Rumor: QA focus means Samsung could start Galaxy S9 development early

Every year, the first reports about Samsung’s Next Big Thing seem to come out a little earlier. And no, we’re not talking about the Galaxy Note 8.

While we don’t expect to see any concrete details about the Galaxy S9 for at least another six months, today we have a report out of Korea that purports to shed some light on Samsung’s plans for the all-important Galaxy S series.

First off, Korean business publications The Bell claims Samsung has designated Project Star as the code name for the Galaxy S9, while the S9 Plus will be known as Star 2.

It’s tempting to read the tea leaves here, but the Star designation is purely symbolic. For reference, the Galaxy S8 was known as Project Dream, Galaxy S7 as Project Lucky, and the Note 5 as Project Noble. The Galaxy Note 8, meanwhile, is rumored to be dubbed Project Great. Notice a pattern?

The more interesting part in the Bell’s report touches on Samsung’s accelerated production schedule for the Galaxy S9. Reportedly, Samsung wants to start manufacturing the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus three or four months earlier than usual. Unnamed industry sources speculate that the reason might be an increased focus on quality assurance, which makes sense, considering the predicament Samsung has found itself in last year due to the Note 7.

The same sources claim we shouldn’t expect a major redesign in the next installment of the Galaxy S series, with the double-edged display all but guaranteed to make a return. Samsung could start mass producing the Galaxy S9 as early as late this year, the report continues.

Regardless of how credible this report is, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Samsung has two major milestones before the Galaxy S9, the refurbished Note 7 (which will apparently be called Note FE) and the Galaxy Note 8. While rumors of future devices are definitely fun, let’s just focus on the present, which right now is dominated by the rather excellent Galaxy S8.