The Galaxy S9+ making the rounds in this video is most certainly fake, here’s why

We’ve heard rumors that Samsung was getting ready to launch this year’s Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ a little ahead of schedule. We’re now just a few short weeks away from Mobile World Congress in February where the phones will likely be announced, so of course Galaxy S9 fever has already begun to run its course.

So far we’ve seen 3D renders of the device built from CAD files accessory makers use to build cases and other accessories. The renders showed a design language almost identical to last year’s Galaxy S8, just with a much more reasonably laid out fingerprint sensor on the back (just below the camera). With the CAD files now making the rounds, Chinese knock-offs are likely a result, the first of which appears to have already hit the internet in a hands-on video trying to pass itself off as the Galaxy S9+.

How do we know this isn’t the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus? Well, there’s a couple of good reasons. The first, the display actually isn’t curved. It’s more or less an extreme 2.5D display, something like is found on the HTC U11 or Google Pixel 2 XL. The raised edges make it appear as if the screen is curved, but as you can see from the video, the actual display panel is laid flat (take a good look when he tilts the phone).

You may have also noticed the absence of Samsung apps inside the app drawer, a telltale sign that this thing is a copycat. You know if those giant black bezels and thick profile weren’t already a dead giveaway. Nice try, but we’re falling fake on this one.