The Galaxy Note 9 will have an in-screen fingerprint reader and one of its color variants will be an entirely new offering from Samsung, according to a new rumor from the Far East. A China-based industry insider who previously alleged to be close to at least one of Samsung’s component suppliers claims the new color in question will be called “Teddy Brown,” suggesting the tech giant will soon be rejoining one of its Android flagship lineups with a shade of brown for the first time since 2013 and the Galaxy S4. The upcoming phablet will also feature a significantly improved S Pen stylus compared to last year’s Galaxy Note 8, as well a dual-camera setup comparable to the one of the Galaxy S9 Plus, as per the same source, with the latter point being indicative of another variable-aperture lens coming to the mobile market this year.
The insider claims Samsung will introduce Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9, which the company’s mobile chief DJ Koh himself already hinted at during Mobile World Congress in late February, having said that the next generation of its artificial intelligence assistant is presently in active development, adding that the firm is aiming to have it ready in time for the commercial launch of its next Android flagship. The handset will be released with Android 8.1 Oreo, i.e. Samsung’s custom implementation of Google’s operating system that will possibly be branded as Samsung Experience 9.1 or 10. A 3,850mAh battery will also be part of the package even though the phablet itself won’t be significantly larger than the Galaxy Note 8 which shipped with a 3,300mAh cell, the source suggests.
The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to launch in late August, most likely at Berlin, Germany-based IFA trade show which is running from August 31 through September 5. Both the newly emerged rumor and previous reports about the Android flagship suggest it will be a largely performance-oriented upgrade over its direct predecessor while retaining its Infinity Display-centered aesthetic, much like the Galaxy S9 series delivered a refined version of the Galaxy S8 lineup instead of radically changing its formula.