Samsung is said to be planning on another Galaxy C handset, and this time it would be called the Galaxy C9. Codenamed as Amy among Samsung staff, the device may look to fill the gap between Galaxy A9 and Galaxy S7, adding a touch of premium feel to A9’s specs, for the price that will be one notch up the A9’s too. Makes sense, right?

Looking at the C5, and the Galaxy C7, the only C series sets by the company so far, released in China only at the moment, and their similarity with Galaxy A5 and A9 respectively, we can say that Galaxy C9 too will be something of a luxurious Galaxy A9, the device that has seen only limited release too, in China and more recently, Malaysia.

If you ask why the Galaxy C9, what’s the need of the device, when there is a Galaxy A9 already serving the mid-range segment? Then well, look at OnePlus 3, the device that gets you lots of premium quality and high-end specs at a price which toils at the higher end of mid-range, but pretty low compared to what similarly spec’ed flagships like Galaxy S7 command. And it’s selling like hotcakes.

Samsung would definitely want to have presence in upper-budget range with its own premium quality devices — and in A9, it lacks that.

A9’s body is not made of metal, something that is a big factor when someone is looking to buy a phone today. So, when you take A9’s spec-sheet, add or subtract not-so-significant features, and cover it all in a metal body (with brushed effect and all), you can have premium looking device already at hand — and you did so without reinventing the wheel.

So, we think the Galaxy C9 specs will be basically more or less same as that of Galaxy A9, but for the few changes that Samsung might bring to table because of the difference in release dates — the Galaxy C9 being newer one will obviously feature a thing or two better than the one released six months ago (Galaxy A9), thanks to prices slashing down of the same components over the period of time.

So, here’s what we think will make the expected Galaxy C9 specifications list.

Galaxy C9 Specifications

Note: These are purely speculated specs!

  • 6.0-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display (1920 x 1080 pixels)
  • Octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor (MSM8976); Adreno 510 GPU
  • 32/64 GB internal storage
  • 4GB RAM
  • Dual-SIM (dual standby; GSM / HSPA / LTE)
  • Up to 256 GB micro SDcard (will occupy the SIM 2 slot, it’s a hybrid system)
  • A bit thinner and light than Galaxy A9, whose dimensions are 161.7 x 80.9 x 7.9 mm, and weighs 210 grams. Expect C9 to weigh 190 grams, and be 7.1 mm thick only.
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (upgrade-able to Android 7.0 Nougat, definitely)
  • 16 MP camera at back, with aperture of f/1.9 and dual LED flash (may feature OIS too that is missing on C5 but gladly given space on Galaxy A9)
  • 8MP front facing camera, that comes with aperture of f/1.9 too (impressive!), and capable of shooting at Full HD
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
  • Bluetooth v4.2 (low-energy)
  • Micro USB 2.0 cable type (although now that Type C is featured on a Samsung device in Note 7, it could be expanded to more devices too. Because Galaxy C9 will be a premium kind-of device, it’s chances to feature Type C cable are definitely good. Let’s hope it’s USB 3.0 too.)
  • NFC
  • Colors: Gold, Pink Gold, Dark Gray

Galaxy C9 Release Date

Looking at Galaxy C5, which hit the rumors list sometime in April 2016, and went to being official in May 2016, the very next month, before hitting the retail stores in June, it’s safe to say that we won’t have to wait for the Galaxy C9’s launch for a very long time.

With all the Nougat update business taking over for the few months, we think Samsung would still find enough time to release Galaxy C9 by October 2016. Or Early November, give or take.

But the thing is, Samsung could decide to release the Galaxy C9 only in Chinese markets, which is the only place on earth right now where the Galaxy C5 and C7 sell too.

We were expecting Samsung to release the Galaxy C5 and C7 to other emerging markets like India, but that hasn’t happen for the past two months or so. Clearly, Samsung is looking to gather the feedback on its C series in China before expanding the C-portfolio to other markets.

Let’s hope that changes with the Galaxy C9, and Samsung sees it fitting to launch the Galaxy C9 phablet to other markets than China, with the latter getting C9 by October 2016.

BTW, we don’t expect the Galaxy C9 to launch with Android 7.0 out of the box, because Samsung has already said it will need another 2-3 months for Note 7’s Nougat release, and we would expect the Galaxy C9 to be given Nougat treatment only after Note 7.

We expect the company to release Nougat on Galaxy S7 first, and when it has had enough feedback from the S7 users, it could expand the update to other devices, with Note 7 first to get it after S7, followed by devices like Galaxy S6, Note 5, Galaxy C5, C7, C9, A5 2016, A7 2016, A9 2016, etc.

Though, if S7’s Nougat update comes out at the end of September, and Galaxy C9 launches only by November, there remains a slim chance Samsung could decide to release C9 with Nougat pre-installed, as it would have enough time to get Nougat feedback, and optimize and run the ready build on C9.

Read: Galaxy S7 Nougat update release date

After all, LG has already said it plans to release the V20 with 7.- pre-installed, and it’s a competitor to Galaxy C9. So Samsung would want to release C9 with 7.0 pre-installed too, testing and quality permitting.

So, what do you think of Galaxy C9? Would you buy it if it were available in your country?