Newsletter 
Samsung’s long-rumored Galaxy Note 9 appears to have now been certified by the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (CMIIT). That’s based on the two model numbers associated with the listing – specifically, SM-N9500 and SM-N9508. Both of those are listed as Samsung devices and as mobile phones, with the first being approved on March 21 while the latter gained approval on April 24. Unsurprisingly, both of these handsets are probably Chinese variants of the device. That’s a presumption based on considerations for Samsung’s past Galaxy Note naming conventions. Namely, the Galaxy Note 8 was designated in the region with model numbers SM-N9500 and SM-N9508. So, although it’s not guaranteed, SM-N9608 and SM-N9600 would seem to point to that.
The listed frequency bands – as shown below – also seem to support the idea that this is a handset intended for China, although some international bands do also appear to be supported. However, the bands also aren’t listed with any indication as to which bands are assigned to 2G, 3G, or 4G LTE, so it may be premature to jump to any conclusions there. Whatever the case, this also appears to confirm speculation that the South Korean tech giant would be releasing it’s Galaxy Note 9 a bit sooner than normal due to lackluster sales of the company’s Galaxy S9 family. Again, that’s not confirmed by any stretch of the imagination but early certification would seem to point that direction. There really won’t be any way to know for sure until Samsung announces something officially.
In the meantime, there has also been plenty of speculation about the device itself and at least one benchmark spotted which appears to be tied to the Galaxy Note 9 in question. If Samsung follows its previous conventions with regard to internal specifications, this phablet will most likely arrive with a Snapdragon inside instead of its own more powerful Exynos SoC. That’s the Snapdragon 845 if those earlier reports are to be believed, though there’s always a chance that some of the specs will be different for China. That’s expected to be driving Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, backed up by 6GB of RAM, with around 1GB reserved for the operating system itself. Power is expected to come from a slightly larger battery than in the Galaxy S9 series, rated at 3,850mAh.
