Samsung may end up offering a purple variant of its Galaxy S9-series devices, SamMobile reported earlier this month, citing sources close to the South Korean company. The color itself is understood to be a darker shade of purple that may be closer to violet and should be offered in addition to three standard variants of the handsets – black, blue, and gold. All four variations should encompass both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, though not every one of them may be available on a global level, as suggested by Samsung’s previously employed product release practices. A violet take on Samsung’s Android flagships was already rumored to be in the works for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus but was never commercialized, though the Seoul-based phone maker eventually released a bright pink model of its 2017 smartphone duo.
The handful of Galaxy S9 colors that will be offered by launch are likely to be expanded over the course of 2018, with Samsung having a long history of revising its high-end offerings throughout each calendar year in order to maintain interest in the handsets and keep them in the media spotlight. Such color revisions often coincide with its rivals’ premium releases, as was the case with the Burgundy Red version of the Galaxy S8 which the company launched shortly after the arrival of Apple’s iPhone X. The official monikers of the Galaxy S9 lineup’s color options remain unclear, though the black variants of the devices are likely to retain the “Midnight Black” name that Samsung has been using since early 2016 and the Galaxy S7 series.
According to the vast majority of recent reports, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will be relatively incremental upgrades over their direct predecessors and be extremely similar in terms of design, albeit their already slim bezels may be additionally reduced. The U.S. and Chinese variants of the phones should be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, whereas the international models should feature Samsung’s Exynos 9810. While the Galaxy S9 is still expected to ship with 4GB of RAM, the Galaxy S9 Plus should have 6GB, thus being on par with the Galaxy Note 8. The two Android flagships are expected to be announced in early 2018 and may even make a CES 2018 appearance, albeit their official launch is said to be closer to MWC 2018 which is starting in late February.