The biggest design change purportedly coming to the Samsung Galaxy S9 has been revealed in a fresh leak.
Photographs shared online appear to reveal the upgraded rear camera system, as well the new fingerprint sensor placement on the upcoming flagship phone.
The new leaked images seem to confirm the latest whispers from the supply chain, which point to Samsung moving the off-centre fingerprint scanner so that it now rests beneath the camera module.
This is a very welcome change – the location of the fingerprint scanner was one of our biggest gripes with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.
On the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the fingerprint scanner was placed ludicrously close to the lens, so much so Samsung included a warning inside the default camera app to remind users to keep the lens clear of smudges – something which was not included in any previous Galaxy handset.
The new photographs appear to confirm Samsung is bringing the dual-camera system it debuted with the Galaxy Note 9 to its flagship Galaxy S range.
Unlike the Galaxy Note 9, the new images reveal the dual-lens set-up will be aligned vertically, rather than the horizontal alignment of the former.
The leaked photographs of the new handset were shared on Slashleaks.
However, the images originate from Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
It’s unclear if the smartphone shown in the photographs is a genuine Galaxy S9+ handset or a mock-up based on the recent leaks.
As always, it’s worth taking these leaks with a healthy pinch of salt.
The news comes as DJ Koh, president of the technology company’s mobile division, confirmed the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will launch at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tradeshow in February.
The Samsung mobile boss revealed the release date during an exclusive interview with ZDnet.
Previous rumours had pointed to CES as a potential launch date for the hotly-anticipated flagship phone, however, a spokesperson for the company quashed that rumour.
Samsung pushed-back the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus last year, missing its habitual MWC launch date, because of delays caused by the battery problems that struck the Galaxy Note 7.
However, for three years prior to the Galaxy S8, Samsung used the popular MWC tradeshow to announce the latest iteration of its flagship Galaxy S series.
Mobile World Congress will run from February 26th to March 1st 2018.
Since Samsung plans to announce the new phones on-stage at MWC, the handset will most likely launch in retail stores in March.
The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will purportedly sport the same 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch dual-curved, edge-to-edge Super AMOLED “Infinity Display” as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, respectively.
Both models will keep the 3.5mm headphone port – something previously rumoured to have been ditched in favour of USB-C headphones.
Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will keep the Bixby button, which was introduced last year alongside the artificial assistant of the same name.