Everything to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 before its launch

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2018. The hype around it is real because we know what the Korean phone maker can do. Samsung hopes to set a new standard in what a smartphone should be. From the leaks, what we have seen Samsung chuck into this device, the Galaxy Note 9 could easily be the best smartphone of 2018 and even early 2019. We at Techkrest have been keenly following all the leaks and renders of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 ahead of its launch scheduled for August 9th at 11 am at the Barclays Center in New York. Here is what we have been able to gather about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. We will be updating this with information as we learn it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Design that works

Samsung has developed a design that just works and they are sticking with it for the Galaxy Note 9. Its design is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. They look almost the same. However, Samsung has made minor improvements to this design which makes it even more desirable. Samsung has further pushed out the top and bottom bezel of the Galaxy Note 9 but has also made the device slightly thicker. This thickness was a concern for Samsung that it delayed the launch of the Galaxy Note 9 for 2 weeks in order to make the glass thinner and better. On the top bezel, Samsung has added a slightly larger earpiece grill compared to the Galaxy Note 8. This is to make room for the new speaker which will be similar to the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The Note 9 will have the AKG Tuned stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. We are so sure of this feature that we think its a given for this device and it’s going to be almost if not exactly what we have seen in the leaks and renders. The materials used for the note 9 will device will most likely be the 7000 series aluminum, the same used in the Galaxy S9 and S9+, though we can not confirm this. The Note 9 will also be IP 68 water resistant which will allow for water submersion of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

A much-welcomed change we are expecting to see on the Galaxy Note 9 will be at the back of the device, the fingerprint scanner. The awkward location of the fingerprint sensor on the Note 8 has been adjusted on the Galaxy Note 9. It will be placed under or beneath the horizontally placed dual back camera array (instead of the vertically placed camera we have seen on the Galaxy S9 and S9+) which is a more favorable position and can be reached even by short fingers. The placement of the fingerprint sensors was one of the biggest fails of the note 8. Samsung is listening to customers and we are glad they are making a change on the galaxy note 9. The fingerprint sensor will also be rectangular as in the Galaxy S9 and S9+.

There will be a health sensor next to the camera flash and it will support heart rate, blood oxygen, and blood pressure monitoring just like the Galaxy S9 and S9+. There is also a difference in the camera array. The area around the cameras is the color of the phone. On previous phones, like the Note 8 and S9, the color around the camera was black.

The Galaxy Note 9 is going to come in four colors: Coral Blue, Brown, Lilac Purple, and Midnight Black. We don’t have the official name for the brown color yet. The purple, brown, and black colors come with S Pens that match the color of the phone. The blue phone comes with a yellow S Pen. The color of the S Pen has nothing to do with the hardware in it. The only thing special about the yellow S Pen is the color itself.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 9: moving on to the S Pen

The S pen on the new Galaxy Note 9 is going to get a major update. leak sources are calling it a “smart S Pen”. This is because it will be equipped with a Bluetooth device which will connect to the note 9 with Bluetooth making it more versatile and expanding its capabilities. The new S Pen can be used as a camera shutter button, slideshow controller, or music controller. We were able to confirm the camera control and music controls in an APK teardown of the AirCommand app from the Galaxy Tab S4. We were also able to find a feature that allows for the S Pen to be able to unlock the phone. The S Pen will have integration into games like Fortnite. We don’t know how, but the new smart S Pen will be able to control Fortnite in some way.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Bluetooth S Pen confirmed via Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 firmware. The S Pen is supposed to last for around 200 clicks of the button with Bluetooth. It is also supposed to be able to charge in about 40 seconds. To charge the S Pen you will just insert it into the S Pen socket in the bottom of the phone. With this charging speed and amount of clicks, we can guess the battery size of the S Pen will be around 50 mAh, so it won’t make much of a difference in the 4000 mAh battery inside the phone. We do not know the exact size of the S Pen battery, but it will be small.

Control music with the S Pen. This will probably allow you to control music like you can with earbuds by pressing the play/pause button. The S Pen button will probably let you play and pause music while also allowing you to skip music tracks.

Use the S Pen as a remote camera shutter. This could be useful in situations where you want to take a picture of yourself and prop up your phone.

You will be able to remotely unlock your phone if the S Pen was removed from the phone and then the phone locks.

You will be able to press the S Pen button to do more in a range of apps. We don’t know about what other integrations with apps the S Pen will have, though, as the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 hasn’t launched.

Press and hold the Pen button to open any app or S Pen feature.

Set up single and double press Pen actions.

The S Pen will have all of the same features as the old S Pen and then some. You will have the on-screen notepad on the Always On Display. The Coral Blue phone with the yellow S Pen will have yellow ink for this notepad, while the other colors should be white. Live Drawings for the Note 9 is going to be updated with new backgrounds, new ink styles, AR Emoji support, and the ability to export the drawings as an MP4 video. The new ink styles will be hearts, snow, and a color changing rainbow option.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Camera: Taking true colored pictures.

Knowing what Samsung can do with cameras, we only expect better things with this one.  The cameras on the Galaxy Note 9 will be an upgrade over those of the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9+. It will be noticeably better than that of the Note 8 and S9+. The camera aperture will be f/2.4 and f/1.5, just like the S9+. There are also rumors of the Note 9 camera using AI depending on the scenery with an AI filter on it.

Samsung might be using the new ISOCELL Plus technology showcased at MWC Shanghai. This would allow for better color accuracy and light sensitivity. Pictures could be more color accurate and hold more color information. This could result in more vibrant and true to life pictures. It would also mean videos would have better color accuracy. This could help with HDR support on the camera. The better light sensitivity would also make low light photos better. This could also improve super slow-mo to allow for the ability to record the videos in more lighting conditions than we currently can. Super slow-mo is also changing just a little. It will be 960fps for 0.2 seconds when recording in the auto mode. While recording in the manual mode it will be 480fps for 0.4 seconds. These changes will not seem like much but really make a difference. The difference between 480fps and 960fps is a noticeable one. The normal slow motion will also support 240fps at 1080p.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Specifications: The best chips

Samsung is putting the best chips on the market to deliver the experience we are anxious to see on this device. The Galaxy Note 9 is going to launch with 128GBs of storage and 6GBs of RAM for the base model. A premium model will have 8Gb RAM and 512Gb storage SD Card expandable up to 400Gb. The phone will have either a Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810, depending on your region. The Snapdragon model will be in North America, Latin America, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. The rest of the world will get the Exynos model. That is the only part of the phone that is region dependent. The phone is going to have UFS 2.1 storage for faster transfer speeds. It is going to come with a 6.3” 18.5:96.3″ QHD+ (2960×1440) sAMOLED display. The display is supposed to be about 10% brighter than that of the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Thes display will be made with Gorilla Glass 5 and will support HDR 10. The phone is going to have a 4,000 mAh battery. This is 500 mAh bigger than the S9+ and 700 mAh bigger than the Note 8. It is going to have the new smart S Pen with Bluetooth Low Energy. The S Pen should last about 200 clicks and charge in 40 seconds. The cameras are going to be upgraded from the S9+. They will most likely be the same apertures as the S9+ with f/2.4 and f/1.5 on the variable aperture lens which it will be inheriting from the S9+. The second lens will be a telephoto lens at f/2.4.

Also Read: Rumors suggest new iPad Pro models coming in 2018

Other features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 include

AKG Tuned stereo speakers, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, an 8MP front camera with autofocus 12MP Rear Camera with f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable aperture + 12MP zoom lens f/2.4, 4,000 mAh battery with Samsung fast Wireless Charging and Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging.

Biometrics include Iris, Facial, and fingerprint recognition, Water and Dust Resistance up to IP68. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will run Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box with Samsung Experience 9.5 and of course Samsung Smart Bluetooth S Pen

Galaxy Note 9 Software and Features

The Note 9 is going to launch with Android 8.1 and Samsung Experience 9.5. We were able to confirm this with a screenshot from the Galaxy Note 9. Leaks sources say there is not much new stuff in the software. It’s supposed to be pretty much the same as Android 8.0 and Samsung Experience 9.0 from the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The Note 9 is still going to have Dolby Atmos like the Galaxy S9 and S9+.

New software features will be with the new Bluetooth S Pen, you will be able to control music, slideshows, and the camera shutter. All of this will be possible because of the Bluetooth support in the S Pen. There will be more features than this to come with it though. We are told that there are lots of new S Pen features coming but were not given any specifics. It is supposed to have integration into Fortnite mobile, which is going to launch with the Note 9 at Samsung Unpacked.

Samsung is also launching Bixby 2.0 with the Note 9. This is going to have a slightly updated user interface. It is also going to have more features and be more accurate. Bixby 2.0 is going to support being linked to 3rd party apps. This will use the Bixby SDK and allow for Bixby to control apps just like how Bixby can control Samsung apps. Bixby 2.0 should support apps like Spotify for controlling music. This is going to really expand the number of apps supported by Bixby. Bixby 2.0 is also getting better natural language processing, noise filtering capabilities, and will get faster response times. Samsung might also be including Viv in Bixby 2.0.

Galaxy Note 9 Launch and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is going to be announced at an event on August 9th at 11 am EST. You will be able to watch the live stream on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. During the launch, they are going to show off a couple new accessories for the device. It is said Samsung will be launching an even faster fast wireless charger for the phone. The phone should be available for pre-order between August 10th and August 14th. The phone will be officially available on August 24th. If you preorder you will most likely receive the phone a couple days early.

The phone is going to launch in four colors: Lilac Purple, Brown, Coral Blue, and Midnight Black. The base storage will be 128GBs with 6GBs of RAM. There should be a 256GB storage model also with 6GBs of RAM. There are rumors of a 512GB storage model with 8GBs of RAM coming to Korea. We have also heard rumors that there will be a 512GB storage model with 8GBs of RAM coming to the United States on T-Mobile but we not able to confirm this.

The base price of the phone should be $950/€1,029. This will get you the 128GB storage with 6GBs of RAM model. For the 512GB model with 8GBs of RAM, it will cost about €1,250. We don’t have any information on United States pricing. Keep in mind these prices are rumors and are not official. The phone could cost more or less than the rumored prices.