Samsung Galaxy S9, S9 Plus release date, specs rumors: Next flagship may not feature new 21:9 display aspect ratio?

The infinity design of the Samsung Galaxy S8Samsung/smartphones/Galaxy-s8

The remaining days of 2017 are numbered, which means that the time has come to talk about the upcoming flagship devices of the industry's leading tech firms. For one, the rumors are rife that Samsung will launch its 2018 high-end smartphones, Galaxy S9 and S9+, a bit earlier than usual. However, past rumors about its display ratio seem to be untrue.

A Dutch online publication called Galaxy Club reported that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will stick to the current 18:9 display ratio. However, the front design will be changed to reach up to 90% screen ratio. This will be done by further reducing the top and bottom bezels. By trimming down the bezels, Samsung will no longer have to create much larger display panels for the new S9 handsets just to achieve the target 90% aspect ratio.

Previously, it was believed that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ would feature an impressively large 21:9 display ratio, making the Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8's 18:5:9 appearance look smaller. Aside from the increased screen-to-body ratio, it was posited that the Galaxy S9 smartphone will have a much taller appearance that the previous top-tier handsets.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Galaxy S series followers should not expect too much from the S9 and S9+ variants. According to the latest reports, Samsung could only offer a minor incremental update for its next flagship phones, at best. This is because the South Korean tech giant has already made all the possible upgrades in the current Galaxy S8 smartphones, most especially the groundbreaking Infinite display feature. For the 2018 iteration to top off its predecessor, it should introduce big changes in terms of design and performance.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to sport a 5.8-inch all-screen display, just like its S8 counterpart, while the S9+ will have a larger 6.2-inch display panel. The 2018 flagships will include 4 gigabytes (GB) and 6 GB of random access memory (RAM), depending on the variant, while the performance will receive a significant boost, thanks to the newly-launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip.