A Samsung-made device bearing the model number SM-G8750 appeared in the database of smartphone benchmarking tool Geekbench earlier this week, with some industry watchers speculating the handset in question is a smaller revision of the Galaxy S9-series flagships meant to be advertised as the Galaxy S9 Mini. The device was tested running Android 8.0 Oreo, with the tool determining it sports 4GB of RAM and what appears to be the Snapdragon 660, one of Qualcomm’s latest mid-range chips. No other details have been provided by Geekbench, with the synthetic scores of the SM-G8750 being in line with other Android devices equipped with the same silicon.
The South Korean tech giant hasn’t released a Mini-branded revision of one of its flagships since the Galaxy S5 Mini announced in July of 2014, though rumors of such handsets have been circulating the industry ever since. The Galaxy S8 Mini was also said to be in the works at one point this year but didn’t end up being commercialized, provided the project even existed in the first place. As the mobile industry moved toward larger screens in recent years and normalized the concept of a phablet, Samsung started phasing out its smaller Android flagships, thus fully embracing 5.5-inch and larger panels. Today, the company’s only standing alternative flagship lineup is the Active series, with the Galaxy S8 Active being released last summer and its successor now being expected to follow suit in the coming months.
The Galaxy S9 Mini hence isn’t likely to happen, with Samsung and virtually every other phone maker bar Sony now seemingly abandoning the concept of highly compact devices outside of the entry-level space. Samsung’s Galaxy J and Galaxy A lineups have also been strengthened in recent times, leaving even less room for yet another value-oriented offering. The Seoul-based firm was also rumored to have dropped its Galaxy S Mini series in 2015 as it wanted to avoid a scenario in which a single mid-range offering devalues the otherwise premium-only brand of Android smartphones. Samsung‘s next major mobile release is expected to arrive in late summer, coming in the form of the Galaxy Note 9.