After spending much of its time in the territory of leaks, speculation, and rumors, the Galaxy S8 and its larger sibling, the Galaxy S8 Plus, have now been officially unveiled by Samsung on Wednesday, March 29.
First off — the phones look gorgeous. But such images have already been circling the internet for quite some time now, so there's very little room for surprise. Much of the rumors have also turned out to be accurate: there's the Infinity Display, the fingerprint sensor beside the rear-facing camera, the iris scanner in front, and some of the rumored colorways.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Specs
After the debacle left by the Note 7, Samsung needed a comeback, and it wasn't going to have one with subpar specs. The Galaxy S8 involves the usual Samsung flair of top-tier specs, but with a few potential rough spots present, mainly with the camera being only a slight upgrade from the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Here is the full spec sheet for the Galaxy S8:
• 5.8-inch Super AMOLED curved Infinity Display at a resolution of 2,960 x 1,440 with 570 ppi.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip / Exynos 8895 chip in some markets
• Front camera: 8-megapixel shooter with autofocus, f/1.7 aperture
• Rear camera: 12-megapixel dual pixel camera with optical image stabilization, f/1.7 aperture. Can record 4K video with 30 fps, and 1080p with 60 fps. Slow motion also possible in 720p at 240 fps
• 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 64 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 256 GB
• Supports LTE Cat.16 (May differ by markets and mobile operators)
• Supports Bluetooth v 5.0 (LE up to 2 Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC, Location (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou)
• Supports Dual Audio, which means two Bluetooth headphones may be paired simultaneously
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz)
• Android 7.0 Nougat
• Bundled with AKG headphones
• IP68 Water resistance — up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes
• 3,000 mAh battery
• Supports fast charging and wireless charging
• comes with the following sensors: Iris sensor, pressure sensor, accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint sensor, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, heart rate sensor, proximity sensor, and RGB light sensor
• Comes with the following physical buttons: On/Off key, volume key, and a dedicated Bixby key
• Comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, thankfully
• Available in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic Silver, Maple Gold
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Specs
The Galaxy S8 Plus pretty much features similar specs, except for a few key differences. Obviously, the Plus version is taller, bigger, and a little heavier. It has a larger 6.2-inch screen, but with the same resolution, which means a lower 529 ppi. It also has a larger battery capacity at 3,500 mAh.
Both phones will offer basically the whole nine yards, meaning the two are almost identical in terms of design, color options, camera capabilities, software, and more. The only real deciding point is whether you want a bigger screen, although to be perfectly honest, the Galaxy S8's screen is already pretty massive. But if you really ache for a colossal display, then you should pick up the Galaxy S8 Plus.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Accessories
The Galaxy S8's unveiling also outs various accessories that are made to support it, and here are a few of them:
• AKG Earphones - These pair of earphones comes bundled with every Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus purchase. It will also be sold separately for $99. The bundled earphones don't come with a carrying case; the standalone purchase, however, does.
• Clear View Standing Cover - Retailing for $60, the clear view standing cover is a translucent matte cover that also doubles as an adjustable stand.
• DeX Station - The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus works in tandem with the DeX station, which offers users a desktop-like experience, akin to Windows Continuum, when the phone is plugged to the accessory. It also acts as a wireless charger. It costs $150.
• Keyboard Cover - A detachable physical keyboard when touchscreen type input just isn't cutting it.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Pricing And Availability
Both phones will open for preorders starting March 30, which comes with a free Gear VR headset with a controller alongside a set of games. The handsets will ship stateside by April 21. Samsung still won't confirm pricing, however, and is leaving it up to carriers. The Verge speculates that the phone will start around $720.
