We all know that Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy S9 and S9+ at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in roughly a month's time (February 25), but what we did not know before today's leak is the exact release date for the two upcoming flagship smartphones from Sammy. According to a leak made public by Evan Blass (@evleaks on Twitter), the S9 line-up will start making their way onto public hands from March 16. As far as we can tell, what you see here is very likely a leaked image sheet that Samsung had prepared for the press release. Do check out the accompanying images of the S9 and S9+ as well. Not that we are seeing anything new here mind you.

If you are wondering what this date means exactly, you are in the same boat as us. It doesn't specify any regions in particular, but it does mean that the release date for all the major regions, including the US should be roughly around the same time. Now, the question is, if you already have a Galaxy S8, will you be upgrading or waiting it out till the S110 or S10+ arrives in 2019?

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

It looks as if just like the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the S9 and S9+ will also be launched in silver and grey colors. Take a look at the latest renders leaked by case maker Poetic to understand what we are talking about here. The pictures are obviously concept images mostly, but they are probably quite accurate, given that case makers usually have access to the exact dimensions and dummy units to work with before a big smartphone line-up is released. The reason is obvious; people look to buy cases the second these smartphone become available for purchase, so the case makers would need to have access to inside information a long time before the actual release.

What does this say about the color options which Samsung will offer its upcoming flagship smartphones in? Not much other than the fact that silver and grey are most likely going to be the first colors alongside black to make it onto the market. As always, you can expect other colors such as the much anticipated purple and blue to also be available later in 2018, but Samsung could also be releasing those colors to select regions only.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

A video has been revealed on Weibo that apparently showcases a dummy unit of the upcoming Galaxy S9. In spite of it not being the original thing, many are of the opinion that this is indeed what the Galaxy S9 will look like when it comes out next month at the MWC 2018 in Barcelona. If that turns out to be true then Samsung could indeed be following Apple in making the S9 a less premium unit by giving it just one rear camera, instead of the dual rear camera setup on the S9+. Check out the video for more details on this.

One must admit that this year has been exceptionally quite as far as pre-release leaks of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are concerned. By this time last year, we had seen multiple unofficial leaks that had revealed the Galaxy S8 and S8+ to us. While that is a bit disappointing in terms of leaked news, it is good for Samsung as for a change, there is still a bit of mystery surrounding the Galaxy S9 this time around. Not that we do not more or less know what to expect mind you.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Earlier reports in regard to market share in India had shown that Xiaomi and Samsung were tied at the number one spot last quarter and now the unthinkable has happened; Samsung has been dethroned as the market leader of the smartphone business in India by the Chinese manufacturer! Not that it was unexpected though, given how rapidly Xiaomi has grown in India, especially after launching their own manufacturing and assembling plants in the country to reduce the expenses.

According to the data published by Canalys, Samsung's shipment of 7.4 million smartphones in Q4 2017 paled in comparison to Xiaomi's 8.2 million shipments in the country. This essentially puts Samsung in the second spot with 25% of the total market share and Xiaomi at the top spot with 27%. Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo took the following spots with significantly lower market shares. It should be noted that Samsung India's smartphone sector did show a 17% rise in growth, but it was just not enough to topple Xiaomi's meteoric rise to the top spot, all thanks to its superb range of budget and mid-range smartphones that offer better specs than any Samsung smartphone in the same price range.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung is about to come out with two new flagship handsets next month, namely the Galaxy S9 and S9+, but it's going to be a while before we see the Galaxy Note 9. As of now, the Note 8 is the king of Samsung smartphones and therefore, it is only fitting that we take a look at how good the smartphone really is when it comes to playing games. We will be judging the Note 8 on three gaming categories; performance, display and battery life.

Performance

Both the Exynos 8895 chip powering the international variant and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC powering the US and Chinese versions are two of the most powerful Android chips of 2017; which means that you are not going to have to compromise on performance, irrespective of the variant you have in your country. Supported by 6 gigs of RAM, the Note 8's CPU and GPU runs through even the most demanding of Android games like hot knife through butter.

Display

The 6.3-inch, QHD+, Super AMOLED, HDR display in its 18.5:9 borderless form factor is without a shadow of doubt, the most beautiful smartphone display in existence at the moment and it is quite possibly the best when it comes to gaming as well. In fact, we found the 521 ppi screen density, alongside the reliable battery life and serious horsepower under the hood to be excellent for long sessions of playing live casino games, as well as the most demanding 3D games available on the Play Store. The bottom-line is, the Galaxy Note 8's display is unmatched in every possible way when it comes to gaming or watching high-quality content.

Battery Life

Now, the battery inside the Note 8 is actually smaller than that of the S8+ (3,500mAh) at only 3,300mAh, but that doesn't affect battery life too much to be honest. Sure, we could have used a larger battery, but unless you are looking to compare it with a Xiaomi device that's sporting a smaller display and a bigger battery at the same time, the Note 8 will not leave you high and dry in the middle of gaming. Even if you start to run out of juice by the end of a busy day, the ridiculously fast charging tech will recharge your smartphone from 0 - 100% in roughly 100-minutes!

As you have probably realized by now, the Galaxy Note 8 is the perfect gaming machine on the go and the in-built Samsung Game Launcher basically turns it into a portable console. So yes, the Galaxy Note 8 is as good as it gets when it comes to gaming or any other form of mobile entertainment for that matter.