This week brought us major updates about the Galaxy S9, which has received a debut time frame: during MWC 2018. It also had its box leaked, with interesting aperture dates listed. Today we learn that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ just got certified by the FCC, with some small leaks included.
The US models are known as SM-G960U for the Galaxy S9 and SM-G965U, for the Galaxy S9+. The naming scheme is kept updated from the previous years, when the Galaxy S7 was SM-G93xU and the S8 was SM-G95xU, so it makes sense. The are 4 model numbers listed, of which the standard is the SM-G960U. The SM-G960U1 is the US unlocked version and SM-G960W is a Canadian market handset.
SM-G960XU is the demo unit codename. The chart of LTE bands supported also appeared in the leaks and we’re talking about the usual mixture of GSM, CDMA, LTE and UMTS here. The Galaxy S9 duo will be using the same model number with the same bands, no matter the carrier. T-Mobile’s new bands, 66 and 71 are also on the list. The FCC label will be placed in the same area as on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ models, it seems, but it’s now different, with a few symbols deleted (the “0168” one and the warning sign next to “CE”).
Galaxy S9 comes at MWC 2018 at the end of February and it should inaugurate the Snapdragon 845 CPU and the dual back camera with F/1.5 aperture on at least one sensor. It’s not very clear if both the S9 and S9+ will have dual cameras, or just the big one.
