The rumor mill and supply chain leaks have consistently indicated that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8 is shaping up to be an impressive device. In 2017, the Korean company needs to deliver a flagship device that would make consumers forget the Galaxy Note 7 disaster. The next-gen Galaxy S phone is said to get a substantial facelift to challenge Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone 8.
Galaxy S8 ditches home button
Based on the recent leaks and rumors, concept designer Veniamin Geskin came up with high-resolution renders of what the Galaxy S8 would look like. The curved Super AMOLED display occupies almost all of the phone’s face. The top and bottom bezels have shrunk significantly. The handset is rumored to have a screen-to-body ratio of 90%. Samsung is planning to increase it to 99% in a few years.
https://twitter.com/VenyaGeskin1/status/814592679069843457
Geskin’s concept imagines the device without a home button. The Galaxy S8 is widely expected to ditch the physical home button. The home functionality and fingerprint scanner are said to be incorporated in the phone’s display. Supply chain sources recently told David Ruddock of Android Police that physical buttons on the handset would be replaced by on-screen soft keys with 3D Touch-like functionality. Users would reportedly be able to customize the on-screen navigation keys.
https://twitter.com/VenyaGeskin1/status/816411643253030912
https://twitter.com/VenyaGeskin1/status/816055691685363712
Galaxy S8: Features and specs
The phone is also rumored to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack, following in the footsteps of Apple’s iPhone 7. Removing the headphone jack would allow Samsung to make the phone slimmer or pack a bigger battery. While some reports claim that a USB Type-C port would replace the headphone jack, Samsung is also set to release ‘wireless in-ear headphones’ similar to Apple’s AirPods. It is unclear whether these headphones would be bundled with the Galaxy S8 or sold separately.
In terms of performance, the Galaxy S8 would be way ahead of any other Samsung smartphone. The device is said to pack a huge 8GB RAM. The US version of the S8 would be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset built using 10nm manufacturing process. Other parts of the world would get an Exynos 8895-powered version of the Galaxy S8.
There won’t be an ‘Edge’ version
Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S8 in two different screen sizes: 5-inch and 6-inch. The 6-inch version would come with an optional S Pen stylus to appeal to the Galaxy Note 7 users. The phone will also have Samsung’s Bixby AI assistant. A leaked slide from Samsung’s internal presentation revealed that the Galaxy S8 would offer a Continuum-like desktop experience to attract enterprise users.
The Galaxy S8 would be unveiled in New York in April. Samsung is currently testing the device in China. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus being tested are running software versions G950FXXU0APLH and G955FXXU0APLH. There won’t be an ‘Edge’ version as both versions of the phone will have curved displays.
