14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung showcased the Galaxy S8 phone to key carrier partners in December, according to Eldar Murtazin, a Russian blogger and Samsung insider who regularly discloses information about Samsung phones over at Mobile-Review.
The blogger has confirmed some previous rumors about the upcoming phone, like the fact that it will come in two versions and the screen-to-body ratio will be increased, which means smaller bezels. In addition, Galaxy S8 Plus's display will be larger than any other phone in the Galaxy S series, but the two units won’t be bigger than last year’s Galaxy S7.
There has been a discussion about the fingerprint scanner on the new phone, and Murtazin seems to suggest that the sensor might be placed right under the display, but he can’t say for sure. During the meeting with Samsung in December, carrier partners were impressed with the design of the new phone and revised their sales plans upward, but stayed prudent and required insurance against a situation similar to the Note 7 last year.
Nonetheless, the new report mentions that the Galaxy S8 will be launched during the second half of April, some believe in the week starting April 17. Supply may be constrained at launch, and carriers expect to receive an initial batch of just 40-50% of what they would need.
New AMOLED tech in the screen, glass back, and metal body frame
Samsung has incorporated new AMOLED technology in the 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch displays, which should provide a larger color gamut, increased brightness, color accuracy, and reduced power consumption. The display will also have the latest Corning Gorilla Glass coating on top and the phone will be made of the same materials as the Galaxy Note 7, a metal frame and a glass back.
Murtazin also says that the smartphone in Samsung Display’s promo videos isn’t the Galaxy S8, but just a generic phone for showcasing its new OLED screens. Samsung will be launching a new Gear VR with the S8, as Murtazin said that the phone’s display was improved greatly, but didn’t specify the new pixel resolution.
3.5mm headphone jack and USB Type-C port
Another interesting piece of information is the fact that the Galaxy S8 will have approximately the same battery capacity as Galaxy S7 models, and it will retain the 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB Type-C port. Just as expected, there will be an iris scanner at the front of the phone.
The Galaxy S8 will run the Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, depending on the region. The chipsets are built on the 10-nm FinFET process and will be coupled with the new Mali-G71, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage.
Murtazin doesn’t mention the rumored dual-camera setup on the back of the Galaxy S8 Plus, but he does say that the phone will have improved camera capabilities. Moreover, it will ship with Android 7.1.1 out of the box, as well as Samsung Cloud, Samsung Pay, and the new Bixby voice assistant.
The blogger talks about a special Game Mode for users to tweak settings and get the most out of processing power, it could very well be the rumored Beast mode. The report confirmed the rumors regarding the Galaxy S8 having a Continuum-like feature for connecting the phone to a bigger screen.
The standard Galaxy S8 is expected to carry a price tag between $700 and $750, while the Galaxy S8 Plus could be priced at $850.