This week, purportedly leaked 3D renders of the Samsung Galaxy S8 surfaced online, followed by an alleged real-life image of the forthcoming flagship spotted in the wild.
Fanfare for the next handset is progressively rousing, and reasonably so. The Galaxy S8 isn't just Samsung's beefy, top-tier offering — it's also possibly symbol of recovery; of braving a post-Note 7 smartphone market, a fiasco the company itself started.
When Will The Galaxy S8 Be Released?
As promised, the handset will be unveiled and released this year, and according to a report by ETNews, a Korean publication, Samsung will ship the devices April 15.
Additionally, the report suggests that Samsung is beefing up its devices' front-facing shooters, with the Galaxy S8 leading the pack. The report indicates that the Galaxy S8 will have an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with auto-focus technology, which lines up with another rumor. There could also be a front-facing iris scanner on the Galaxy S8, a feature it'll borrow from the Note 7.
The release date, however, is something of note. Samsung typically launches flagships on Fridays, but April 15 is a Saturday.
The Galaxy S8 is veering away from the iPhone 7 in terms of one critical feature, the report says. Both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 7s are rumored to come rocking dual cameras when they're released this year. The Galaxy S8, however, will not sport the same configuration, as the report says that the idea was supposedly dropped during the handset's development stages.
Galaxy S8 Rumors
So much has been tipped about the Galaxy S8 that trying to keep track of every single thing is something of a tall order. But as usual, anything that the rumor mill churns out should be questioned generously, as rumors usually have the habit of rousing people's expectations and then letting the down when official word breaks.
Anyhow, a longtime industry insider recently revealed key metrics about the forthcoming handset. As reported by BGR, citing Eldar Murtazin, a Russian blogger and Samsung insider, the Galaxy S8 has already been shown to partner carriers back in December in preparation for the launch.
Just as recent leaks have purported, Murtazin also suggests that the Galaxy S8 will come in two variants: a base model and a larger model featuring a screen, the size of which eclipses all screens from the Galaxy S lineup. The body, however, will not be larger, as the screen-to-front panel ratio will be adjusted.
The phone will allegedly come in 5.7- and 6.2-inch models, both of which allegedly rocking a new AMOLED display technology that delivers a larger color gamut, better color accuracy, and improved energy efficiency.
Murtazin says that under the hood, the handset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or a Exynos 8895 chip — Samsung loads different chips for different countries — and that these CPUs will be built under the 10-nanometer manufacturing process. It'll come packing with a Mali-G71 GPU, 6 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of internal storage, according to Murtazin.
Other rumors tip the handset to have a beast mode, support Bluetooth 5.0 technology, rock Harman speakers, and — thankfully — include a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The Galaxy S8 follows the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, and by extension, the Note 7. It comes out, if reports are correct, on April 15.
