Galaxy Note 9 Aug. 9 launch date, price, specs, features and other rumors - CNET

The Galaxy Note 9 has an official launch date: Aug. 9. Or, to be more accurate, Samsung has unleashed the official invitation to its next launch event, which we presume to be for the Galaxy Note 9, though Samsung hasn't confirmed the product name in the invite. That's enough for fans of Samsung's phone for power users. Now the real speculation can begin. 

The Galaxy Note, which is designated by its trademark digital stylus, represents the culmination of Samsung's technology for the year. The Note is usually the phone that Samsung usually saves as its "best for last" to battle the iPhone and Pixels, and thrust in front of buyers when the holidays roll around.

Rumors are still a jumble at this point -- will the Note 9 have an underscreen fingerprint reader or won't it?! -- but what is certain is that the Galaxy Note 9 will need to progress beyond the already excellent Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus if it's going to. I have my own hunches on what the Note 9 could have, what I think it should have, and what I think it absolutely won't include.

Keep reading for my thoughts, plus the best rumors that are already starting to build ahead of the official Note 9 launch. Keep checking back: I'll continue to update this list as new rumors emerge.

Read: Six things the Galaxy Note 9 should have

Editor's note: This article was originally published June 13 and is updated frequently.

Confirmed: Samsung's announcement is set for Aug. 9 

The rumors were spot on. Samsung's "Unpacked" launch event will take place on Aug. 9 in Brooklyn. I'd say there's a 99.99 percent chance that the device in question will be the Note 9 that launches Aug. 9. Nice symmetry, eh? 

9/9 at 9 a.m. would have been even better, but with the iPhone launch typically around the same date in September, playing chicken with Apple is risky business. Samsung wouldn't dare put itself in a position to lose that popularity contest. Typically, Samsung likes its Note phones to go on preorder well before Apple even announces its next round of iPhones.

Samsung's official invitation to the Unpacked event on August 9.

Juan Garzón/CNET

Aug. 9 is early for a Note launch, which usually happens at the end of the month rather than the beginning. Last year's Note 8 was announced Aug. 23. But, there is some precedent for an early unveiling. The Note 7 unveiling took place Aug. 2, 2016. Critics pointed fingers at the rush job as one reason that Note 7 units literally burst into flames.

We'll try not to draw too many parallels about the early Note 9 launch.

Unfortunately, the invitation doesn't provide a heck of a lot of clues about what we'll see inside the phone. It focuses on a button, likely the Bixby button or a power/lock button, that's rendered in a yellowy gold color. There's no suggestion of a stylus, dual cameras or even the device's shape. Mysterious, indeed...

Now Playing: Watch this: Samsung, here's what the Note 9 needs

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It will almost surely be called the Galaxy Note 9

That the Note 9 will be called the Note 9 isn't necessarily a given.

Just because the last phone in this series was the Note 8 and the one before was the Galaxy Note 7 doesn't mean Samsung wouldn't skip a number to rename its phone. Samsung did skip 2016's Galaxy Note 6 in favor of the Note 7 name; some suspected it was to match up numerically to the iPhone 7.

But one indication that Samsung's sticking with the classic progression comes from frequent gadget leaker Evan Blass, who tweeted that the Note 9's model number is SM-N960U and its internal name is Crown.

The Note 9 could turn its dual cameras on their side

Dual cameras on the Note 9 are pretty much a sure bet. The Note 8 was Samsung's first phone to add portrait mode, and the Galaxy S9 Plus has the setup, too. Samsung's moving forward here, not backwards.

An image from OnLeaks and @91Mobiles shows a Galaxy Note 9 with side-by-side cameras instead of a vertical stack as we see on the S9 Plus. (For more on cameras, scroll to the wish list below.)

Side-by-side rear cameras on this Galaxy Note 9 render.

OnLeaks/@91Mobiles

Will the Note 9 have a notch? Doubt it

Google has embraced the trend of Android notches, but that doesn't mean Samsung will. The cut-out screen design gives you a "larger" screen to work with by extending the sides of the screen up around the cut-out where the camera lens, speaker and other sensors live.

But there's an extremely high chance that Samsung will keep the Note 9 notch-free and instead use the Note as a way to mock the iPhone X and other notched Android phones.

After all, the notch was an important part of a recent Samsung ad that slammed iPhone speed, and Apple's flock in general.

That said, a patent application does exist for a Samsung phone with a notch design. Then again, so does a notch-less one, with holes cut into the display instead of a screen cut-out.

It'll probably have a headphone jack, too

The Galaxy Note and Galaxy S phones have been safe so far, and Samsung execs have publicly stated that they're proud of the headphone jack. Samsung also typically ships its AKG wired earbuds along with the Galaxy phones inside the box.

It could come in these five colors

One rumor from German site All About Samsung suggests that the Galaxy Note 9 could come in black, grey, lavender (similar to the Galaxy S9's "lilac purple"), bright blue and brown. Some of these shades could have iridescent qualities like the Galaxy S9 phones and other Samsung models. 

Based on past Galaxy phones, I think it's a pretty good guess that the Note 9 will maintain the glossy finish Samsung seems to savor, one that can alter the phone's color when you turn it in the light.

New Galaxy Note 9 colors? We'll see.

Allaboutsamsung.de

The Note 9's rumored in-screen fingerprint reader isn't looking good

Many rumors (like this one from Korea's The Investor and this one from leak tweeter Ice Universe) suggest that the Galaxy Note 9 would have a fingerprint reader baked into the display, much like the Vivo X20 Plus UD (worst phone name ever) and the Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS (wait, I take that back).

I really, really want this to happen.

However, the current word is that Samsung's pulled the feature for now, and will save the in-screen fingerprint sensor for the Galaxy S10. That would be a shame, since the Note series typically leads the way with Samsung's new features.

On the flipside, Samsung can't afford the embarrassment of a mistake if the in-display sensor isn't secure enough for reliable enough for daily use. Ultimately, having this feature work well is better than being among the first.

Instead, a fingerprint reader on the back

Rumors back up the physical fingerprint sensor living below the camera. Twitter leaker Ice Universe tweeted that the Note 9 and Note 8 will look almost indistinguishable, and also posted a leaked case that'll allegedly fit the Galaxy Note 9 that features a cut-out for a rectangular fingerprint reader, Samsung's preferred shape. Keep in mind that a case maker could easily create renders based on rumors and speculation; this isn't necessarily the real deal.

Will the Note 9 have a foldable display? Not bloody likely

The other feature guaranteed to put the Note 9 up in lights is also the least likely by far.

We know that Samsung's working on a foldable phone, and has gone far enough to apply for a patent on a few design scenarios. I'd be stunned speechless if that were to actually happen (for the record, rumors suggest we won't see a foldable phone from Samsung until 2019).

In a nutshell, it isn't Samsung's style to take such a huge risk on its Note phone. The tech giant is far more likely to launch a separate foldable phone to test the waters and gather feedback for working out kinks.

Samsung has long cited Galaxy Note users as among its most loyal, and any issue with a foldable Note could permanently alienate buyers who have already been burned by the Note 7 fiasco.

Galaxy Note 9 could fix Note 8's worst feature

So what could the Note 9 look like? The Note 8. Speculation points to a Galaxy Note update that's got similar dimensions and design to last year's model, but with a fingerprint reader that sits below the dual camera array, not off to the side as it does in the Note 8.

That would be a good decision, and one that would overwrite the Note 8's most annoying and unnecessary design flaw.

A possible render of the Galaxy Note 9 shared by mobile tipster Ice Universe suggests that the Note 8 and Note 9 are virtually indistinguishable, adding that the new Note could be 2mm shorter than the Note 8.

Bixby AI software lives on

Samsung's Bixby software is now a fixture on the company's high end Galaxy phones, which means its presence is a foregone conclusion even if the head of Samsung Research's AI Center hadn't said we'd see an upgraded version on the next flagship phone, whether you wind up disabling Bixby or not.

Bixby could pick up better natural-language processing, improved noise cancelling and faster response times.

Remember that Bixby 2.0, the current version, isn't just for Samsung phones. This is Samsung's vision for its entire ecosystem of devices, similar to the way that Google Assistant, Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa AI sidekicks push into the home through smart speakers and other devices.

Now Playing: Watch this: Siri vs. Google Assistant vs. Bixby

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I'd expect to see the Bixby button return to the left side of the Galaxy Note 9, and I'd be overjoyed if Samsung let you program this key to do something other than open Bixby, though I seriously doubt this will happen.

Read: 10 Bixby tricks you need to know

What about a Samsung version of Apple's FaceID?

By the time we think the Note 9 will launch, it'll have been almost a year since the iPhone X debuted with FaceID, and still no direct competitor to challenge Apple's secure level of face unlock. The Note 9 would be Samsung's chance to respond.

A depth-sensing front-facing camera could help Galaxy phones do more.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Galaxy S8 phones and newer give you a few options for unlocking your phone with your face, but only one of them, iris scanning, is secure enough for mobile payments. That's a pretty good bar as these things go.

Iris scanning harnesses a different technology than Apple's FaceID, which uses a 3D front-facing camera and 50,000 infrared dots to map your face and verify that you are you. 

The Galaxy Note 9 represents an opportunity for Samsung to pop in a 3D camera, too, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor that I expect Samsung to use (the Galaxy S9 already does) supports Applelike technology.

There's little doubt that Samsung and others will want to use a 3D camera, but after losing a  lawsuit and being forced to pay Apple $539 million for patent infringements, I can't blame Samsung for wanting to tread carefully.

Will Samsung fix AR Emoji to take on Apple's Memoji for iOS 12?

Gawd, I hope so. Samsung made 3D avatars first, through its AR Emoji feature in the Galaxy S9 camera. But the unsettling images creeped us out and Apple's new Memoji avatars in iOS 12 are already better at some important things.

Samsung can work to fix AR Emoji in two ways. The first is through software fixes that add more customizations. The second is if that Note 9 gets a 3D camera, which would give Samsung's emoji-creating engine more data to grab on to when it scans your face to make your avatar.

Now Playing: Watch this: Galaxy S9's AR emoji: How good are they?

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Read: How the Galaxy S9's worst feature was made by Oscar winners

The Note 9 won't launch with Android P

Sorry, but it's a given. Google's Android P software update doesn't even have  a name yet -- it'll become Android Popsicle or Pudding or something by the time it arrives on its first phone later this year, most likely in fall around the time that the Google Pixel 3's announced.

But the Galaxy Note 9, and a heap of other Galaxy phones, including the S9 and S9 Plus, are sure to get the final Android P software in the following months. Unfortunately, Samsung isn't known for particularly timely Android updates.

Note 9 camera wish list

Samsung's industry-first dual-aperture lens on the Galaxy S9 will surely come to the Note 9 as well, but I think the company could take the technology a step further by bringing dual-aperture to the front-facing camera as well.

The Galaxy Note 9 camera could look a lot like the Galaxy S9's shooter.

Josh Miller/CNET

The aperture helps determine how much light your photo gets, and generally speaking, the more light you get in, the better. A dual aperture front-facing camera could help automatically make selfies brighter, even without a flash blinding your eyes.

Hopefully Samsung will also fix the Galaxy S9's camera app, which too easily switches between camera modes when you don't intend it to.

Samsung plans to upgrade the Note 9's camera, according to Bloomberg.

Note 9 price: How much will the next Galaxy cost?

Phones aren't getting cheaper. In fact, the Galaxy Note 8 cost significantly more than the Galaxy Note 7 in some markets.

We can expect the Galaxy Note 9 to hover in the same ballpark as the Galaxy Note 8, though prices could creep upwards on account of the dual-aperture camera.

Other rumored Galaxy Note 9 specs

Perla Shaheen contributed to this report.

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