Samsung Galaxy S9 Launches 2/25 At MWC 2018, Here's What To Expect

Samsung has begun sending out invitations to its upcoming Unpacked event where it is planning to unveil its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9. The event is scheduled for February 25, 2018, in Barcelona, Spain, a day before Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicks off. Samsung is planning to livestream the event on its website starting at 12:00 PM Eastern (9 AM Pacific). Here is what you can expect.

To start with, the invitation teases a "reminagined" camera on the Galaxy S9. That is something that can be said of pretty much every new flagship phone, though in this case, Samsung now owns an image sensor brand called ISOCELL. Previously leaked details suggest the ISOCELL sensor that will be used on the Galaxy S9 will feature a stacked design that, in theory, would allow it to record video at up 960 frames per second at HD 720p and up to 480 fps in Full HD 1080p, for super slow motion captures.

The ISOCELL sensor is also expected to bring an increase in the responsiveness of the phase detection pixels that are used for image focusing. This means the Galaxy S9 should be able to take clear and crisp shots of fast moving objects. And assuming Samsung goes with a dual-camera setup—fast become a standard feature on flagship phones—the Galaxy S9 should be capable of some nifty Bokeh effects.


Barring a sudden deviation in strategy, the Galaxy S9 will come with one of two SoCs—Samsung's own Exynos 9810 processor (international version) and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 (U.S. version). This will set the stage for a performance showdown between the Galaxy S9 and Apple's iPhone X with its custom A11 Bionic processor, along a few other recently released and announced phones that are also rocking a Snapdragon 845 SoC.

A purported image of the Galaxy S9's retail box showed up a couple of weeks ago, and according to the handful of specs that were listed on the side, the Galaxy S9 will have a 5.6-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display with rounded corners, and the Galaxy S9 Plus will have a 5.8-inch display in full rectangle form. The box also points to 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, stereo speakers tuned by AKG, an iris scanner, and IP68 water and dust resistance.

Stay tuned, as we will have ongoing coverage of both Samsung's Unpaced event and MWC.