Samsung Galaxy Note 9 release date, specs rumors 2018: Phablet spotted on Chinese certification website

After the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ launch at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last February, the attention is now fixed on the South Korean tech giant's next premium offering, the Galaxy Note 9. The specs of the upcoming phablet are not yet confirmed, although the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 was recently certifified by a Chinese regulatory commission, which gives some information about the device.

Promotional poster for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8YouTube/Samsung

As reported by LetsGoDigital, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has been certified by China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (CMIIT), which is the equivalent of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in China. This recent certification could imply that the Galaxy Note 9 will arrive in the Chinese market soon, supporting the previous rumors that Samsung might launch the Note 8 successor earlier than the usual schedule.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 listing from the CMIIT certification shows that the phablet will have both the Snapdragon and Exynos variants, similar with the Galaxy S9 smartphones. To note, CMIIT first certified an unnamed Samsung device with model number SM-N9600 on March 21, followed by another certification for a device with model number SM-N9608.

These two Samsung devices are highly suspected to be the two Galaxy Note 9 variants, given that the Galaxy Note usually has a model number starting with SM-N960. Although, it is not clear which of these two models will be powered by a Snapdragon and Exynos processor. 

It was tipped by a previous Geekbench benchmark listing that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will pack Qualcomm's latest high-end mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 845. The listing shows the Snapdragon chip scoring 2190 for single core and 8806 for multi core tests. While it is not yet confirmed, it is possible that the Exynos variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will receive the Exynos 9810 processor.

Other expected features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 include a whopping 4,000mAh battery cell, an improved S Pen, and Bixby 2.0. However, it has yet to be seen if the Note 9 will indeed boast an in-display fingerprint scanner, which has been rumored to be included in the phablet for quite some time now.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is likely to be unveiled later in August.