Samsung Galaxy A9 TENAA listing seemingly confirms 6-inch, full HD display, 3GB RAM, more

A short while ago a hands on video and promotional poster leaked indicating that Samsung will be launching a bigger version of its Galaxy A-series smartphone for 2016. It shared the same design language and some of the same specifications of the recently launched Galaxy A3, A5 and A7, albeit in a larger package. Although it’s yet to be officially announced by Samsung, the A9 has appeared on TENAA, suggesting a launch is right around the corner…

According to the listing, many of the specs revealed in the earlier press image are correct. The Galaxy A9 will have a large, 6-inch full HD AMOLED display on the front, built in to a phone which is only 7.4mm thin. It’ll also have 32GB built-in storage with support for MicroSD card expansion up to 128GB. The 1.8GHz octa-core processor (likely Snapdragon 620) is paired with 3GB of RAM and used to run Android 5.1.1. On the back, there’s a 13MP camera while the front snapper boasts an 8MP sensor. Sadly, there’s no mention of battery capacity, but the 4,000mAh stated previously is feasible and exciting.

With the A3, A5 and A7 already announced, adding a larger, fourth phone to its A-series for 2016 signals Samsung’s intent to claim back some of the middle-ground from some of its fiercest mid-range rivals. Over the past couple of years, several new companies have released devices with high end specifications at lower-than-flagship costs, giving companies like Samsung, HTC and LG a real headache. With Apple all but dominating the high end of the market, and low-cost independent companies taking the low end, the big players on the Android market are slowly being squeezed out.

Whether or not this latest move by Samsung will be enough to see it solidify its position in the mid-range market is yet to be seen. On paper, all of its 2016 Alpha-series phones look promising, especially with the Galaxy S6-inspired design. And with Samsung’s strong brand-name behind them, selling a few shouldn’t be a problem. That is, of course, unless consumers find them too expensive compared to the likes of OnePlus, Huawei or Xiaomi smartphones.