Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks

Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ looks set to retain the headphone jack even as others like Apple, Google, and Huawei have abandoned the 3.5mm port. A new set of images from tipster Evan Blass show the Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone laid down atop the new version of DeX Pad. In a tweet on Friday, Blass posted images of the new Samsung DeX Pad, which appears to be the upgrade to last year’s DeX dock for Galaxy S8. The render reveals the Galaxy S9 will stick with the 3.5mm headphone jack. The image also shows the Bixby button on S9, which is still located just below the volume rocker on the side.

Image: Evan Blass
As for the DeX Pad, it is a flat dock, unlike the previous DeX device for the Galaxy S8. Images show the DeX Pad includes additional USB ports, a full-size HDMI port and a USB Type-C port for power. Your device will have to be laid flat to be plugged in and used as a touchpad or a virtual keyboard.
If you recall, Samsung’s DeX accessory was introduced to transform the Galaxy device into a desktop PC. It was well-received by the audience, but there were some quirks too. Samsung might remove all of those with the upcoming DeX though. This upgraded dock, however, now eliminates the need for a mouse and keyboard. The DeX Pad is also reportedly backwards compatible with the Galaxy S8.
Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy S9 and DeX Pad at the company’s Unpacked event on February 25th during MWC 2018. The Galaxy S9 flagship devices are expected to be quite similar to the previous-gen Galaxy S8 series, except for some minor changes.