Samsung is planning on opening pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 9 in mid-August, The Chosun Ilbo reports, citing no specific sources. The company’s next Android flagship will be officially announced on August 9 at a new “Unpacked” event in New York City and while many industry watchers presumed advanced orders will be made available immediately following its unveiling, the Seoul-based tech giant is now said to be working on a different strategy. The latest report on the matter only pertains to the firm’s plans for its home country, though all of its high-end mobile devices released in recent years had global pre-order dates, in addition to becoming available for purchase on a worldwide level at approximately the same time.
The Galaxy Note 9 will be released in South Korea on August 24, with its global market debut hence being expected to take place around the same time, as per the same report. The Galaxy Note 8 hit the store shelves on September 15 and the earlier launch of its successor is meant to be Samsung’s response to weaker-than-expected sales of the Galaxy S9 lineup introduced in the first quarter of the year, insiders claim. The upcoming Android flagship is still expected to be a largely iterative upgrade over the previous device, though it should be offered at an identical price and launch with a variety of pre-order promotions, according to recent rumors.
The U.S. variant of the Galaxy Note 9 is likely to be powered by the same Snapdragon 845 chip from Qualcomm found inside the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, with its base model being expected to feature 64GB of storage space and 6GB of RAM. A dual-camera setup should be part of the package, possibly with one variable-aperture lens, whereas the device itself is anticipated to debut with Android 8.1 Oreo-based Samsung Experience 9.5. The Galaxy Note 9 will also have a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display and a significantly improved S Pen stylus, previous reports suggested.