Samsung Galaxy A9 news: Specs, features, and release date revealed

Galaxy A8 is the current model of the A series. Samsung website

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) has been the subject of numerous leaks over the last few weeks, but the company finally announced the rumored device at an event in China last Wednesday.

The newest entry to the Galaxy A series from the South Korean tech company, the Galaxy A9 (2016) features a 6-inch screen size, which boasts of a 1080p Super AMOLED display.

It also carries a powerful, non-removable 4,000 mAh battery. To compare how much improvement was made on A9, the recently released A series member, the Galaxy A7 (2016), only has a 3,300 mAh battery.

Inside the A9 is an octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor that powers the device's performance, along with a 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage that can be expanded to 128 GB with a microSD card.

As for the camera, Galaxy A9 features a 13-megapixel main shooter and an 8-megapixel camera on the front. The selfie shooter also offers different modes such as self-portrait mode and a palm selfie mode to make it easier to capture selfies.

Everything under the hood is enclosed in a combination of glass and metal case measured at only 0.29 inches. Although this isn't the thinnest phone, since Galaxy A8 measures 0.23 inches thin, A9's thickness is still impressive considering the phone is large in size.

The device, which will be available in three color options, Midnight Black, Champagne Gold, and Pearl White, according to GSM Arena, also comes with a fingerprint scanner and supports Samsung Pay.

The Galaxy A9 follows the recently released Galaxy A5 and A7 2016 models which are already selling in China.

Galaxy A9 is expected to be available in China starting January 2016. However, Samsung has not announced any details regarding the new phone's price. Also, the company still has to issue an official announcement if the new Galaxy A9 will be sold in other markets.