Since the leak of the first picture of the alleged Samsung Galaxy S8, which is supposed to be introduced to the world this year, rumours have started getting stronger regarding the launch date, price, design and other aspects of the much awaited smartphone by Samsung.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, in which the company not only lost more than a billion dollars but also the reputation it had earned throughout the years, has made the launch of the speculated Galaxy S8 even more important. The worldwide recall of Samsung Galaxy Note 7, fixing it's "burnt" (literally) reputation and trying to find the root cause of the exploding of the hi-tech smartphone is definitely a phase that the South Korean smartphone makers would love to erase from their memory. And to do that they are gearing up with the "healer" – Samsung Galaxy S8.
Here are the facts known so far about this bad boy:
Launch date: Initially, the Samsung Galaxy S8 was scheduled to be launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in February, but the company is being extra cautious after the Note 7 disaster to avoid any kind of unwanted embarrassment and that's why they are working on a massive design change, which leads to the delay of the launch. The latest rumoured launch date is April 18 and Samsung is most probably going to launch it at a dedicated Unpacked event. The launch date of the phone in Singapore is still unknown.
Price: The price of the new Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphone is still unknown. But due to major design changes it will be priced a little higher than the last S model. According to Goldman Sachs' prediction, Galaxy S8 will see a hike of 15 to 20 percent than its predecessor. The price of Galaxy Note 7 was $670 (INR 45667).
Display: In a radical change of its design for the first time a Samsung smartphone will not have any home-button. An early report had supposed the screen-to-body ratio at 90 per cent. But the recent leaked picture shows that the display takes up all the space leaving very little top and bottom bezel. While the top bezel houses the speaker, front camera and the sensors, the bottom bezel only houses the logo.
As for specifications, one report indicates that the smartphone will feature a 5.5-inch 4K (2160x3840 pixels) Super AMOLED display and will boast of an impressive pixel density of 806ppi.
Variants: Another leak suggests that Samsung could launch S8 in two screen size variants, one5.7-inch and another 6.2-inch. The larger variant is expected to be called the Galaxy S8 Plus.
Fingerprint scanner: Traditionally in all the Samsung smartphones the fingerprint sensor is integrated underneath the home button but since this one will not a home button the fingerprint sensor might be placed behind the phone. Another report notes that the device may sport an optical fingerprint scanner that will enable reading thumb print through the display as well.
Virtual assistance: Samsung is totally leveraging its Viv Labs acquisition to incorporate "an enhanced artificial-intelligence service" in the Galaxy S8." Viv Labs had previously founded Siri, which is now Apple's digital voice assistant on iPhones. Samsung's one will be called Bixby. Another rumour has it that while the male voice will be called Bixby, the female one will be named Kestra.
Processor: The Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone will likely be powered by the recently announced Snapdragon 835 SoC from Qualcomm while an Exynos 8895-based variant is also being rumoured. It will be paired with a 6GB of RAM or an 8GB of RAM.
Pressure sensitive display: Samsung is going to introduce a pressure-sensitive display technology in Galaxy S8, just like the ones in Apple, which they introduced with iPhone 6S. The technology will be able to distinguish between a light tap and deep press, enabling access to more functions just by pressing harder.
Storage: The Galaxy S8 is also rumoured to sport a 256GB storage variant. It is unclear whether this will be the only storage option, or one of the storage variants made available in the market. If Samsung follows tradition, then a separate microSD slot for further expansion of memory will also be offered with Galaxy S8. Just to put things into perspective, the predecessor was offered in 32GB and 64GB storage variants only.
Camera: Early leaks on the Samsung Galaxy S8 reported the possibility of a dual camera set up at the back of the smartphone one 16-megapixel lens and another 8-megapixel lens. However, the latest leaks hint that due to the large display in the front, a dual camera setup will be hard to cram in. However, the camera will surely get an upgrade and it might be the the first smartphone by Samsung that will have autofocus functionality on the front camera.
Audio jack: Just like the iPhone 7 rumours, the audio jack leaks of the Galaxy S8 have been aplenty. Reports indicate that Samsung is getting rid of the old 3.5mm audio standard and will bundle a 3.5mm-headphone-to-USB Type-C adapter, like Apple. A separate report also hints that Samsung will launch wireless headphones alongside as well.
Continuum-like feature: Lastly, the Galaxy S8 is also tipped to come with something similar to the popular Continuum feature seen on Windows 10 Mobile devices. This means that you could use your smartphone on your PC by connecting the device to the monitor, and the keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth (presumably). According to the leak, the feature is being called the Samsung Desktop Experience.
