Samsung Galaxy S9 release date, specs, features: Upcoming flagship to include stereo speakers and 3D emojis

Promotional image for the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, featuring the Infinity DisplaySamsung

There are only a few days remaining before the much-awaited unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 smartphones. Based on the press invitations sent out by the South Korean tech firm, the public can expect big improvements in the flagship's camera department. However, latest reports suggest that the Galaxy S8 successor would also feature a new stereo speaker build, as well as Samsung's very own 3D emojis.

As reported by the South Korean publication ETNews, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will have its own take of the iPhone X's Animoji. It is suggested that Samsung's version of the Animoji will be more advanced. Of course, there will be some similarities between the two emoji features such as the tracking and mimicking of the user's facial movements and projecting them to a 3D character. The Samsung Galaxy S9's 3D emoji will include animal characters, which can be shared with other users.

The 3D animoji in the Samsung Galaxy S9 is not a far-fetched idea, given that the smartphone is already expected to boast artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, The Verge reported. Samsung earlier announced that its next batch of premium handsets will make use of a new Exynos chip, which is designed for advanced AI tasks such as realistic face-tracking filtering and advanced facial recognition system for unlocking the device. Although, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will not be the first to rival the iPhone X's Animoji as the latest Huawei Honor series also has this feature.

Meanwhile, 9to5Google reported that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are likely to sport stereo speakers. Samsung might have taken the opportunity to redesign the speaker build of its flagship Galaxy smartphone, which has remained unchanged since the Galaxy S6. The upcoming smartphone is still expected to have a bottom-mounted speaker, but there will be an additional speaker located at the upper portion of the handset, possibly near the earphone jack. Specifically, SamMobile suggests that the Galaxy S9 will boast Dolby Digital Surround sound powered by AKG.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Spain on February 25th.