Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung was riding high when the Galaxy S7 officially outsold the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, and even more so when the Galaxy Note 7 came along and impressed everyone — until it went out with a bang. It’s therefore likely to be thrilled to leave 2016 behind and turn its attention to this year’s flagship, which we know as the Galaxy S8.

Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s mobile communications vice president, has noted that, for starters, the Galaxy S8 will “feature slick design and an improved camera, as well as an enhanced artificial intelligence service.” Rumors say there may even be two — here’s everything you need to know.

You probably want to know when the Galaxy S8 will arrive, right? Well, you might not have to wait much longer. According to Kim Dong-jin, chief executive at Samsung Electronics’ wireless business, Samsung plans to share the Galaxy S8’s launch details on February 27, one day after its press conference at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

That’s a shift away from precedent — the Korean giant has unveiled its flagship Galaxy smartphone at the trade show in Barcelona for the past three years. But given the manufacturing issues with the Galaxy Note 7, DJ Koh, the company’s mobile chief, told Reuters that it is in no rush to release its next flagship.

But while there won’t be a public announcement of the S8 at MWC, the device may be present, according to a rumor on Twitter from user @Ricciolo1. He says the S8 may not be available for the public to see, suggesting that media may get a look at the device behind the scenes.

@Ricciolo1 also says Samsung will launch a “record-breaking marketing campaign” that will span the United States and Europe on March 29. The actual device may be available for purchase during the 17th week of the year, which would mean a release window in the week of April 24.

The Twitter rumor also suggests a price of $850 — that’s markedly pricier than previous Galaxy S devices. The Galaxy S7 Edge, for example, cost $670 at launch. Still, this lines up with previous rumors. Goldman Sachs estimated the component cost for the Galaxy S8 will rise 15 to 20 percent compared to the cost of the Galaxy S7, and that Samsung will pass some of that cost to consumers.

A further leak shows the Galaxy S8’s price may be higher than the Galaxy S7. Data leaked from a Ukrainian retailer apparently has the Galaxy S8 costing between $950 and $1,050, depending on the model chosen. However, that’s a figure converted over from the local currency, and doesn’t reflect final U.S. pricing, but it’s more expensive than the Galaxy S7 before conversion, which suggests it’ll be the same internationally.

Two possible launch dates had previously been rumored. The first was April 18 at a New York City event, according to a report from South Korean news site Naver, which cites industry insiders. The second date was April 15, but no city or location was mentioned in the ETNews report where the rumor originated.

An April date has been talked about for a while. The Wall Street Journal has reported that we wouldn’t see an official Galaxy S8 unveiling until an April press conference in New York City. Noted rumor leaker SamMobile corroborated that report in mid-December. Samsung, which has historically released new Galaxy devices in March, will use the extra time to “coordinate with external agencies to execute plans to recover confidence from consumers before releasing a new product on the market.”

According to recent reports, Samsung is expecting some pretty massive sales of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. In fact, a new report from Korean website TheInvestor, which cites local outlet The Bell, suggests that the company has almost doubled early shipments for its upcoming phone compared to the Samsung Galaxy S7. That makes sense for Samsung — after the whole Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, the company will make a big push for its new flagship phone.

Design: Next to no bezels and a button for Bixby

The Galaxy S8 and its larger partner, the Galaxy S8 Plus, are all set to be beautiful and quite unusual-looking smartphones. Leaks have repeatedly shown a large, curved screen filling the front, and both are expected to have the curved Edge-style screen, but may drop the Edge name this time.

Numerous leaks of the Galaxy S8 have come through, and we now have enough information to pretty well know what the phones will look like. In fact, based on leaked schematics and images, Korean website DesignWoOs.com has created its own renders, showing in great detail what it thinks the phone will look like. These renders are in line with leaks we’ve seen so far.

Software: Android Nougat

With Android 7.0 Nougat already here, it’s almost certain that the Galaxy S8 will ship with the latest flavor of Android when it launches. Samsung likes to add plenty of its own apps and software to make its Galaxy phones more exciting, so what does it have planned for the S8?

According to reports from SamMobile, S Health will be one of the most updated features of the Galaxy S8’s features — that is to say, it will seriously compete with the likes of Apple Health. According to the report, Samsung is working with WebMD and Amwell to add much deeper integration into S Health, allowing users to research symptoms and drugs, and even book visits to the doctor. On top of that, S Health users will get access to video appointments with doctors 24/7. Last but not least, there would be an option to mention if a user has health insurance or not.

Following Samsung’s acquisition of Viv Labs, an artificial intelligence company started by members of the team that developed Apple’s Siri, the S8 will get its own virtual assistant. This has been confirmed by Samsung when executive VP Rhee Injong discussed the feature during a November briefing. He stated the assistant would connect to third-party services and apps, and the more that do so, the more useful and intelligent the assistant will get.

Another software feature rumored to make its debut alongside the S8 is a new app known as Family Care. As its name suggests, the app will allow for parents — or the powers that be within a family — to serve as the final arbiters over what apps can be installed on a handset, or how long the device can be used. Family Care will reportedly also give users control over notifications and reminders and parents can sync their own phones with their children’s with a QR code.

Kids can even request a pickup from their chauffeur (read: mom or dad) with the Family Care app, sending their location and a pickup timeframe to their parents.

Bluetooth, speakers, wireless headphones, and a stylus

According to the latest rumors, the Samsung Galaxy S8 could well be the first phone on the market to offer Bluetooth 5.0, the latest and greatest version of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth 5.0 is far more capable than the Bluetooth 4.2 specification it replaces. In fact, Bluetooth 5.0 doubles the transfer speeds (up to a maximum of 2Mbps), quadruples the range, and dramatically reduces power consumption.

It’s important to note that Bluetooth 5.0 doesn’t totally replace earlier versions of Bluetooth, of course. It just adds functionality to the core Bluetooth technology. Thankfully, it’s also backward compatible, which means that  Bluetooth 4.2 devices work with Bluetooth 5.0 phones — they just won’t get all the benefits.

Samsung recently announced that it would be acquiring Harman International for a whopping $8 billion, which gives the company access to Harman’s connected car tech. But it also gives Samsung access to Harman’s well-respected consumer audio brand. In short, future Samsung phones like the Galaxy S8 could be getting a serious boost in audio quality.

One rumor, in particular, says that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will include stereo speakers with Harman branding, similar to the HTC Boomsound speakers used on HTC devices.

If rumors are to be believed, the Galaxy S8 won’t be wanting in the accessories department.

Samsung may follow Apple’s lead and launch new wireless in-ear headphones alongside the Galaxy S8. According to SamMobile, the company is in internal talks to release a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that “compete with Apple’s [wire-free] AirPods.”

And the Galaxy S8 will reportedly support Samsung’s proprietary stylus, the S Pen. Reports out of China suggest that the company nixed a prototype with an integrated stylus, but has decided to offer the S Pen as an external accessory.

Camera: Dual sensors?

The Galaxy series has seen a serious improvement in camera quality over the past few years, and we even rated the Galaxy S7’s camera as better than the camera on the iPhone 6S in some respects. According to recent reports, Samsung will go a step further for the Galaxy S8.

It won’t just be the rear camera that gets some attention, however. The Galaxy S8 may feature an autofocus selfie camera, according to ETNews in South Korea. We’re used to rear cameras with autofocus, but only a few — Sony’s Xperia XA and HTC’s Desire Eye, for example — have it on the front camera. The camera will allegedly feature an encoder sort of focusing mechanism rather than a voice coil motor, meaning the focusing actuator will be on the side of the lens rather than the middle of the lens. That’ll allow for a camera module with a lower depth.

Samsung Galaxy S7

Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends

The actuator will also reportedly recognize people located at different distances in the frame. In other words, it’s going to be optimized for group shots — a feature Samsung reportedly plans to tout.

Moving to the rear of the S8: according to a tip from Chinese social media site Weibo, the phone will feature a dual 12MP + 13MP rear-facing camera, which ties into the trend for dual-camera setups, as seen on the Huawei P9, Mate 9, and Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus. However, exactly how it will work, or what type of effects it will produce, isn’t clear.

Processor and specs: Snapdragon 835

The Galaxy smartphones have traditionally been among Samsung’s most powerful in terms of hardware, and the Galaxy S8 looks likely to continue that tradition. Rumors suggest it will use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 processor (which Samsung will build for Qualcomm), meaning it’ll deliver more processing power while consuming less energy than its predecessors. But like some previous Galaxy S phones, the Snapdragon-equipped version may not be the only model.

Rumors also suggest that Samsung may use an Exynos 8895 processor with ARM’s new Mali-G71 GPU, which is nearly twice as powerful (1.8 times, to be exact) as the Mali-T880 MP12 GPU found in the Exynos 8890-powered Galaxy S7. This new GPU makes use of ARM’s Bifrost architecture, which allows for high-end 4K and VR experiences. It’s also compatible with Vulkan, OpenGL ES 3.2, GPU Compute, and Android RenderScript APIs.

New information from China suggests that the S8’s internal RAM will be pushed up to 6GB and that the phone’s maximum internal storage will be an impressive 256GB.