A Samsung Electronics-made device identified by the model number SM-N960U that some industry watchers are speculating may be the Galaxy Note 9 appeared in the database of mobile browser benchmark HTML5 earlier today, having been tested while running a custom version of Android 8.0 Oreo, likely enhanced with the company’s own software suite. The testing service rated the device as offering one of the best Internet browsing experiences ever and suggested the screen of the smartphone utilizes an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The image format itself is indicative of an Infinity Display which Samsung already commercialized with all of its 2017 flagships, as well as the newly announced Galaxy S9 lineup and the Galaxy S8 (2018) series of Android mid-rangers.
No other information has been revealed by the benchmark and the model number of the device itself doesn’t guarantee the tested unit was actually a Galaxy Note 9 prototype given how such online tools can be tricked to misidentify handsets with relative ease. Provided that wasn’t the case, the newly uncovered model is likely the successor to the Galaxy Note 8 lineup, also known as the SM-N950. The “U” mentioned in the model number of the benchmarked smartphone suggests the spotted unit is meant to be representative of the unlocked U.S. variant of the handset. Last year, the unlocked Galaxy Note 8 models sold by Samsung U.S. with 64GB of internal flash memory were identified as the SM-N950U series.
Not much is known about Samsung’s 2018 S Pen-equipped phablet, with the South Korean tech giant so far only revealing that it expects Bixby 2.0 to debut alongside its next Android flagship. With the Galaxy Note 8 launching late last summer at Berlin, Germany-based IFA, its successor may follow suit and debut at this year’s iteration of the European trade show. Much like the Galaxy S9 series, the Galaxy Note 9 is likely to retain the overall look of its direct predecessor and focus on delivering performance improvements across the board, ranging from a better system-on-chip to enhanced imaging capabilities. Samsung’s latest Android flagships have been announced last Sunday and are scheduled to become available for pre-orders tomorrow before being released on a global level come March 16.