It is almost a tradition with Samsung devices that we get all sorts of leaks and details about their newest releases and then the company introduces them officially. That is the case for the newest member of the second-generation Galaxy A family of mid-range phones, the Galaxy A9. We started hearing some rumors about this handset back in September and those rumors became stronger once the new Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 were announced. A few weeks ago, some press material for the Galaxy A9 got leaked, confirming some of the rumors and we even got a chance to see the phone next to the Galaxy A7 on video. Yesterday, the phone got certified by TENAA and Samsung has finally made the Galaxy A9 official in China, so we know with absolute certainty all of its specs.
The Galaxy A9 is the largest phone in the Galaxy A series, as it packs a 6-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD resolution. Powering up the device is the octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor (which was previously known as Snapdragon 620) with Adreno 510 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. There is 32 GB of internal memory and it can be expanded with Micro SD cards for up to an additional 128 GB. The camera setup includes a 13-megapixel shooter with OIS and LED flash in the back and an 8-megapixel one in the front, both feature an f/1.9 aperture. There’s also a fingerprint scanner integrated into the home button, Dual SIM support and 4G LTE connectivity. The 4,000 mAh battery supports fast charging and the phone is also compatible with ANT+ and NFC.
The design of the Galaxy A9 is very similar to the one from other members of the new Galaxy A family (and similar to the one on the Galaxy S6 series, for that matter), featuring glass in its front and back and a metallic frame holds these pieces together. The glass is slightly curved around the edges for a 2.5D effect. Pricing and availability are unknown at this point, but the Galaxy A9 will be offered in 3 color options including white, gold and pink.