If you can't wait until Samsung's big event this Sunday (Feb. 25) to get a definitive look at the Galaxy S9, new images of the upcoming phone are now circulating online. And they come from a pretty reputable source — Samsung itself.
To be clear, the S9 photos posted at XDA Developers weren't released by Samsung ahead of this weekend's S9 unveiling. Rather, they're tucked into the Unpacked 2018 app that Samsung's added to the Google Play Store for attendees of the Feb. 25 event.
People at the S9 launch in Barcelona will reportedly be able to tap their attendee badges to their phones running the Unpacked 2018 app, and the Galaxy S9 will appear before them in augmented reality form. Reddit user u/thesbros reportedly dug through the app to find the images that will be used in the AR demonstration. And that's what you'll see on the XDA website.
The images posted today (Feb. 21) are in line with the leaked renders and marketing images that have been popping up on the web in recent weeks, including recent posts from sites like WinFuture and serial leakers like Evan Blass. Most notably, the latest images show off a redesigned back panel of the Galaxy S9 with the fingerprint reader moved beneath the camera lens. The location of that sensor was one of our big gripes about the Galaxy S8, so it's good to get some semi-official confirmation that the S9 will address that flaw.
MORE: Samsung Galaxy S9 Rumors: Specs, Release Date and More
The images pulled from the Unpacked 2018 app also confirm that we'll see the Galaxy S9 in four colors, with Lilac Purple joining Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Titanium Gray in the mix. It remains unclear which of those models will hit the U.S., though, as Samsung tends to play it pretty conservative when it comes to colors for U.S. customers.
Spend a little more time poking around those images and you'll see other features rumored for the Galaxy S9. The Bixby button is back, and the S9 will retain a headphone jack. XDA's report also points to an opening at the bottom of the phone as proof of dual stereo speakers featuring AKG Tuning.
The leaked images don't offer any insight to what figures to be the biggest change for the Galaxy S9 — the phone's camera. For one thing, the images only show the S9 and not the S9+, which is rumored to be adding a second rear lens. For another, among the biggest rumored changes to the S9's camera will be a lens with a variable aperture that adjusts the size depending on lighting conditions.
We'll know for certain how legitimate these S9 pictures are when we arrive in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress and the new Samsung phone's unveiling.
