Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Approved By FCC A Month Earlier Than Note 8

Rumors about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 have been spreading over the last couple of months and now the device’s existence has been confirmed. The Galaxy Note 9 has already been spotted at the FCC, signaling that the device might arrive earlier than its predecessor.

The Galaxy Note 9 was spotted at the FCC with the model number A3LSMN960F. The “SMN960F” part of the model number makes it certain that it is indeed the Note 9. The Galaxy Note 8 carried the model number SM-N950, so it’s obvious that the Note 9 will carry the model number SM-960F when it’s officially released. For further reference, the Note 7 was SM-N930 and the Note 5 was SM-N920, as pointed out by Droid Life.

The FCC filing for the Galaxy Note 9 also shows that the device will support LTE bands, which isn’t really a big surprise. Another thing to note about the handset’s model number is that “F” model numbers are typically associated with international variants of the handset. For the U.S. models, it’s likely that the Note 9 will have the model number SM-N960U. International models are usually approved earlier by the FCC than the U.S. models.

The FCC filing also confirms that the Note 9 will have Bluetooth, NFC and MST. For those unaware, MST is required because it’s what makes Samsung Pay work. Phone Arena also learned from the FCC documents that the device will have support for a stylus, which makes it even more likely for the device to debut as the Note 9.

The FCC received the filing for the device back in April, but was only approved this week. This means that Samsung already had a nearly-final version of the Note 9 two months ago. This makes it very likely that the recently leaked renders of the device are accurate. The Note 9 is expected to carry most of the same design elements as the Note 8 with some minor changes. The handset won’t have an in-display fingerprint scanner, but it will have a rear-mounted scanner below its dual-camera module. The handset might also have a new “Capture” key for taking photos and screenshots.

Last year, the Note 8 was approved by the FCC on July 31 and was first shown off on Aug. 23. The Note 9 was approved earlier, which may also indicate an earlier release date. The device is rumored to be announced on Aug. 9 in New York and it may go on sale by the end of the month. Unfortunately, the FCC documents didn’t provide any information on the Note 9 specs. The popular rumor right now is that the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with 6GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.