All eyes may be on the upcoming MWC 2018 announcement for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but that doesn’t mean Samsung doesn’t have other devices in the wings waiting for their time to shine.
Diligent work by the folks over at XDA Developers has revealed a large list of model names that supposedly showcase the new smartphones and tablets Samsung is currently working on. Take the findings with a pinch of salt, as a lot of the devices are educated guesses and come with varying degrees of plausibility. And while XDA identified a few model numbers on the list, there are still plenty of others we’re not sure about.
Some are fairly easy to work out — we’ve known “star” was the working model name for the Galaxy S9 since The Bell revealed it back in May 2017, so it’s safe to assume “star” and “star2” are the Galaxy S9 and the S9 Plus. “astarqlte” at the top of the list is more interesting. It’s clearly an S9 variant with “star” in the name, and XDA has taken the additional “q” to stand for Qualcomm — meaning it will be equipped with a Snapdragon processor — while the “a” likely denotes an entry in the Galaxy Active series of rugged smartphones. Samsung has released an Active version of its flagship S-range since the Galaxy S4, most recently the Galaxy S8 Active, so it’s fair to assume a Galaxy S9 Active is in the works.
Another of the obvious entries is “crown” — again revealed by The Bell (via The Investor) as the model name for the Galaxy Note 9. It gets more interesting with a mention of a “jackpot” model name. There are four slightly different versions of “jackpot” on the list, with the additional “2” likely denoting a Plus version, and “q” again likely to denote a Qualcomm-powered device, implying variations of the device alternately powered by Snapdragon and Samsung’s homemade Exynos processors. It’s entirely possible this code name depicts the long-rumored Samsung Galaxy X with a foldable display.
There are also a large amount of J-range devices on the list, seemingly Samsung experimenting with expanding its budget and midrange offerings in the Galaxy J-range, including the J2, J4, J6, and J8. Quite where these would fall in the current catalog isn’t clear, but the Galaxy A-range is conspicuously absent from the list. Could Samsung be planning on replacing the A-range with an expanded J-range? It’s unclear, but it does seem like the C-range will be returning, with the Galaxy C10 and C10 Plus on the list.
Some Samsung tablets are seemingly present on the list as well, with the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2018, Galaxy Tab E 2018, and Tab S4 all identifiable. However, a large amount of similar-looking model names are present, and could imply Samsung is looking to expand the Galaxy Tab range in 2018.
