The world may get a glimpse of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s latest flagship sooner than originally expected.

According to renowned leak reporter Evan Blass at VentureBeat, Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S9 and S9+ (codenamed Star 1 and Star 2) at the Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off on Jan. 9. However, considering Samsung’s March event will apparently still take place, it’s unknown how many details of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be unveiled in Las Vegas.

It was initially expected that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ would make its first appearance ahead of Mobile World Congress at the end of February, while Samsung’s foldable device — the Galaxy X — would be unveiled at CES. Samsung did announce earlier this year that it plans to launch its foldable device next year, but the question remains whether its launch will coincide with the cameo appearance of the S9 at CES.

The start of 2018 is expected to be a busy one for Samsung, but the company won’t be the only one launching new smartphones. The latest report suggests Samsung’s biggest rival, Apple Inc., also plans to unveil an updated iPhone SE in the first half of 2018. If Apple sticks to the same release schedule as its predecessor, the updated iPhone SE could be unveiled in March.

In the leadup to the unveiling of Samsung’s next flagship device, there have been plenty of leaks about what we can expect. Unlike the radical redesign for the Galaxy S8 (pictured) and S8+, the latest flagships will get iterative updates and look very much like their predecessors.

The new devices will feature the same 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch curved-edge Super AMOLED “Infinity” displays, while both models will retain the 64 gigabytes of internal storage, plus a microSD slot and the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack.

Sourcing “someone briefed on the company’s plans,” Blass reported that unlike its predecessors, which were identical apart from screen size, the S9+ will reportedly get some additional features. They include an increase in RAM from 4GB to 6GB and a dual rear-facing camera, similar to the one unveiled in the Note8.  

One of the biggest complaints from Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note8 users is the placement of the fingerprint scanner next to the camera lens on the rear of the device. This will reportedly change for both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ and will be moved below the camera. Both models are also expected to receive AKG stereo speakers.

Finally, Samsung will also reportedly launch an updated version of its DeX dock. Unveiled with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in March, the dock transforms the smartphone into a virtual desktop. The updated model will reportedly place the phone flat so that it can be used as a virtual keyboard or touchpad. The new DeX dock will also is said to be compatible with older Samsung devices.

Image: Anthony Quintano/Flickr