Everything We Know About Samsung Galaxy S8
The next line in Samsung's smartphone Galaxy series; the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Release and Price
United States - April 21st, 2017
United Kingdom - April 28th, 2017
A SIM-free Samsung Galaxy S8 has been priced at $720 / £689.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 are open with an offer to have the smartphone delivered as early as April 20th in the UK should you place an order before April 19th.
Hardware Specs
• 5.8-inch screen (S8) / 6.2-inch screen (S8 Plus)
• 1440 x 2960 (QHD+)
• Exynos 8895 chipset
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB internal space
• Water and dust resistant (IP68)
• Headphone jack
• Fingerprint sensor and iris scanner
Feature Highlights
• No more physical Home button
The physical Home button is a thing of the past. Samsung is joining the ranks of other smartphone powerhouses and ditching the physical for more of the digital. A pressure-sensitive area where the button should be instead serves as the new Home function.
• Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor
On the rear of the phone is the new fingerprint sensor and it's right next to the camera, which could be a little off putting if you're averse to smudging the lens.
• Samsung's Bixby AI assistant with dedicated button
This nifty addition is Samsung's shot-across-the-bow at rival AI assistants and the Bixby provides contextual assistance such as through voice, touch or camera. So far this system is limited to the United States and South Korea at launch. Bixby can use the phone's camera to identify places and even products.
• TouchWiz UI refined
Samsung continue to tweak their custom UI overlay for the Galaxy series. This is the thing that sits between you and the Android operating beneath. It's Samsung's 'cleanest' attempt at the UI yet with smoother fonts and a more premium appearance.
• Single 12MP camera, 8MP front-facing camera
What's a smartphone without selfie facilitation? The Galaxy S8 is armed with a 12MP camera for all those snaps of other people and things, while an 8MP lens will help capture those self portrait masterpieces. The good news is a multi-frame system helps pick out the best of three snaps to get the sharpest available image.
• Battery with wireless charging support
The new chipset for the Galaxy S8 does use CPU power more efficiently with better management for the GPU also, which means more time doing what you want it to and less battery drain. The charge capacity hasn't changed since the Galaxy S7 - it remains a 3000mAh battery for the standard model.
Wireless charging is now also supported so the Galaxy S8 can start taking advantage of nearby points.
Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus
The major difference between the standard S8 and the S8 Plus is the screen size where the Plus model increases to a 6.2-inch screen and gains a 4,000mAh battery, but are otherwise identical in performance and technical specifications.
Both run on the Android Nougat operating system and enjoy Bluetooth 5.0, with the feature to connect a second pair of wireless headphones.
