A day after Samsung confirmed that it will unveil the Galaxy Note 9 on August 9, mobile industry veteran Eldar Murtazin is out with a detailed report about the rumored Galaxy Note 9 specs. He claims to have spent some time with the Galaxy Note 9 recently in which he got to evaluate the hardware and check out some of the software features of Samsung's new flagship.
You may or may not choose to believe him but it's pertinent to mention here that Murtazin does have a commendable track record with leaks. He has been in the game long enough to capture readers' attention when he makes a claim.
Rumored Galaxy Note 9 specs
Murtazin confirms earlier reports that there won't be a lot of differences in the design of the Galaxy Note 9 compared to the Galaxy Note 8, adding that it will be difficult to tell the difference between the two from afar. One significant design change is that the fingerprint sensor is no longer alongside the horizontally positioned dual camera system, it's below the sensors now, as we recently saw in a major render leak.
It has also been suggested in reports that the Galaxy Note 9 will feature a 4,000mAh battery and Murtazin seconds that. He says that the device actually feels a bit heavier than its predecessor because of the larger battery. Many won't mind that as the battery is said to last up to two days, being able to offer up to 25 hours of non-stop video playback at maximum brightness.
The Galaxy Note 8's base model offered 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Samsung is expected to bump that up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage for the Galaxy Note 9. The company will reportedly offer 8GB/256GB and 8GB/512GB variants as well. There have been rumors about 512GB storage for the Galaxy Note 9 but not much evidence has surfaced to support the claim.
The Galaxy Note 9 will have the same curved Infinity Display as the Galaxy Note 8 with display brightness being slightly increased. Murtazin says that Samsung is working on an updated version of the Always On Display but it probably won't be ready until next year so we may see it on the Galaxy S10 first. He mentions that the UI animations have been improved and that they look good.
There have been many reports about Samsung revamping the Galaxy Note 9's camera without any details about how it's actually going to do that. Murtazin says that the camera performance has been enhanced due to improved algorithms and that optical stabilization is improved as well. Samsung has also updated AR Emoji but no details have been provided about that.
Samsung does improve the S Pen with every iteration of its Note flagship and the Galaxy Note 9's S Pen reportedly features support for Bluetooth with new software features that will appeal to business users.
Murtazin also makes an interesting claim that Samsung will stop selling the Galaxy Note 8 after the Galaxy Note 9 is launched. He actually says that Samsung already stopped shipping the Galaxy Note 8 to its partners a couple of months ago and they're only selling the stock that they have left. This isn't what Samsung normally does, you can still buy the Galaxy S8 directly from the company and its partners, so it may be straying from tradition.
If the Galaxy Note 9 is really not all that different compared to the Galaxy Note 8 then the company won't like risking cannibalization of the newer flagship's sales by selling the Galaxy Note 8 at a lower price. It will stop selling the Galaxy Note 8 altogether so that customers who want a new phablet have no option but to purchase the Galaxy Note 9. Even if it does that, we feel that the company might continue to sell both handsets in price sensitive markets such as India where customers often opt for a year-old flagship just because it's cheaper.
All of what Murtazin claims is within the realm of possibility and will only be officially confirmed when Samsung launches the handset on August 9. Do check out our exhaustive post on the Galaxy Note 9 specs, design, features and price to get a better idea of what you can expect from the new flagship.
