Samsung Galaxy S7 outsold both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus after the device was released. The Korean giant didn’t finish the year in high spirits since the Galaxy Note 7 ended up as a complete bust. Now, just a few months away from the release of the Galaxy S8, there are more and more rumors surfacing talking about the features the upcoming flagship device will pack.
A statement by Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung’s communications VP in which she says that the Galaxy S8 will “feature slick design and an improved camera, as well as an enhanced artificial intelligence service,” shed some light on the features of the upcoming smartphone. On the other hand, many other details are still in the shade, but that didn’t stop the rumor mill to reveal some of the potential techs and features the Galaxy S8 will have.
One of the most important rumors talks about the Galaxy S8 being the first phone ever to feature Bluetooth 5.0 technology. The technology was released to developers just last week, with lots of improvements regarding range, speed, and bandwidth. The latest Bluetooth version is made in order to be able to manage smart homes and smart cities.
Max data speed should go up to 2 Mbps, the range is quadrupled, allowing Bluetooth 5.0 devices to cover an entire home. This could give the Galaxy S8 an edge over other models, enabling better connection between the phone and wireless headphones while at the same time using less power than previous Bluetooth iterations.
Aside from packing the latest Bluetooth version, the Galaxy S8 should pack an iris scanner, like the Note 7. A fingerprint scanner should be mounted on the back, hinting that the phone may come with an edgeless design (the display should cover around 90 percent of the front side), dropping the front-placed Home button. Earlier reports stated the fingerprint scanner used will be optical, but if the phone comes with glass design on both sides, an optical fingerprint scanner might be included.
The phone might come with Harman speakers. Since Samsung announced a while ago that the company will buy Harman International for $8 billion, the Galaxy S8 might be the first Samsung phone to come with Harman branded speakers.
Y-OCTA technology, first used on the Note 7, a manufacturing process in which touch sensors are embedded within screen panel, instead placing the touch layer between the screen panel and the protective glass, might also be featured on the upcoming flagship. The process makes the phone thinner and manufacturing cost lower. Also, Samsung should release just the curved display version, dropping the one featuring normal, flat display.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 should feature a front-facing camera with autofocus, making selfies even better. The focusing mechanism will feature an encoder, instead of a voice coil motor, placing the focusing actuator at the side of the lens, instead of the middle. The result will be a camera module with a lower depth. This camera will be optimized for group shots, being able to recognize people at different distances from the camera lens. This should definitely make the Galaxy S8 quite different from other models.
Previous rumors talked about the Samsung Galaxy S8 being powered by Snapdragon 835, although there’s a chance for Samsung to release a version powered by Exynos chipset (the Exynos 8895). The phone should come with 6 GB of RAM and 256 of built-in storage.
Samsung Galaxy S8 should be revealed during MWC 2017 (Mobile World Congress), taking place between February 27 and March 2 in Barcelona. If the phone gets unveiled during MWC, it shouldn’t start shipping until April 2017.