The competition in the hotly contested smartphone space is heating up as OEMs try to trip each other up with feature-rich devices that are backed by aggressive marketing campaigns.
Even as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, LG V20 and iPhone 7 are trying to lure consumers, we check out some cool upcoming smartphones that are worth waiting for.
Google Pixel XL
The Google Pixel XL, the bigger sibling of Google's rumored new smartphone lineup, is anticipated to debut on Oct. 4. Rumors hint at a 5.5-inch QHD screen for the handset, and under the hood, it will house the Snapdragon 820 processor and 4 GB of RAM. It is expected to offer a maximum of 128 GB storage space and sport a 13-megapixel primary camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper.
The smartphone is anticipated to come pre-loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat.
Microsoft Surface Phone
Microsoft may not have shared anything about its Surface Phone, but leaks and rumors point to a metal body for the handset as well as a unique fingerprint scanner that will be embedded in the display itself.
Three variants of the handset are rumored, with the consumer model sporting a 5.5-inch screen and the business user-centric model boasting a 6-inch display. Under the hood, the smartphone could house Intel's upcoming Kaby Lake processor. The consumer variant would tout 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB onboard memory, whereas the enterprise version will have 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage. The third variant will reportedly house the Snapdragon 820 processor and boast a whopping 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB onboard storage.
A 21-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera will be available. The battery capacity is expected to be 3,000 mAh and the device will likely run on Windows 10 Mobile.
The Surface Phone could release either in early 2017 or October this year.
OnePlus 4
The successor to the OnePlus 3 is already creating quite a buzz despite the fact that the current flagship just launched in June.
The OnePlus 4 is anticipated to debut in 2017, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from dissecting the handset and tidbits being leaked.
The OnePlus 4 is anticipated to have a 5.5-inch OLED (possibly flexible) display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, which will be an improvement on the predecessor's 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The NFC-supported handset is also rumored to house a Snapdragon 830 processor and 8 GB of RAM.
The smartphone anticipated to pack in a 21-megapixel or 23-megapixel primary camera as well as a 12-megapixel or 16-megapixel selfie snapper. It will come running on the Oxygen OS with Android Nougat. Rumors also point to a 256 GB microSD capacity for the handset, which will offer 128 GB native storage.
The OnePlus 4 is expected to be released in April or May 2017 to throw the gauntlet to Galaxy S8.
Samsung Galaxy S8
The Galaxy S8 is reportedly codenamed Dream and Dream2 and will apparently be available in a curved screen option only.
Expected to debut in February 2017, the Galaxy S8 is rumored to sport a 4K display that will have a resolution of 2,840 x 2,160 pixels including a pixel density of 806 ppi. The handset is also rumored to deploy the 10nm Exynos 8895 SoC as well as ARM's new Mali-G71 GPU.
Xiaomi Mi 6
The successor to the Xiaomi Mi 5, dubbed the Mi 6, is rumored to sport a 5.2-inch 4K display and boast a pixel density of nearly 700 ppi.
The handset is anticipated to come with the Snapdragon 830 processor, which will be an improvement on the Snapdragon 820 found on its predecessor. Rumors also point to a 23-megapixel primary camera and a 7-megapixel front-facing snapper for selfie buffs or 21-megapixel primary and 13-megapixel secondary cameras.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 is also expected to offer 5G support, 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM and a powerful 4,000 mAh or 4,200 mAh battery. The storage capacity offered by the handset could get bumped to 256 GB to keep pace with competing handsets.
It is also expected to benefit from a Retina scanner, wireless charging, Gorilla Glass 4 and to be water- and dust-resistant. It will come pre-loaded with Android Nougat.
The Mi 6 is rumored to be launched in Q3 2016 and, unlike other handsets from Xiaomi, this flagship is slated to make its way to U.S. shores. It remains to be seen whether or not the Mi 6 will be the new product Xiaomi said will launch in October in the U.S.
