samsung galaxy s9 new

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a date. Samsung will launch its next flagship phone on Feb. 25.

The debut of the phone -- it's nearly certain to be called the Galaxy S9 -- will go down next month at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

And that's really all we know... officially. Aside from a concise confirmation of timing and venue at CES, Samsung stuck to its non-Galaxy messaging, talking up tighter integration between product lines courtesy of its Bixby voice assistant, which debuted on the Galaxy S8 last year. In this vacuum of official details, we're left to mull the rumors, which range from the bleeding-edge (will it be foldable?) to the vintage (will it have a headphone jack?) to the evergreen (will it have single or dual cameras?). 

And then there's the big one: Will the phone have a fingerprint scanner, an iris scanner or perhaps full face authentication, like with the iPhone X? There are clues to be found among what we know about Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon 845 processor, which is likely to power the Galaxy S9, and which may hold hints about potential steps forward in camera and security technology.

With Apple's iPhone X dominating the spotlight throughout the second half of 2017 (and, to a lesser extent, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus), Samsung is undoubtedly eager to launch its response (and move even further on from the debacle of its Note 7, which was recalled twice in 2016 due to exploding batteries.) Now that we're just about a month out from the announcement, more details are sure to leak. 

What follows is a collection of what we know for sure and what we're hearing in the wind about the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S9.

Editors' note, Jan. 26: This post was originally published on Dec. 20, 2017, and will continue to be updated with Samsung Galaxy S9 news and rumors. 

Rumor: It might not be called the Galaxy S9

The iPhone X, named in honor of the device's 10th anniversary created a problem -- or perhaps an opportunity -- for Samsung. If the company sticks with the natural sequence of its own naming convention, it risks creating an inferiority complex among customers; who wants a Galaxy S9 when you can already get an iPhone X (pronounced "ten")? According to Forbes, Samsung may follow suit with the Galaxy X. Of course, it could one-up Apple by going straight to the Galaxy S11 -- or something else entirely.

Confirmed: We'll see it on Feb. 25 at MWC

It's official: Feb. 25 will be the big day. Earlier in January, the company confirmed to CNET that the Galaxy S9 would indeed be unveiled at Mobile World Congress, which this year runs from Feb. 26 to March 1 in Barcelona. But now we have the invitation, with its large purple "9" on a black background and the words "The camera. Reimagined."  

Rumor: Preorders on March 1, ship on March 16

Evan Blass, who frequently leaks reliable information, had called the announcement for Feb. 26, the first official day of MWC. (He was close.) He also predicts that Samsung will begin accepting preorders on March 1 and shipping the phone on March 16.

Rumor: Samsung has its own version of Face ID

Even before Apple upped the ante with the iPhone X, Samsung had something to prove in the facial-recognition department after hackers fooled the Galaxy S8's iris scanner using a photo and contact lenses. The Korea Herald reports that Samsung has been working to improve its technology and will bring it to its budget phonesin 2018 or 2019.

If the leaked photo of the retail box is to be believed, Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S9 with an iris scanner again -- a security protocol that, on its own, is likely less secure than Apple's Face ID. But the Snapdragon 845 does support the type of 3D face mapping used by Apple. And while Apple's Face ID technology uses 30,000 dots of infrared light to map your face, Qualcomm can accommodate up to 50,000 dots, theoretically giving it an accuracy edge. 

Rumor: 512GB of storage built in

Samsung may dramatically raise the stakes when it comes to internal storage. It's announced the beginning of mass production of a 512GB chip that would give the Galaxy S9 eight times the integrated capacity of the 64GB Galaxy S8.

The specs on the leaked image of the retail box show a 64GB capacity model. But, if we can dream for a moment, a 512GB Galaxy S9 would totally dwarf the competition: The highest-end, late model iPhones top out at 256GB of storage and the Google Pixel 2 XL comes in 64GB or 128GB versions. (It's worth noting that Samsung chips often find their way into non-Samsung phones, including the iPhone.)