Samsung Galaxy Note 9 render shows off dual-cameras, yellow S-Pen, first hands-on leaks

Ben Schoon | Jul 17 2018 - 9:55 am PT

Samsung is prepped to launch its latest flagship, the Galaxy Note 9, at an event in just a couple of weeks. Today, we’re getting our best look yet at the device.

The Galaxy Note 9 has shown up in a few leaks as of late, but today we’re getting a clean, high-quality look at the phone from both sides, courtesy of Evan Blass. As expected, the design of the Note 9 is largely the same as the Note 8, but with some key differences.

The biggest difference right off the bat is the new fingerprint sensor. The position has been shifted from the vertical-oriented sensor next to the camera we saw on the Note 8 and S8 to a horizontal-oriented sensor below the cameras. The look here isn’t nearly as clean as on the Galaxy S9/S9+, but for usability, this is a huge win.

Another notable change is to the camera sensor itself. At least in this colorway, the cameras are surrounded by a solid color instead of black. Coupled with the big sensor little sensor look, it’s a pretty strange-looking back. Most likely, though, this will look a bit more natural in person.

Finally, this leaked render gives us another look at the Note 9’s new S-Pen with its yellow color accenting the blue phone. At a glance, it looks like the same S-Pen we’ve known for years, but upon further inspection, there are some slight changes to the design. Perhaps some of these are to incorporate the new features Samsung has reportedly added.

Along with this new render, the first hands-on images of the device have also hit the web (via SlashLeaks). These images don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but they do confirm details such as the placement of the fingerprint sensor and camera.