4K Ultra HD recording
The Snapdragon 845 will give the Galaxy S9 the ability to record 4K Ultra HD video. Furthermore, Qualcomm said the chip will produce brighter photography and video, reduce noise ,and make it possible to embed small videos within still portraits.
Built-in storage
This is weird. Last year, Samsung said it started mass production of a 512GB flash storage chip. But if its leaked Galaxy S9 box is to be believed, the upcoming flagship will have 64GB of internal storage, not 512GB.
The question now is whether the 512GB chip would make it on the Galaxy S9. If it does, the Galaxy S9 should blow its competitors out of the water. Consider that the highest-end iPhones max out at 256GB, while the Google Pixel 2 XL comes in 64GB or 128GB versions.
Battery life
According to BGR, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus models will retain their predecessors’ capacities (3,000 and 3,500mAh respectively). However, Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 845 will yield better battery life due to 30% better power efficiency.
Pre-order and release date
Evan Blass is a Venture Beat reporter. His information is quite reliable so when he says Samsung will accept pre-orders on March 1 and release the Galaxy S9 on March 16, it’s probably accurate. So mark your calendars.
According to a C-level executive at a major casemaker, the go-to-market schedule for Galaxy S9 / S9+ is as follows:
Launch – 2/26
Pre-orders – 3/1
Ships/releases – 3/16— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 16, 2018
It might be called the Galaxy X
Apple’s latest smartphone was named iPhone X because of its 10th anniversary. This gives Samsung a bit of a problem: if they follow the current naming approach, the S9 may sound inferior to the iPhone X (pronounced “ten”) among potential users.
Forbes thinks Samsung may call it the Galaxy X. Then again, they may call it the Galaxy S11 to one-up Apple.
Price tag
Apple’s $999 base model iPhone X has pioneered the arrival of $1000 smartphones. If Samsung delivers a mostly better phone than the iPhone X, expect a similar or higher price tag.
