EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S8
We know the Samsung Galaxy S8 is coming in 2017, and the leaks and rumours are already flooding in. Here's what we know about Samsung's next flagship, including the Galaxy S8 release date, specs, features, and price.
Update (14 December 2016): Synaptics has announced a new optical fingerprint sensor that can be embedded under glass, which means rumours of a Galaxy S8 with no Home button may be true after all. Read on to find out the full story.
Samsung has had a very mixed year, to say the least. The Galaxy S7 was a huge hit with critics and consumers alike, while the ill-fated Note 7 met an untimely death-by-fire.
So it's no surprise that Galaxy fans and forlorn Note 7 owners are looking forward to the Galaxy S8, which we're expecting to arrive in February or March next year. Fortunately, Samsung has already confirmed the existence of the Galaxy S8, revealing plans for the handset during the messy Note 7 recall.
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Better still, we’re already hearing talk of Galaxy S8 specs, with rumoured features including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 chip, a 4K display, an ‘Edge’-style screen, and an improved camera.
Here’s a round-up of what to expect from the Galaxy S8.
LATEST GALAXY S8 NEWS:
When does the Galaxy S8 come out? February/March 2017
What’s new about the Galaxy S8? Rumoured: 4K screen, SD830 chip, USB-C
How much will the Galaxy S8 cost? Best guess: £599
Watch Now: Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8
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GALAXY S8 RELEASE DATE UK & US – WHEN WILL THE NEW GALAXY S8 COME OUT?
The Galaxy S8 release date is likely of fall in either February or March, based on recent history. Here’s a quick look back at previous Galaxy phone launches:
- Galaxy S7 release date – March 11, 2016
- Galaxy S6 release date – April 20, 2015
- Galaxy S5 release date – April 11, 2014
- Galaxy S4 release date – April 27, 2013
- Galaxy S3 release date – May 29, 2012
- Galaxy S2 release date – May 2, 2011
- Galaxy S release date – June 4, 2010
While April seems like the most popular month of launch, we’re more convinced of a February debut. That’s because Samsung has shown a penchant for revealing the Galaxy S- flagships at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress tradeshow. In 2017, MWC is set to run between February 27 and March 2. We reckon the handset will actually debut one day before, on February 26. One leaker certainly agrees:
Analysts seemed mixed on the timing however, with some suggesting Samsung will rush out the device after the Note 7 debacle, while others believing the launch may be delayed in a bid to make sure the handset is right.
image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1d/270a/samsung-galaxy-4.jpg
According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung may miss its Mobile World Congress launch window entirely, stating: "At risk is the expected February launch of [Samsung's] next flagship smartphone, likely to be called the Galaxy S8." The report continued:
“Samsung executives have delayed the development of the Galaxy S8 device by two weeks as engineers work to get to the bottom of the Note 7’s overheating problem, according to a member of the Galaxy S8 development team."
And according to a November 2016 report by the Investor, Samsung is still settling on a launch date, but wants suppliers to be coughing up parts within the first four weeks of 2017.
“Key supplies are required to provide an initial batch of their parts for the Galaxy S8 from January,” said one industry source. “Full volume supplies will start in February."
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GALAXY S8 FEATURES – WHAT’S NEW ABOUT THE GALAXY S8?
The Galaxy S8 is guaranteed to flaunt some of 2017’s latest and greatest mobile hardware, but Samsung is keeping a tight lid on details.
Here’s what you can expect to see in terms of Galaxy S8 features...
GALAXY S8 DESIGN – MAJOR OVERHAUL?
Samsung might be planning a major design overhaul for next year’s Galaxy S8.
A report from Korea’s ETNews says Samsung wants to ditch the Home button, integrated its functionality into the display instead – just like Apple’s rumoured iPhone 8. Samsung allegedly wants to do this to “fill all of the front of the Galaxy S8 with just screen”. This video from Android blog Techdroid shows a Galaxy S8 render based on such rumours:
We’ve also heard a rumour that the Galaxy S8 may have significantly smaller bezels than the Galaxy S7. Speaking to The Investor, Park Won-sang a Principal Engineer for Samsung Display, said that the company was aiming to introduce an OLED display with a greater-than 90% screen-to-body ratio. He went on to reveal that Samsung hoped to create a handset with a 99% screen-to-body ratio in the next few years. For contrast, most phones currently have an average ratio of around 80%.
These rumours were echoed by a Bloomberg report from November that claimed Samsung is planning to kit the Galaxy S8 out with an “all-screen front”. The article says the “bezel-less” phone will “provide more viewing real estate”, with Samsung expected to ditch the physical Home button and bury its functionality in the lower section of the glass instead.
But the biggest boost to this rumour’s credibility came courtesy of Synaptics’ announcement that it had developed a new fingerprint scanner – the Natural ID FS9100 optical fingerprint sensor.
What’s important about the FS9100 is that it can scan your fingerprint through 1mm of “full cover glass”, which would enable Samsung to hide the scanner underneath the glass, rather than having to embed it in the Home button.
image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00003c34c/9d2c/synaptics.jpg
“By bringing optical sensing technology with the right form factor and power consumption envelope to smartphones and tablets, Synaptics is enabling the elimination of the Home button, which is a critical next step to full top-to-bottom, edge-to-edge smartphone and tablet displays,” says Les Santiago, Research Director for analyst firm IDC.
Importantly, Samsung has used Synaptics fingerprint sensors on previous flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S8. So that makes it even more likely that this new sensor will make it to a future Samsung handset. The only possible roadblock would be that Synaptics says manufacturers can sample the sensor from Q1 next year, with manufacturing beginning in Q2 – that may be too late for inclusion in the Galaxy S8.
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GALAXY S8 AND S8 EDGE SCREEN – WILL SAMSUNG USE A 4K DISPLAY?
On the matter of displays, we should kick off with the screen sizes for past Samsung flagship phones:
- Galaxy S7 – 5.1-inch
- Galaxy S7 Edge – 5.5-inch
- Galaxy S6 – 5.1-inch
- Galaxy S6 Edge – 5.1-inch
- Galaxy S5 – 5.1-inch
There’s a clear trend of 5.1-inch panels, which is a decent middle-ground that suits most users. We’d expect the Galaxy S8 to follow suit, although a report from the Korea Herald pointed to two variants: 5.7-inches and 6.2-inches.
مWe’re also convinced that 2017 might be the year Samsung moves to a 4K display, following on from the Galaxy S6’s introduction of a QHD screen. One report from Weibo suggested that one variant of the Galaxy S8 will use a 4K-resolution screen.
image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1a/0f3c/samsung-galaxy-1.jpg
The main argument for introducing a 4K display is the growing popularity of virtual reality. When you use a Gear VR headset today, you’re looking at a Galaxy smartphone’s QHD screen. But because the image display is in stereoscopic mode – split into two, basically – then you’re getting half resolution. Pair that with the fact that your eyes are very close to the screen, and pixel density suddenly becomes very important.
If Samsung moved to a 4K panel, you’d enjoy a significantly enhanced VR experience – visually, anyway. And it’s worth noting that the Snapdragon 820, which powers the Galaxy S7, already supports native 4K displays at 60fps.
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image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1b/4aec/samsung-galaxy-2.jpg
The good news is that it might actually happen. The Korea Herald reported on comments from analysts at UBI Research, who were quoted as follows:
“Samsung Display showcased a 5.5 ultra-high definition 4K display with a pixel density of 806ppi for virtual reality devices at the Society for Information Display, a display trade show, in California in March. Considering various factors including the production yield rate for the next-generation display expected to improve in the coming months, the 5.5-inch AMOLED will be deployed in the next Galaxy smartphone, presumably, named the S8.”
There’s also a rumour that the Galaxy S8 will only be available with a curved-edge display, after a Samsung executive recently hinted that flat screens might be going away for good. Speaking to the Korea Herald, Samsung Mobile boss DJ Koh said:
"Samsung has considered that it would make the edge display as the identity of the Galaxy S smartphone line-up if the company can provide consumers differentiated user experience through software and user-friendly functions (for the curved screen)."
The Herald published a follow-up report that said Samsung was considering whether to ditch flat screens on the Galaxy S- series going forward. That’s reportedly down to the fact that the curved Galaxy S7 Edge outpaced the flat Galaxy S7 in terms of sales. The Herald believes Samsung is procuring curved displays in 5.1-inch and 5.5-inch variants from its own Samsung Display division.
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GALAXY S8 SPECS – HOW POWERFUL WILL IT BE?
New 10nm processor? – Next year’s mobile chips haven’t been announced yet, but they’re pretty easy to predict.
The Galaxy S7 featured either a Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890, depending on where you bought your phone. The former is built by US chip maker Qualcomm, while the later is a custom-built Samsung chip. We’re expecting that the Galaxy S8 be sold with Qualcomm and Samsung chips, depending on your market.
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