The next entry in the hugely-successful Galaxy S smartphone range will be unveiled next month, Samsung has confirmed.
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.
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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.
Sources suggest the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will sport an almost identical design to their predecessors.
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.
That said, those with knowledge of Samsung’s plans believe a number of keys changes on the way.
According to sources speaking to VentureBeat, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will include built-in AKG stereo speakers this time around.
Samsung has yet to really leverage its acquisition of Harman International – the parent company behind premium audio brands like AKG, JBL and Harman/Kardon – which it bought in March 2017.
The inclusion of AKG stereo speakers should dramatically improve the performance of the built-in speakers.
The Galaxy S9+ is also tipped to include the same dual-camera set-up that debuted with the Galaxy Note 8 earlier this year.
The Note 8 included two 12-megapixel cameras, both fitted with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS).
There is a wide-angle and telephoto lens, which enables the phone to zoom to 2x without losing quality.
It also enables a DSLR-style depth of field effect in portrait photos.
According to reports, the cameras will be aligned vertically on the back of both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ so the fingerprint scanner is positioned beneath the lens.
This solves one of our biggest gripes with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ which placed the fingerprint scanner ludicrously close to the lens.
Samsung itself included a warning with the default camera app to remind users to keep the lens clean, since smudges can negatively impact picture quality.
The news comes as new images of the Samsung Galaxy S9 were leaked on social media, revealing the dual-curved glass panel design.