The Samsung Galaxy S9 is now finalised internally at Samsung. This means the specs are done, the design is finished, and the company can now move towards getting the handset into production for its Q1 2018 release date.

During the past 12 months, there has been a myriad of leaks and rumours surrounding the Galaxy S9. One of the most persistent was that it would feature an in-display fingerprint scanner, however, this rumour has now been nixed.

Word on the street suggests Samsung is keeping the fingerprint scanner on the back of the handset. Why? Simple: there are too many services that run on the sensor, so it cannot afford to do anything too drastic in this regard.

The iPhone X likely helped this decision along too; it too does not feature an in-screen fingerprint scanner, though many rumours prior to its launch suggested it would. Apple just couldn’t get the technology to work properly apparently.

The full specs for the Galaxy S9 models have now been confirmed, however, so the handset is 100% on track to go into production during December.

Reports from China claim Samsung will use a new back panel design. All the new Galaxy S9 models will be the same size as their predecessors, however, which makes sense given how popular the handsets are with punters.

The phone will now go through final testing and then start being mass produced. The speed at which Samsung is doing things indicates that it is looking to get the Galaxy S9 out and available as soon as possible.

Multiple rumours pointed to an earlier than usual launch for the Galaxy S9, so Q1 is definitely looking likely for a release date for the handset.

And with Apple expected to shift upwards of 80 million iPhone X units, Samsung definitely could do with all the help it can get with respect to taking the fight to Apple in early 2018.