Samsung has finally ceded production of its Note 7 handset. The company is rumored to be focusing on its upcoming flagship device — the Galaxy S8. Going by the rumors, the smartphone might be a massive update to the Galaxy S7 handset. It is expected to be launched at the Samsung Unpacked event, a day before the Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC 2017) event commences.
Rumors about the Galaxy S8 first emerged in August. Many rumors about the device have surfaced since, such as a Dual Rear camera and a 4K display. The Apple rival needs the Galaxy S8 to be a success to cover up the dent left by the Galaxy Note 7 scandal on its balance sheet.
Here are 5 rumored features of the Samsung Galaxy S8:
1. Design
Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to be a major revamp of the existing design of the Galaxy S7 handset. According to ETNews, Samsung is expected to finally get rid of the home button. Instead, there will be an inbuilt functionality integrated with a fingerprint scanner, similar to the one on iPhone 7. The front of the phone will be covered with just the screen, eliminating the top and bottom bezels.
2. Display
Both the S8 and S8 Edge will come with 4K UHD displays, Korea Herald reported on June 8, 2016.
“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,” the report quoted a researcher at UBI research as saying.
Samsung had upgraded from a full HD display (1080p) to a QHD (1440p) display for S6. But, S7 too, featured a QHD display. The reason that Samsung might go for this upgrade is reported to be Virtual Reality (VR) compatibility. VR is becoming increasingly popular, but on a QHD display, it shows up pixilated.
International Data Corporation predicts that the segment will boom in 2016, with total volumes reaching 9.6 million units. Samsung will have to equip the S8 to cash on the trend and boost the sales of its own Gear VR.
In addition to this, the phone is expected to have a curved display. Koh Dongjin, president, mobile, Samsung Electronics Co, told Korea Herald in an interview in August: “Samsung has considered that it would make the edge display as the identity of the Galaxy S smartphone lineup if the company can provide consumers differentiated user experience through software and user-friendly functions (for the curved screen).”
At the time, Samsung had already begun obtaining 5.5-inch and 5.1-inch display for the S8 variants.
3. New 10nm Processor
Samsung will follow its tradition of providing users with both Qualcomm Snapdragon and Exynos models of S-series handsets. It is expected to do the same with the Samsung Galaxy S8. While Qualcomm’s follow up to the Snapdragon 821 is yet to be revealed, an Exynos 8895 chip showed up on Indian exporter Zauba’s website, according to Phonearena. Samsung is expected to build on a 10nm process instead of the existing 14nm one, making it 30 percent faster than the current Exynos 8890 processor in the S7.
4. New Camera Setup
Samsung had filed a patent in South Korea in July, detailing a smartphone camera with improved gesture-based zoom feature. The current digital zoom capabilities of S-series smartphones haven’t performed too well. According to Sammobile, a dual-camera setup would create better zoom than a single camera setup and therefore, the patent filing is indicative of an improved, dual-camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy S8.
5. USB-C Headphone Jack
Digital Music News reported that Samsung is working on a proprietary headphone jack, according to its sources in South Korea. Samsung engineers are working on boosting the overall sound quality of the new jack, the report added.
