A few quick points on why the Samsung Galaxy S8 will likely be the best overall smartphone of 2017
Samsung will announce the Samsung Galaxy S8 release date at MWC 2017. Rumours suggested a New York launch on March 29th, though the handsets won’t launch until a few weeks later.
As of right now, April 21 is being bandied around as a possible release date for the Samsung Galaxy S8 series of handsets.
The New York launch is still very much on the cards, according to people in the know, but Samsung will put an appearance in at MWC 2017 and show off its brand new Samsung Galaxy S8 series.
What could happen, however, is that the Galaxy S8 is shown behind closed doors to select media outlets. Samsung likes to do things in a very clandestine manner these days, and it wouldn’t be the first time it had pulled something like this.
Either way – the wait is almost over.
Samsung Galaxy S8
Apple’s iPhone 8 might cause some drama when it drops inside Q3 of 2017, but it is going to have to be seriously impressive in order to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S8, which is shaping up to be a very compelling handset.
But I have a feeling the Galaxy S8 will be the stronger handset of the two. Sure, Apple will almost certainly sell more units than Samsung, especially since its new model will be very impressive and different to what came before, but for Android users, the Galaxy S8 will be the handset they aspire towards.
I’m kind of a weird user, in that I use both iPhones and Android phones. If I were pushed to simply adopt one, though, I would always choose Android. Why? Simple: I prefer the operating system, I like the choice of handsets I have my pick of and I believe Google pushes harder to innovate its software than Apple does.
If you’re the opposite, that’s fine, this is just my personal opinion. Though I do think Samsung is on track for a record year in 2017; all the pieces are falling into place. And, god knows, the company needs it after last year’s Note 7 disaster. Samsung’s design has REALLY been on point for the last couple of years as well.
The way I see it, Apple’s the one that has stuff to prove in 2017 – not Samsung Samsung Galaxy S8 .
Samsung had a pretty turbulent 2016, what with the Galaxy Note 7 and all, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the company is really GUNNING for it in 2017.
The big issue that everybody will be looking at once Samsung announces the Samsung Galaxy S8 is its battery. Will it be safe? Has Samsung learnt its lessons?
Given the trouble the company experienced in 2016 with the Note 7 and the resources it pointed at solving this issue, I think it is a given that the same problems will not happen again.
Samsung has spent untold fortunes researching and analysing the Galaxy Note 7’s battery issue. It did this to make sure it never happened again. Any worries about the Galaxy S8’s batteries, while understandable, will likely disappear like a leaf in the breeze after a few weeks of it being available.
As usual, the Galaxy S-update will be the company’s flagship offering. Though this year there could well be three Galaxy S8 models: two standard, with EDGE displays, and, a larger, Plus or Pro model.
Differentiation between the handsets, if history is anything to go by, will not be quite as stark as the light and day differences between Apple’s iPhone and iPhone Plus handsets.
Rather, Samsung is likely to push a few, bespoke technologies onto its larger handset while keeping quite a bit of parity between handsets inside the range. The Pro model could feature a 4K display and S-Pen support, for one, or a slightly more powerful CPU and more RAM.
The name Pro usually denotes a different target audience; in this context, it’s likely to be those that want to use their phones for creative work, which would be a nice shoe-in for the usually-Note-specific S-Pen.
Core experiences should be pretty close across all models, however, and this, as well as tweaks to the design, is what’s going to sell the phone, likely by the boat-load, in 2017.
Below are my top picks for what to look forward to on Samsung’s soon-to-be-launched Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship handset.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Design & Overall Spec
Apple used to be the king of industrial design. But this is no longer the case. Samsung is now the mac daddy when it comes to phone design.
The Galaxy S7 EDGE and Galaxy Note 7 were head and shoulders above the iPhone 7 with respect to design and finish, and this trend will almost certainly continue into 2017 with the Galaxy S8.
How Samsung refines the design of the Galaxy S7 this year remains to be seen, but leaks have confirmed that the Home key will no longer exist on the handset and this means more display real estate and a sleeker, smarter frontal appearance.
Samsung has reportedly been buying up Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipsets like hotcakes. So much so that many Android players – LG and HTC, included – are struggling to source units for their respective flagships which will land around the same time as Samsung’s Galaxy S8 range.
As per usual, there will also be an Exynos-powered Galaxy S8 model (or models). This chipset, which is called the Exynos 8895, will be built by Samsung using the company’s 10nm FinFET process.
The chipset, of which there will two variants, will feature octa-core processors, combining four Exynos M2 CPU cores (clocked at up to 2.5GHz) and four Cortex A53 CPU cores (clocked at up to 1.7GHz), reports suggest.
“Thus, the Exynos 8895M will be using a 20-core variant, while the Exynos 8895V will make do with an 18-core configuration,” reports Phone Arena. “In line with today’s high-end standards, both chipsets will support fast UFS 2.1 storage, LPDDR4 RAM, and integrated Cat. 16 LTE modems. In the second half of 2017, Samsung might introduce a third Exynos 8895 variant with an updated Shannon 359 modem that will be compatible with CDMA networks.”
All Galaxy S8 models will be EDGE models. The standard flat-display design will no longer be available, apparently. Not that this should concern anybody; the EDGE models of Samsung’s current handsets look absolutely stunning when compared to their non-EDGE stablemates.
Exynos 9 CPU or Snapdragon 835 – Masses of Power, Either Way
The jury’s still out on exactly how Samsung will do the split for CPUs on its Galaxy S8 handsets. We know Samsung has bought-up A LOT of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipsets, as this has caused all kinds of trouble for Google’s other hardware partners, but we also know that Samsung will also use its Exynos 9 CPU in some models.
Usually, the split between Snapdragon and Exynos is done by region; Asia gets Exynos, UK and US, Snapdragons. This year could be different, though, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Not that it really matters, anyhow – both chipsets are power-houses!
“With an advanced 10-nanometer design,” says Qualcomm, “the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor can support phenomenal mobile performance. It is 35% smaller and uses 25% less power than previous designs, and is engineered to deliver exceptionally long battery life, lifelike VR and AR experiences, cutting-edge camera capabilities and Gigabit Class download speeds.”
The 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 180 ISP will bring some very impressive updates to any handset’s imaging capabilities, as it supports capture of up to 32 megapixels with zero shutter lag, and offers smooth zoom, fast autofocus and true-to-life colours for improved image quality.
Meanwhile, the Exynos 9 will pack in an octa-core CPU with four custom M2 cores and four ARM Cortex-A53 ones, and the new Mali-G71 GPU. Not much else is known about this chipset, however, though it will likely be mightily impressive once it gets official later on this quarter.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Bixby
This is where things start to get very interesting. Bixby is Samsung’s play for the AI space in 2017. Developed by Viv Labs, the guys that created Siri, Bixby is Samsung’s version of Alexa.
We already know quite a bit about Bixby: it’ll be a lot smarter than the current generation of Siri, ship inside ALL Samsung handsets in 2017, and will be able to do many, many cool things that currently aren’t available on any phones.
One such feature, recently leaked online by a couple of courses, is Bixby’s ability to tell, from a picture taken by the phone, what the user is looking at and then find that object online so the user can buy it using Samsung Pay.
The two services – Bixby and Samsung Pay – will work hand in hand to offer a seamless and completely unique shopping experience. Beyond this, Bixby is said to be very intelligent and capable – think more Amazon Alexa than Siri.
Bixby will not be limited to phones, either. If the Galaxy S8 is a success and Bixby proves popular we’ll likely see the software released inside ALL Samsung gear, ranging from phones to wearables to accessories for you home.
Samsung is in competition with Google. It makes no bones about this and we fully expect to see some sort of Bixby-powered Google Home/Amazon Echo rival released before the end of 2017.
Samsung has its own SmartThings IOT platform and Bixby will likely feature heavily in this ecosystem going forwards.
This is honestly one of the coolest things about the new Galaxy S8 handset. I cannot wait to see what Bixby is capable of.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Camera and Imaging
Samsung has always had solid pedigree when it comes to imaging. But this year’s Galaxy S8 phones will benefit from a raft of new features that will really extend what’s possible with the handsets from a photography standpoint.
A bunch of patents dropped earlier this year that showed Samsung’s plans for imaging aboard future Galaxy handsets. Most of the patent was about new features like dual-sensor technology and improvements to overall photo quality.
The gap between DSLR cameras and camera phones is constantly getting smaller. Thanks in part to advancements with CPU technology and big investments by firms like Sony and Samsung in mobile camera technology, imaging on phones is now fast approaching professional-grade quality and in 2017 we’re about to see yet another big step forward on phone cameras.
Dual-camera technology will be the big inclusion aboard the Galaxy S8. But Samsung being Samsung will not be content with simply adding in a dual-lens system – it will make the dual-lens system the most advanced any of us have seen inside a mobile phone.
Android Headlines reports the following:
« According to a Twitter user @mmddj_china, an industry insider, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will ship with a camera which will support Dual ADC. Now, the source also mentions that Sony’s IMX204 sensor offers support for Dual ADC, but that sensor is not meant to be used in smartphones, and quite frankly it doesn’t fit in there, the Galaxy S8 would have to be huge, and that won’t happen, of course. For those of you who don’t know, ADC is short for Analog-To-Digital Converter, and a dual ADC setup would surely boost camera’s performance. »
Expect brilliant specs and impressive results.
I always look forward to Samsung’s new camera technology, and this year’s release will definitely be significant. I’m expecting big things from Samsung in this department in 2017.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Display – Best In Class Display
The Samsung Galaxy S7 had the best overall display of any smartphone released in 2016. You can find out more why inside our Samsung Galaxy S8 Display Review. The long and short of it i
