Samsung Galaxy S8

GALAXY S8 RELEASE DATE UK & US – WHEN WILL THE NEW GALAXY S8 COME OUT?

The Galaxy S8 release date is likely of fall in either March or April, based on recent history. Here’s a quick look back at previous Galaxy phone launches:

• Galaxy S7 release date – March 11, 2016
• Galaxy S6 release date – April 20, 2015
• Galaxy S5 release date – April 11, 2014
• Galaxy S4 release date – April 27, 2013
• Galaxy S3 release date – May 29, 2012
• Galaxy S2 release date – May 2, 2011
• Galaxy S release date – June 4, 2010

It was originally believed that Samsung would debut the new phone at MWC 2017, Barcelona's annual technology tradeshow, in late February. But Samsung has confirmed that won't be the case. Analysts are now looking towards an April reveal, as Samsung works hard to ensure there aren't any Galaxy Note 7-style battery issues with the new phone.

A Forbes report published in January pointed to April 14, 2017 as the prospective launch date – stay tuned.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1d/270a/samsung-galaxy-4.jpg

GALAXY S8 FEATURES – WHAT’S NEW ABOUT THE GALAXY S8?

The Galaxy S8 is guaranteed to flaunt some of 2017’s latest and greatest mobile hardware, but Samsung is keeping a tight lid on details.

Here’s what you can expect to see in terms of Galaxy S8 features...

GALAXY S8 DESIGN – MAJOR OVERHAUL?

Samsung might be planning a major design overhaul for this year’s Galaxy S8.

A report from Korea’s ETNews says Samsung wants to ditch the Home button, integrated its functionality into the display instead – just like Apple’s rumoured iPhone 8. Samsung allegedly wants to do this to “fill all of the front of the Galaxy S8 with just screen”. This video from Android blog Techdroid shows a Galaxy S8 render based on such rumours:

We’ve also heard a rumour that the Galaxy S8 may have significantly smaller bezels than the Galaxy S7. Speaking to The Investor, Park Won-sang a Principal Engineer for Samsung Display, said that the company was aiming to introduce an OLED display with a greater-than 90% screen-to-body ratio. He went on to reveal that Samsung hoped to create a handset with a 99% screen-to-body ratio in the next few years. For contrast, most phones currently have an average ratio of around 80%.

These rumours were echoed by a Bloomberg report from November that claimed Samsung is planning to kit the Galaxy S8 out with an “all-screen front”. The article says the “bezel-less” phone will “provide more viewing real estate”, with Samsung expected to ditch the physical Home button and bury its functionality in the lower section of the glass instead.

But the biggest boost to this rumour’s credibility came courtesy of Synaptics’ announcement that it had developed a new fingerprint scanner – the Natural ID FS9100 optical fingerprint sensor.

What’s important about the FS9100 is that it can scan your fingerprint through 1mm of “full cover glass”, which would enable Samsung to hide the scanner underneath the glass, rather than having to embed it in the Home button.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00003c34c/9d2c/synaptics.jpg

“By bringing optical sensing technology with the right form factor and power consumption envelope to smartphones and tablets, Synaptics is enabling the elimination of the Home button, which is a critical next step to full top-to-bottom, edge-to-edge smartphone and tablet displays,” says Les Santiago, Research Director for analyst firm IDC.

Importantly, Samsung has used Synaptics fingerprint sensors on previous flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S8. So that makes it even more likely that this new sensor will make it to a future Samsung handset. The only possible roadblock would be that Synaptics says manufacturers can sample the sensor from Q1 this year, with manufacturing beginning in Q2 – that may be too late for inclusion in the Galaxy S8.

With those leaks in mind, a new concept render has been created by the appropriately named Concept Creator, which offers a quirky vision of Samsung's next flagship smartphone:

And here's an image that VentureBeat's (generally reliable) Evan Blass claims actually depicts the real Galaxy S8:

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00003cc0b/c628/galaxy-s8-2.jpg

GALAXY S8 AND S8 EDGE SCREEN – WILL SAMSUNG USE A 4K DISPLAY?

On the matter of displays, we should kick off with the screen sizes for past Samsung flagship phones:

• Galaxy S7 - 5.1-inch
• Galaxy S7 Edge – 5.5-inch
• Galaxy S6 – 5.1-inch
• Galaxy S6 Edge – 5.1-inch
• Galaxy S5 – 5.1-inch

There’s a clear trend of 5.1-inch panels, which is a decent middle-ground that suits most users. We’d expect the Galaxy S8 to follow suit, although a report from the Korea Herald pointed to two variants: 5.7-inches and 6.2-inches.

We’re also convinced that 2017 might be the year Samsung moves to a 4K display, following on from the Galaxy S6’s introduction of a QHD screen. One report from Weibo suggested that one variant of the Galaxy S8 will use a 4K-resolution screen.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1a/0f3c/samsung-galaxy-1.jpg

The main argument for introducing a 4K display is the growing popularity of virtual reality. When you use a Gear VR headset today, you’re looking at a Galaxy smartphone’s QHD screen. But because the image display is in stereoscopic mode – split into two, basically – then you’re getting half resolution. Pair that with the fact that your eyes are very close to the screen, and pixel density suddenly becomes very important.

If Samsung moved to a 4K panel, you’d enjoy a significantly enhanced VR experience – visually, anyway. And it’s worth noting that the Snapdragon 820, which powers the Galaxy S7, already supports native 4K displays at 60fps.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000038e1b/4aec/samsung-galaxy-2.jpg

The good news is that it might actually happen. The Korea Herald reported on comments from analysts at UBI Research, who were quoted as follows:

“Samsung Display showcased a 5.5 ultra-high definition 4K display with a pixel density of 806ppi for virtual reality devices at the Society for Information Display, a display trade show, in California in March. 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.”

There’s also a rumour that the Galaxy S8 will only be available with a curved-edge display, after a Samsung executive recently hinted that flat screens might be going away for good. Speaking to the Korea Herald, Samsung Mobile boss DJ Koh said:

"Samsung has considered that it would make the edge display as the identity of the Galaxy S smartphone line-up if the company can provide consumers differentiated user experience through software and user-friendly functions (for the curved screen)."

The Herald published a follow-up report that said Samsung was considering whether to ditch flat screens on the Galaxy S- series going forward. That’s reportedly down to the fact that the curved Galaxy S7 Edge outpaced the flat Galaxy S7 in terms of sales. The Herald believes Samsung is procuring curved displays in 5.1-inch and 5.5-inch variants from its own Samsung Display division.

GALAXY S8 SPECS – HOW POWERFUL WILL IT BE?

New 10nm processor? – The Galaxy S8 specs haven’t been announced yet (obviously), but they’re pretty easy to predict.

The Galaxy S7 featured either a Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890, depending on where you bought your phone. The former is built by US chip maker Qualcomm, while the later is a custom-built Samsung chip. We’re expecting that the Galaxy S8 be sold with Qualcomm and Samsung chips, depending on your market.

Particularly interesting is a report by Forbes suggesting that Samsung has bagged early shipments of the Snapdragon 835, cutting the LG G6 off from using the chip entirely.

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Related: 10 Common Galaxy S7 problems and how to fix them

Samsung has already confirmed that it is working on producing the Snapdragon 835 with a highly efficient 10nm manufacturing process. This means the transistors are far smaller than those built on the 14nm and 16nm chips used in the Galaxy S7. As such, we’d expect a 10nm chip to be much less power-hungry, and potentially more powerful.

According to Samsung, the new transistor design will mean transistors can be placed on a chip with 30% greater area efficiency, resulting in 27% higher performance or 40% lower power consumption. Manufacturing has already started, with chips expected to land in smartphones in 2017. In fact, Samsung has already vowed to produce a second-gen version of its 10nm chips in the second half of 2017.

Samsung’s chip-making division hasn’t announced any partners, but South Korea’s Electronic Times believes Samsung will be the sole manufacturer of the Snapdragon 830, Qualcomm’s next flagship chip. Samsung rival TSMC is also good for 10nm chips, too.