Reports broke out that Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9, will be launched quite ahead of the usual schedule next year. It was even expected that the Galaxy S8's successor will be unveiled as early as January, although the latest development has the handset arriving in February instead at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018.
The South Korean tech firm's 2017 flagship phones, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, were unveiled at a special keynote event in April. As for the Galaxy S9, it is expected to be out a few months earlier, possibly in January. However, the South Korean news publication The Bell reported that the launch will be on February 27<sup>th at the MWC 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.
The Bell noted that the actual unboxing of the Samsung Galaxy S9 will not happen in the MWC stage. Instead, the launch will take place at another location in Barcelona, which can be viewed by the MWC participants via satellite telecast.
Even if the Samsung Galaxy S9 was initially thought to appear in January, a February launch does not sound bad. Unfortunately, it is rumored that Samsung will opt to delay the arrival of the Galaxy S9 in the market. This will give an extended period of time for the Galaxy S8 smartphones in the shelves, which are still selling like hotcakes a few months after its release. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are expected to hit the shelves in August 2018, a bit closer to the Galaxy Note 9 launch.
The Galaxy S9 specs are not yet confirmed, although recent leaks suggest that the handset will stick to the single-lens camera feature, contrary to speculations that the 2018 flagship will upgrade to dual camera setup similar to Note 8. Also, the Galaxy S9 is rumored to find a new location for its rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Instead of having the reader adjacent to the camera module, the fingerprint sensor will be placed just below the lens.
