Galaxy S8 To Feature These Hardware Changes [REPORT]

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Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is still a few months away. The Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco has damaged Samsung’s reputation, and the upcoming Galaxy S8 will have to put up a good fight to repair the damage done by Note 7. The S8 is rumored to have a 4K display with a heavy focus on virtual reality. A new report coming out of South Korea claims that there will be several other hardware upgrades as well.

Galaxy S8: Dual camera, no home button, no headphone jack

According to ETNews, the Galaxy S8 will ditch the physical home button. It means the home button and other sensors will be embedded in the edge-to-edge display. Samsung has already removed the side bezels, and with the next year’s flagship device it could get rid of the top and bottom bezels as well. Samsung’s biggest rival Apple is also said to remove the home button from its iPhone 8.

Supply chain sources told the publication that the S8 could be Samsung’s first smartphone to feature a dual-camera system. A representative at one of the suppliers told ETNews that Samsung was currently deciding whether to use separated dual cameras or all-in-one dual camera. An all-in-one dual camera has two lenses packed in a single module. In case of separated dual cameras, there are two modules.

A good thing about all-in-one dual cameras is that they have low unit cost, but they have a difficult manufacturing process. The separated cameras cost a little more, and they have higher yields. Last month, Samsung was granted a patent in South Korea related to the enhancement of digital zoom control. The 15-page patent document described a camera interface with single-finger zoom control.

The Galaxy S8 is said to feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 processor based on 10nm manufacturing process. Samsung has reportedly won the contract to manufacture Snapdragon 830 chipset for Qualcomm. Another report suggests that the Korean electronics giant could ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack, allowing users to rely on USB Type-C port for audio. Yes, advancements in USB-C technology have made it possible to use it for audio.

Is Viv going to be the digital assistant on Galaxy S8?

Just a few days ago, Samsung announced the acquisition of Viv, which could challenge Siri and Google Assistant. Until now, Samsung had been lacking in the area of voice assistants. Its S-Voice doesn’t come even close to Siri. Viv was created by the same folks who developed Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010. Samsung’s VP of Business Development and Strategy confirmed that Viv could be integrated into the company’s phones as soon as early next year. Only time will tell whether Viv comes preloaded on Galaxy S8.

Samsung is expected to release Galaxy S8 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in the last week of February 2017. However, there are reports that the S8 could arrive early after the Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco.

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