In a few hours from now, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S8 and S8+ at the company’s annual Unpacked launch event. The Galaxy S8 launch will happen in New York and London simultaneously on March 29. Samsung will be going to live stream the event on its Galaxy web page starting at 9:30 pm IST on Wednesday.
The company has traditionally unveiled its Galaxy S series smartphones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, but this time around Samsung pushed back the Galaxy S8 release date following the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco.
Sure, Samsung was hit by the Galaxy Note 7 failure and it will have a lasting impact on the company’s reputation and financial health. The Galaxy S8 will be critical to Samsung. If it performs well and most importantly proves safe, Samsung will able to re-establish itself as the true competitor to Apple.
With the March 29 launch date is upon us, here’s everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: All-new design
We’re expecting Samsung to launch two versions of its flagship smartphone: the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Previously, Samsung has launched the Galaxy S series smartphones in two variants: one with the flat display and the other with a curved edge-to-edge display. This year, however, both smartphones will feature ‘edge’ display; and the Galaxy S8+ will have a bigger display, similar to that of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Unlike the Galaxy S7 and S7+, Samsung’s Galaxy S8 lineup will be completely different in terms of design. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ will come with a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch 2K display. Both phones will apparently have a high screen-to-body ratio, meaning the phone’s front will be dominated by the display.
Due to the design change, the physical home button will be removed in order to make room for the taller display. It was earlier speculated that the fingerprint scanner would be embedded into the glass on the display. Unfortunately, that rumour turned out to be false. Going by the latest leaked images of the Galaxy S8, it will instead be incorporated on the rear next to the camera, not underneath it. It also seems likely that both smartphones will get waterproofing, like the Galaxy 7 and S7 edge. Blue, Black, Gold, Orchid Grey and Silver colour options will be available at launch, evidently.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: Bixby
Ahead of the release, Samsung has already confirmed that Bixby, it own voice assistant and rival of Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant, will feature on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. In a blog post released earlier last week, Injong Rhee, Samsung’s head of R&D for software and services, said that “Bixby will be a new intelligent interface” on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ (of course, without naming the devices).
It will be based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, and users will be able to use Bixby by a side button on the smartphones. Samsung claimed that Bixby will be able to control app more extensively than other digital assistants.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: Hardware
It’s also likely that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be available with two different processors in different markets, as has been the case previously. In some markets like the US, Japan and China, the Galaxy S8 will be made available with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. And in countries like India, Samsung might release the Galaxy S8 with its own Exynos 8895 chipset, which the company own manufacturers. Speaking of batteries, the Galaxy S8 will keep the same size 3,000mAh as the Galaxy S7 while the Galaxy S8+ bumps to a large 3,500mAh. We know the Galaxy S8 lineup will continue to feature microSD card support, with support up to 256GB. The built-in RAM is likely to be 4GB. MicroUSB has been reportedly replaced by USB Type-C, a move that makes sense.
Evidently, there will be a 12MP rear sensor with 1.4 um pixel size and a wide f/1.7 aperture. The front will feature an 8-megapixel shooter with the same f/1.7 aperture. Not much is known about the cameras, though, hopefully, we will learn more at the launch event.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: DeX Station
The most interesting part of the Galaxy S8 will probably an accessory dubbed the DeX Station. Essentially, it will be a desktop dock that lets you use the Galaxy S8/S8+ as if it were a PC. It will apparently include 2 USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, an HDMI output with up to 4K resolution support, and a USB Type-C port. Interestingly, the DeX Station will have an integrated cooling fan to keep the S8’s temperature down. As for pricing, the dock will be sold for 149 Euros(or approx Rs. 10,500).
Well, the idea isn’t entirely new. If you recall, Microsoft was the first company that promised to turn a phone into a desktop PC, when connected to a portable dock, monitor, keyboard and mouse. The Continuum dock was first introduced with Windows 10 for the Lumia 950/950 XL.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: Price and release date
We’ve haven’t seen any India pricing for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ so far. However, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ could go for pre-order on March 29 itself, at least in some European countries. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus would cost €799 (or approx Rs. 56,524) and €899 (or approx Rs. 56, 595) respectively in Europe. Pre-orders in South Korea are set to begin on April 7th.
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