Samsung has officially announced that it will be unveiling its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9, at its Unpacked event in Barcelona on February 25. This is just a day ahead of the MWC which officially kicks off on February 26. There have been a lot of rumours and speculations regarding the upcoming smartphones and we’re slowing getting a clearer picture of how they might look and what they will feature.

Last year’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagships impressed one and all with their edge-to-edge displays which kick started the bezel-less trend along with Xiaomi and LG. With that being the norm now, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will also sport full-screen displays, but Samsung will also want to focus on other key aspects as well such as design and cameras, among other things. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming flagships so far.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+ DESIGN

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ from last year were lauded for being a pair of very attractive-looking smartphones. The flagships came with near bezel-less displays with slim bezels on the top and bottom along with curved edges. Both the smartphones featured glass on the front and back with a metal frame in between. A similar design is expected from the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ as well, but we do expect a few tweaks.

From what past renders suggest, Samsung is planning to cut down the bezels even further on the Galaxy S9 series and will keep the 18:5:9 aspect ratio. The company will reportedly introduce a new Y-OCTA (Youm On-Cell Touch AMOLED) technology as well. As per the reports, Y-OCTA will allow the company to place the touch sensor directly on the flexible OLED layer. This will help reduce thickness and weight and could also make the display more touch responsive.

The rear will continue to be made out of glass, but we do expect a little change in the look, especially with regards to the fingerprint sensor. According to previous renders, Samsung will move the sensor below the camera module for easy reachability. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ had the sensor placed next to the camera which many felt was hard to reach and caused accidental smudges on the camera lens.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+ CAMERAS

Samsung  announced the Unpacked date with the tagline “The Camera. Reimagined.” This suggests that the Galaxy S9 series will come with some serious camera specifications. The Galaxy S series in general has been known for coming with stellar cameras, and Samsung may take things up a notch with the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.

The company this week announced four new ISOCELL camera sensors with each having a special ability such as improving light sensitivity and enabling high-speed video captures at 1080p at 480fps, among other things. The Galaxy S9 series could come with a version of the new sensors announced by Samsung.

As per past rumours, the Galaxy S9 will sport a single dual-pixel 12-megapixel sensor on the back with features like variable aperture (between f/1.5 and f/2.4) and super slow motion video recording. The larger Galaxy S9+ will sport a dual camera setup on the back like the Galaxy Note 8 and could feature a version of ISOCELL Dual for better optical zoom, low-light shooting and depth sensing for bokeh shots.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 AND GALAXY S9+ SPECIFICATIONS

Apart from the design and cameras, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are expected to bear top-of-the-line hardware that will be championed by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The Galaxy S9 is expected to sport a 5.8-inch Quad-HD+ Super AMOLED display while the larger Galaxy S9+ will come with a 6.2-inch display similar to their predecessors. They are expected to come with IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. Samsung will likely offer the phones in a choice of 4GB and 6GB of RAM variants.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are also expected to come with faster wireless charging. With slimmer bezels, Samsung may ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack much like Apple and Google have in the past. However, renders so far suggest that the flagships will retain the jack this year. The Galaxy S9 series will reportedly be available for pre-orders starting February 26 and will start shipping on March 16.