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Various Galaxy Note 9 leaks show more colors, a bigger battery, and Bixby 2.0

🎵 It’s beginning to look a lot like reveal time 🎵

samsung galaxy note 9
Image: Bloomberg

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With Samsung’s Unpacked press conference on August 9, the leaks are coming fast and furious for the phablet. A whole notebook worth appeared over the weekend, with most of them confirming earlier rumors.

If you’re hoping for a drastic redesign, look away now – there’s not going to be any real surprises here. It’ll look a lot like the Galaxy Note 8 that you might already have, but with some upgrades similar to what the Galaxy 9+ was outfitted with. Add a new S Pen, a rotated camera module and a bigger battery to the S9+ and you’ll get something pretty similar to this year’s flagship Note 9.

With the wild expectations quelled, on with the leaks!

We got a one-minute YouTube video of the retail box of the handset, complete with the specs list on the back, but also the retail version of the handset itself. We’ve seen prototypes leaked before this of course, but this looks like the kosher article.

Bixby 2.0

I mean, does anyone use Bixby other than to disable the button on the side? A report from The Bell says that the Galaxy Note 9 will ship with a new, improved version of Bixby, now Version 2.0. Hopefully, it’s much improved and gives us a reason to keep it enabled. I’m also hopeful that the heavy-handed app integrations that Samsung did on the S9 have been walked back, but I’m not holding my breath.

If it’s improved, Bixby will come with better voice recognition, third-party app integration, and overall better AI features. And yes, it’ll be rolling out to all compatible Galaxy S and Note devices, although perhaps not at the same time. Bixby is also at the center of Samsung’s smart home push, with inclusion on TVs, washing machines, refrigerators and the rumored overpriced Bixby speaker.

What a whopper

The earlier leaks regarding the Galaxy Note 9’s camera orientation stated it was a result of Samsung’s desire to increase the battery capacity of the handset. That seems confirmed, with the Note 9 coming with a 4,000mAh battery vs the 3,500mAh one in the S9+.

Image Source: Anatel

The Brazilian telco regulator Anatel spilled the beans on the battery capacity with their certifications. That 4,000mAh should hopefully give some good mileage for your daily use.

Colors of the world, unite?

note 9

Image: MySmartPrice

Okay, I’m not sure where purple comes into that subheader but just roll with it. MySmartPrice found a render of the new blue colorway, and NieuweMobiel found one of this fetching lilac shade.

note 9

Image: NieuweMobiel

The same Dutch site also created a nice GIF that morphs showing the differences between the Note 9 and the earlier Note 8.

Galaxy Note 9 release date

Both renders show the same date on their screens, August 24th. If that sounds familiar by now, that’s because we’ve had multiple reports that will be the launch date for the handset in various markets, including Korea.

If prior releases are any indication there should be preorders available at least for the week before that date.

Wireless charging is better with two

The Note 9 has integral wireless charging, but you’ll still need to buy a charger as it’s not included.

If you’re a Galaxy household, or if you plan to get the new Galaxy Watch, you might want to purchase the Wireless Charger Duo so you don’t have to get multiple chargers or argue with your SO.

The accessory will charge any compatible device wirelessly, including two phones at the same time.

Hopefully, we will not have to wait much longer for these different rumors to be confirmed.

What do you think – is there anything you’re particularly excited for? Let us know in the comments.

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

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