While the Galaxy Note 9 has been the subject of various leaks and rumors in recent months, the frequency of those leaks and rumors has been far lower than what we generally expect ahead of a new Galaxy flagship's launch. The upcoming tenth-anniversary of the Galaxy S line can be attributed as one of the major reasons for that, and it's possible Samsung had a better hold on exactly what leaks out.
That hold, however, has fallen quite weak in the last few days, giving us plenty to talk about. From live images of the Galaxy Note 9 through renders of the various Note 9 color variants to possible pricing, a flurry of information has surfaced in the past few days. For those who may have missed our recent coverage, here's a roundup of the important stuff we learned about the Note 9 over the last few days.
Galaxy Note 9 battery capacity confirmed
Confirmed is the wrong word to use for any information that comes out before a device has been officially launched. But the Galaxy Note 9 battery size has been one of the most interesting tidbits, and the recent certification by Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency ANATEL gave us the best evidence yet that there will indeed be a 4,000 mAh battery under the hood. ANATEL was kind enough to correctly reveal the Galaxy S9's battery capacity ahead of its launch earlier this year, so there's no reason to think it is wrong about the Note 9.
Possible S Pen features revealed
The upcoming Galaxy Tab S4 is expected to feature a Bluetooth-enabled S Pen just like the Galaxy Note 9. So it wasn't surprising when the official Tab S4 firmware spilled some details on what the Bluetooth stylus would be able to do. By pressing the S Pen button, users would be able to control music playback and use it as a remote shutter button for the camera. They will also be able to assign single and double-press actions, unlock the device as long as the stylus isn't inside the phone, and access advanced functionality inside various apps. Third-party app integration will probably be there as well, but it's hard to say at this point in time whether the Bluetooth aspect of the S Pen will factor into anything other than Samsung's proprietary apps and functionality.
Galaxy Note 9 storage capacity could start at 128GB
That the Galaxy Note 9 might not have a 64GB storage model was becoming more and more plausible when rumors of an 8GB RAM variant started to surface. But the latest rumor says that indeed, the base model will have 128GB of internal storage (and a microSD slot, of course). The rumor only talked about a launch in Europe, though it should be the same across the world. It is also said that Europe will get only the 512GB variant apart from the 128GB model and the blue, black, and purple color options, but that may not be the case everywhere. Sadly, there's no word on whether there actually is a Note 9 with 8GB of RAM.
Galaxy Note 9 price may reach nearly $1,500
You were probably wondering already: Just how much would the 512GB variant cost? And, well, you're not going to like it. Again, the info comes for the European variant, which may cost as much as 1,250 euro ($1,460) for 512GB of on-board storage. The 128GB model, meanwhile, might command a 1,050 euro ($1,230) price tag. Accounting for the additional tax in European markets, the Note 9 is still expected to hover around the $1,000 mark worldwide, which would make it the costliest Galaxy flagship yet. Fingers crossed that rumor about the Note 9 having the same launch price as the Galaxy Note 8 is the correct one, even if only for some countries.
Bixby 2.0 has support for third-party apps
This isn't exactly a Galaxy Note 9 feature, as Bixby 2.0 will be coming to existing devices. But regular users of Samsung's AI assistant will be happy to hear that Samsung will be giving third-party developers the ability to make Bixby work inside their apps. Right now, all Bixby can do is launch third-party apps if you ask it to, and even that doesn't work too well. But version 2.0 could change things on that front, making Bixby more useful and worthy of a dedicated physical button.
We have to give the usual disclaimer than none of this information should be taken without a healthy dose of skepticism. But you already knew that, right? However, with only around two weeks to go for the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 9, there are fewer chances of any details that leak out in the coming days (and those that have in the last few days) of being incorrect. That's also the reason why most of what we learned in the past seven days or so is more evidence to support existing rumors.
For more on what to expect from the Galaxy Note 9, check out this post.
