Samsung is purportedly planning to unveil its next-generation Galaxy S9 smartphone next week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

According to sources with knowledge of Samsung’s plans, the Galaxy S9 will make its first public appearance during the show, which this year runs from January 9th to 12th 2018.

However, a spokesperson for Samsung told The Korea Herald “it is unlikely” the Galaxy S9 will be at CES 2018.

This certainly doesn’t rule out the fact that Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ could appear on-stage at CES.

In the weeks following that statement, a CES release date appears more and more likely.

Last month, both Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ surfaced in a number of official FCC documents.

The FFC, or Federal Communications Commission, is an independent US government agency that regulates communication hardware, as well as television, satellite, and cable connections across the country.

The agency has labeled the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ with the model numbers SM-G960F and SM-965F, respectively.

Although neither document reveals any details about the specs that will ship in the Galaxy S9, the fact that Samsung has already received FCC approval for these handsets could point to the planned release date for the new phone.

As pointed by blog Droid Life, Samsung's previous flagship phones – including Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S7 – all appeared on the FCC one month before they were unveiled at a launch event.

If Samsung sticks to the same timeline as previous Galaxy S smartphone launches, CES in Las Vegas lines-up perfectly following the approval by the FCC.

According to VentureBeat, despite revealing the new smartphones on-stage briefly during CES, Samsung is still planning to launch the devices in stores across the globe in March.

What’s New With The Samsung Galaxy S9?

According to sources speaking to VentureBeat, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will include built-in AKG stereo speakers this time around.

Samsung has yet to really leverage its acquisition of Harman International – the parent company behind premium audio brands like AKG, JBL and Harman/Kardon – which it bought in March 2017.

The inclusion of AKG stereo speakers should dramatically improve the performance of the built-in speakers.

The Galaxy S9+ is also tipped to include the same dual-camera set-up that debuted with the Galaxy Note 8 earlier this year.

The Note 8 includes two 12-megapixel cameras, both fitted with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS).

There is a wide-angle and telephoto lens, which enables the phone to zoom to 2x without losing quality. It also enables a DSLR-style depth of field effect in portrait photos.

According to reports, the cameras will be aligned vertically on the back of both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ so the fingerprint scanner is positioned beneath the lens.

This solves one of our biggest gripes with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ which placed the fingerprint scanner ludicrously close to the lens.

Samsung itself included a warning with the default camera app to remind users to keep the lens clean, since smudges can negatively impact picture quality.

What’s The Same With The Samsung Galaxy S9?

Out of the box, the new flagship Galaxy S9 series is widely-rumoured to be near-identical to its predecessor.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will purportedly sport the same 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch dual-curved, edge-to-edge Super AMOLED “Infinity Display” as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, respectively.

Both models will keep the 3.5mm headphone port – something previously rumoured to have been ditched in favour of USB-C headphones.

Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will keep the Bixby button, which was introduced last year alongside the artificial assistant of the same name.