaxy S9 rumor we’ve stumbled upon. A Weibo user posted online an image of what seems to be the phone’s mid-frame:
There’s nothing spectacular about this particular component, other than the fact that it seems to confirm Galaxy S9 production is well underway.
