Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 edge rumor review: specs, features, expectations

It's never too early to find rumors about a much-anticipated device, especially if it's a flagship one. That applies to Samsung twice, since the bar is always raised twice as higher with the more popular manufacturers out there. Needless to say, rumors about Samsung's next flagship handset will be flying left and right in the upcoming months, since we largely expect it to get unveiled sometime in early February 2017, probably just before next year's MWC trade show.

FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU; FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME

After the excellent Galaxy S7 and S7 edge arrived earlier this year, we have largely set our expectations to "high". After that unfortunate Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, Samsung is perfectly aware that all eyes will be fixated on it as its next batch of top-end phones arrives on the shelves sometime next year. Samsung simply can't afford to make the same mistake once again as this will have enormous repercussions to its brand image. 

And this is exactly what's getting our blood pumping - we are quite hopeful that #TheNextGalaxy will be nothing short of impressive on all fronts and be a mea culpa for the failed Note 7. Here's what we expect of next year's Galaxy phones:

Contents:

1. Design

2. Display

3. Hardware

4. Camera

5. Software and features

6. Price and release date

Design

Samsung Galaxy S8 concept

Two flavors of the same device

There will most probably be two versions of the Galaxy S8. We've heard numerous reports that these are internally codenamed Dream and Dream2 and will roll under the SM-G950/SM-G955 model numbers. It doesn't take much imagination to make the connection - apart from a smaller-sized Galaxy S8, it's almost a given that we will see a larger "edge' version of the phone.

Exciting new design with exorbitantly high screen-to-body ratio

Although the rumor mill has not yet come up with any credible leaks showing us what the Galaxy S8 might look like, we are fairly certain that Samsung would probably stick to the metal-glass design that it's been using for its high-end phones since late 2014, when the A series ushered it in. There are multiple rumors that Samsung will try to shake things up in the design department and most of these claim the next crop of Galaxies is going to feature a rather high screen-to-body size ratio by further minimizing the top and bottom bezels at the front of the phone. Probably the most intriguing hearsay we got hold of claims that the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge might come with "full-screen", edge-to-edge OLED displays and reach an exorbitantly high screen-to-body ratio of over 90%. We suppose that this drastic bezel reduction will likely occur at either the top or bottom of the phone's face, similarly to what Xiaomi and Sharp achieved with their Mi MIX and Aquos bezel-busting phones. An exciting rumor, but a rumor nonetheless.

Design evolution - Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 7

No hardware buttons, optical fingerprint sensor

Having such a high screen-to-body ratio means that the hardware home and capacitive buttons that have been a staple for Samsung's devices for more than half a decade will most likely be done away with. This is what rumors say and it doesn't take a genius to realize that minimizing bezels would definitely require the buttons at the bottom to be substituted for a better option. 

As far as where the fingerprint scanner will go, we heard through the grapevine that Samsung might employ an optical fingerprint scanner that will be embedded in the display itself. We are most probably talking about Qualcomm's Sense ID fingerprint sensor, which can be placed almost anywhere on a device as it is capable of reading your fingertips through glass, metal, or plastic. Other manufacturers, like CrucialTek and Synaptics, have also developed similar technologies that pave the way for fingerprint scanners under the display itself.

To headphone jack or not to headphone jack?

And what to say about that 3.5mm audio jack on the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge? Now that a couple of large manufacturers have decided to ditch the 50+ years old audio connectivity standard, most notably Apple with its recent iPhone 7/7 Plus, we can easily see Sammy ditching it away for the sake of appearing "hip" and "keeping up with the times". We are not convinced that this will play out quite well for the South Korean manufacturer, so we are keeping our fingers that the 3.5mm audio jack is sticking around in 2017 as well. We don't want to be standing in the way of progress, either: if the South Koreans come up with a viable alternative, let them ditch that jack.

While we are waiting for leaks and renders, check out this neat Galaxy S8/S8 edge concept, courtesy of Steel Drake from Behance: 

A concept to admire: Samsung Galaxy S8/S8 edge

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There are also certain rumors that Samsung might employ touch-based volume and power buttons on the side of its next phones, but we are willing to shoot that rumor down with a firearm of your choice - the whole concept behind said buttons is to prevent accidental touches and a touch-based alternative will only create a slew of issues in a field where there's mostly none.

Display

Lots of rumors about the displays on the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge, folks.

We already explored the possibility of the upcoming Samsung phones to boast edge-to-edge displays, providing an incredible screen-to-body ratio of over 90%. This is exciting, but wait till you hear a couple of additional rumored technicalities.

Rumor has it that the Galaxy S8 will ship in two versions -  a 5.1" and a 5.5" one ones. However, we also heard that Samsung might supersize the regular Galaxy S8's display all the way up to 5.5 inches or even 5.7", while the S8 egde could go all the way up to 6.2" in order to compensate for the missing link in the Note lineup. No way this is happening, you say? While we are equally pessimistic, the rumored ditching of the top/bottom bezels could easily pave the way for such larger display in bodies that might not be larger than the current Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Also, it's said that both displays will be curved toward the edges akin to the Note 7, which will further help, keeping the displays' footprint at bay. 

Moving on to resolution, we've been hearing a certain rumor for a bunch of phones only to be disappointed in the end, but here goes - the Galaxy S8 might come with a 4K UHD display with the sky-high resolution of 2160 x 3840 pixels. This will warrant an enormous pixel density, probably making the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge the phones with the sharpest displays ever. Utilizing such displays will make the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge prime candidates for experiencing VR which is quite taxing in terms of display resolution - the higher this one is, the better the experience. We are certain that Samsung, as well as all of its major rivals, are working on Daydream-ready devices, and the Galaxy S8 will most likely be Sammy's first one to usher in Google's virtual reality vision for the future.

Otherwise, Samsung will equip likely equip the devices with its good ol' Quad HD displays, which will still be sharp enough for the average consumer. Аs much as we are stoked for the 4K display era, we suppose that Samsung will more likely stick with Quad HD displays for one more year.

Edge display curvature comparison between the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (left) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (right)

Of course, it goes without saying that the displays of both versions will be of the Super AMOLED type, which has been a signature feature of Samsung's high-end phones for several years now. We are certain of that. The rumor mill also says Samsung will likely use a new generation of OLED displays, which are pegged to greatly improve power efficiency. Whenever potentially better battery life is hinted, we adore the idea.

Hardware

Rumors put a Snapdragon 830 chip inside the Galaxy S8 and the S8 edge, though we shouldn't rule out the possibility that a Snapdragon 821 finds its way inside in the worst case scenario. The international versions of the two anticipated devices will likely be getting an Exynos makeover, similar to what Samsung has been doing for the past few years -- in particular, the one pegged for the task is the Exynos 8895 chip. Both the latter and the Snapdragon 830 will reportedly be utilizing a 10nm manufacturing process, possibly greatly improving performance and power efficiency.

Now, as far as RAM goes, speculations have it that Samsung would throw 6GB or even 8GB of RAM inside the Galaxy S8 and the S8 edge. Recently, Samsung announced 8GB RAM chips, so the possibility for that much operational memory on board is no longer wishful thinking. As Samsung has never separated its flagships in terms of RAM, we highly doubt that there will be two versions of either the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S8 edge - these will surely come with the equal amount of RAM.

Storage-wise, we suppose the base version will come with at least 32 gigs of native storage. As a reminder, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in the USA were only available with 32GB of storage on board, but we hope that this won't be the case with the Galaxy S8. We hope that Samsung doesn't ditch the microSD card slot, too.

A look at the Galaxy S7's insides, courtesy of iFixit

Camera

Here's where it becomes truly interesting.  Numerous reports originating from China (where most leaks come from anyway) claim that the Galaxy S8 will be sporting a dual camera at its back, which would probably pave the way for lossless optical zoom or other camera-centric features. 

Now that the latest iPhone 7 Plus and a slew of other phones have dual cameras, it's only logical to assume that Samsung is exploring this possibility.

One thing is certain and it's that Samsung will likely do its best to improve the Galaxy S8/S8 edge's camera by a fair margin in comparison with their predecessors. The company's track record shows that it has never used the same cameras two years in a row, almost always enhancing its capabilities greatly.

As far as the technicalities are concerned, we heard that Samsung could use two different sensors for the task at hand. One of these is expected to be a custom 12MP Samsung sensor, mostly similar to the one we saw on the Galaxy S7, whereas the other one is tipped to be a yet-mysterious 13MP Sony-made sensor.

Meanwhile, selfies will be covered by a new, 8MP front-facing cam, a welcome bump over the Galaxy S7's 5MP unit. So far, we have no idea if Samsung will throw in some additional goodies like a LED flash or even a dual front-facing camera setup - this will greatly contradict with the rumored design overhaul we've been telling you about previously. 

Software and features

As far as operating systems go, you can bet all your money that the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge will arrive with Android Nougat on board. Google's newest Android flavor has been around for a while on select Galaxy S7/S7 edge devices as a public beta, and we are more than certain that the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge will have Nougat right out of the box. 

Iris scanner 

Samsung made it clear that the iris scanner that can be found at the front of the Note 7 will most likely make its way to other high-end and mid-range devices in the future. Rumor has it that Samsung has already contacted the two companies that stood behind the Note 7's iris scanner -- Partron and MCNEX -- and has offered them contracts for the upcoming flagship crop. Being the next flagship, we are more than certain that the Galaxy S8 will feature the new type of biometric security hurdle, too.

Note 7's iris scanner will probably arrive on the Galaxy S8/S8 edge as well

Bigsby, a smart AI assistant

Everyone is betting big on AI, and Samsung doesn't want to get left behind the Google Assistants, Cortanas, Alexas, or Siris of this world. That is why it acquired Viv, and, from the looks of it, will even tailor the chassis hardware to accommodate Bixby better by introducing a dedicated button for launching the digital assistant. 

Yep, that's right, citing the proverbial "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal claims that Samsung is sold on the idea to have a physical button on the S8, with the sole purpose of starting the Bixby butler. This speaks volumes and sounds like a rather solid giveaway that Samsung might be dead-serious about its smart assistant. 

Release date and pricing

So, so far, so good, but when is the Galaxy S8 getting official? Judging by past announcement, we have a premonition that the Galaxy S8 will be announced just a day before MWC 2017. As the trade show kicks off February 27, 2017, we bet our moneythat the Galaxy S8 and S8 edge would most likely be officially unveiled on

FEBRUARY 26, 2017.

Supposedly, it will hit the shelves in not long after that. If the Galaxy S7/Galaxy S7's release date is something to go by, we will once again speculate that the Galaxy S8 could get released somewhere in the middle of March, probably March 16 or 17. However, recent rumors have pegged the duo's release date as far as mid-April 2017 due to Samsung taking its time to quality-control the two phones, making sure the Note 7 fiasco does not receive a sequel.

How much will it cost? As usual, we suppose it will initially be priced similarly to its predecessor: the smaller-sized version will likely sell for between $649 - $699, depending on the storage, while the larger version will likely go for $749 - $799.