Samsung may be well known for the Galaxy S, Edge, and Note flagship smartphone series, but it was the Galaxy A series that started Samsung’s new tradition of using premium materials such as metal. The Galaxy A series isn’t as well known as the other phones, but the Korean giant has released a number of models, including the Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5, Galaxy A7, and Galaxy A8. Apparently, Samsung believes there is still a market for the A series. The company appears to be readying the Galaxy A9 for sale. Here’s everything we know so far. Updated on 11-24-2015 by Kyle Wiggers:- Added a recent Geekbench upload-which-corroborates-earlier leaked benchmarks.- Related: Samsung’s new big-screen metal Galaxy phone is its thinnest yet Mix of mid-range and high-end specs Samsung traditionally includes mid-range specs on the A series phones, even though they feel as premium as any of the company’s flagship phones. However, the most recent Galaxy A8 model did get a decent mix of higher-end and mid-range specs to satisfy a wide range of consumers. Recent-AnTuTu and Geekbench benchmarks-indicates that Samsung could be thinking the same with the Galaxy A9. The phone has a model number of SM-A9000, which is an indication that it will be the Galaxy A9. It reportedly features a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), which is smaller than the Galaxy A8’s 5.7-inch display. According to the benchmark, the phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 620 chip, which is a 64-bit octa-core processor consisting of a quad-core Cortex-A72 and a quad-core Cortex-A53. It will also have an Adreno 510 GPU, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. The benchmarks don’t reveal anything about the cameras on the Galaxy A9, but we suspect that the rear and front cameras will be at least 16-megapixels and 5-megapixels, respectively, since that is what the Galaxy A8 sported. Related: Samsung Galaxy O rumors: ‘O’ might be for Oculus, if it’s a virtual reality device Bear in mind that although these benchmarks give us a good indication of specs, the devices tested are usually early models, so things can change. For example, this test unit is running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which is understandable for now, but the final phone could have Android 6.0 Marshmallow onboard. Design Nothing has been revealed yet in terms of the design, but we’re expecting the Galaxy A9 to continue the Galaxy A series tradition of using premium materials such as an aluminum frame. We also won’t be surprised if the Galaxy A9 is super thin, since the Galaxy A8 was only 5.9mm thick. It’s hard to believe that Samsung could go much thinner than that, but each Galaxy A phone has been thinner than its predecessor. Availability and pricing The Galaxy A8 was just announced in July, so we are probably a few months away from an official Galaxy A9 launch. In early October, the components of the Galaxy A9 were shipped to India for testing, according to a Zauba manifest. Since it was just the components, it’s clear Samsung isn’t quite ready to release the Galaxy A9 just yet. It will more than likely arrive early next year. Perhaps we will see it at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Either way, it’s unlikely that the Galaxy A9 will launch with a U.S. carrier. As to pricing, it may to cost about the same as the Galaxy A8. Currently that phone is selling in India for Rs 32,500, which translates to about $500.



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