Here's everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung's Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung's way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year's Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year's release. Here's what we know so far!

August 3, 2018 — Official Galaxy Note 9 promo video leaks days before announcement

Six days before Samsung's set to announce the Galaxy Note 9, an official promotional video for the phone has leaked online to give us an early glimpse of what's to come.

The video confirms much of what we've been anticipating for months, including the Note 9's design, an "all new powerful S Pen", "powerful all day battery", and expandable storage. The video ends with a bit of text that says "pre-order now", suggesting that pre-orders for the Note 9 might open the same day it's announced.

July 27, 2018 — Samsung releases two more teasers for the Galaxy Note 9

After releasing its first Note 9 teaser video to hype up the phone's battery life, Samsung's published two other clips that focus on hyping its performance and storage.

On the performance side of things, we're expecting the Note 9 to come equipped with the Snapdragon 845 and 6 or 8GB RAM. We already saw the 845 in the Galaxy S9 series, but the 8GB RAM would be a step up from the S9+'s 6GB.

In regards to storage, current rumors point at three different configurations — including 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

What will the Galaxy Note 9 look like?

Quick answer — a lot like the Note 8.

We've seen one collection of renders for the Note 9 so far (pictured above), and save for the fingerprint sensor being moved below the rear camera sensor, the phone's shaping up to be nearly identical to last year's model.

As such, we can expect a large Infinity Display with slim bezels, an all-glass back, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung's event teaser suggests that we'll get at least one bright yellow color option, but I'm still crossing my fingers the Galaxy S9's Burgundy Red gets a wide release on the Note 9 🤞.

What specs can we look forward to?

Samsung's Galaxy Note phones are always home to some of the best specs around, and the Note 9 shouldn't be any different.

Based on the current rumor mill and what we've seen from other 2018 flagships, here's what we think we'll see this year.

Spec	Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Specs
Operating system	Android Oreo
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810
Screen	6.3-inch Quad HD (2960 x 1440) Super AMOLED panel 18.5:9 aspect ratio
RAM	6GB / 8GB
Storage	128GB / 256GB / 512GB
Expandability	microSD up to 2TB
Battery	4,000 mAh
Connectivity	USB-C 3.5mm headphone jack
Security	Fingerprint sensor Iris scanning Face unlock
NFC	Yes

What's going on with the S Pen?

The S Pen has always been one of the biggest draws to the Galaxy Note phones, and this year with the Note 9, we're expecting Samsung to give the accessory one of the biggest updates we've seen in years.

One of the biggest changes this time around is that the Note 9 S Pen is rumored to come with Bluetooth. On one hand, this means the S Pen will need to have a battery and be charged somehow. Although we can't confirm this, it's likely Samsung will design a system that allows the S Pen to charge up while it's inside the Note 9.

On a more exciting note, Bluetooth could allow for the S Pen to be useful even when it's not in direct contact with the Note 9. Its button could act as a camera shutter, slide-show clicker, give you better alerts when it's away from your phone, and more.

There have also been hints at some sort of gaming-specific features, but it's unclear how exactly these will pan out.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9, 2018, at an Unpacked event in New York City.

We can expect retail availability to come in a 1-2 week time frame after the announcement, if any previous launches are any indication.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I'd expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren't afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don't consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

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