Galaxy S9 will feature an improved iris scanner, report says

The upcoming Galaxy S9 will feature an improved iris scanner that’s secure enough to be used to protect sensitive information, according to a new report published by The Korea Herald. Samsung is also refining the software the feature uses to process requests, in a bid to cut the response time from the current one second.

“The iris lens will be improved to 3-megapixels from 2-megapixels of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 to capture clearer images. The scanner will better recognize users’ irises even when they wear eyeglasses, move their eyeballs or are in a too dark or too light environment,” said a source reportedly familiar with the firm’s plans.

A number of financial institutes in South Korea have adopted iris authentication to secure their respective banking applications – but most still see it as a fad. Samsung is, however, hoping the bump in security on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will convince them otherwise — finally bringing the technology into the mainstream.

Let’s recap what we know about the Galaxy S9

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, for those in need of a refresher, are expected to sport a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Infinity Display, respectively, a Snapdragon 845 processor and a pressure-sensitive Home button. They should also ship running Android 8.0 Oreo and have a repositioned fingerprint sensor on board.

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Galaxy A8+ (2018) hands-on video reveals design, spec sheet

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. The Galaxy A8+ (2018) has just been laid bare for all to see in a hands-on video of the phone taken in Bangladesh. The Infinity display, dual front cameras, sensibly mounted rear fingerprint sensor, always-on software home button; everything’s in there, and it looks like Samsung’s mid-range lineup is going to be encroaching on flagship territory.

The maker of the video goes through the phone’s home screen and settings menu first, with the latter revealing the new A7 is indeed called the A8+ (2018). We then see a walkthrough of the camera – the rear camera seems to take highly detailed photos, although it’s tough to tell if that will be the case in all conditions, as the uploader only takes a photo of text on paper. The front and rear cameras are both 16-megapixel sensors, and the secondary front camera is an 8-megapixel unit and will allow for Live Focus portrait selfies (as revealed by the phone’s manual).

Galaxy A8+ (2018) specs include 6GB of RAM

The rest of the spec sheet has been revealed in the video as well. There’s a 6-inch Full HD+ (2220×1080) Infinity display, octa-core Exynos 7885 SoC with two 2.2GHz high-performance cores and six 1.6GHz low power cores, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, a 3,500 mAh battery, IP68 water resistance, and a USB Type-C port. Quite a few upgrades there, especially the increased RAM and internal storage, although it’s unclear if all of that will be available on the smaller of the new A series phones. The screen size on the A8 (2018) remains unknown as well.

Check out the video and let us know what you think! We surely are excited to see the new A series phones, and it looks like an official announcement could happen at any moment.

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Galaxy A8/A8+ (2018) manual confirms dual front cameras, Infinity display

The Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Galaxy A8+ (2018), which are what we’re now supposed to call this year’s Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7, have been the talk of the rumor mill for a long time now, and it looks like we’re finally close to an official announcement. The user manual for the phones has been uploaded online on Samsung’s website, and it reveals a fair bit about the company’s newest mid-range flag-bearers.

Dual front cameras finally arrive in Samsung’s galaxy

It had been suggested by a leaked image of one of the phone’s front panels, and the manual tells us dual front cameras are indeed a part of the new A series devices. Since there are two cameras at the front, the camera app will come with the Live Focus feature for selfies. We don’t know the megapixel count on either sensor at this time, but we’re guessing the primary sensor will be a 13-megapixel unit at most, rather than a 16-megapixel sensor as seen on the 2017 models.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like the dual front cameras are exclusive to the Chinese variant, unlike the dual rear cameras seen on the Galaxy J7+ (the J7 (2017) for the Chinese market), as the manual mentions the standard international model numbers for both the A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018). Also, the S8’s live stickers are a part of the camera app as well. Bixby (with Bixby Vision), too, is in there, but without a dedicated button and, therefore, Bixby Voice support.

We can also see the Infinity display being confirmed by the manual (although the actual sizes are still unclear), with on-screen navigation keys making their first appearance on a mid-range Samsung phone. The Korean giant has also decided to put a LED notification light on the A series. Always On Display, meanwhile, is making a return.

And, hey, is that a rear fingerprint sensor located in a place that’s easily reachable by more than just humans with plus-sized hands (and an affinity for discomfort) on a Samsung device? It sure is, and while we didn’t need it, this can be taken as confirmation that the same will be the case for the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. About time, too, especially with in-display fingerprint sensor technology still only a distant possibility.

As usual, the manual doesn’t reveal any specs, other than the fact that the A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018) will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat and support Samsung Pay over both NFC and MST. It shouldn’t be long before Samsung unveils these handsets, although it’s still unknown if that will happen in December or sometime next month. Samsung has never been too particular about following a proper schedule for its non-flagship phones, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Are you looking forward to the new Galaxy A series phones?

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