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Samsung Galaxy S8 release date, news and rumours

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a stunning phone. Along with the Galaxy S7 Edge it’s easily the best handset Samsung’s ever made and arguably the best phone on the market, but that’s just made us all the more eager to see what the company can do with the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Fortunately, we’ll know soon, as the Galaxy S8 is set to launch imminently. But even now we have a very clear idea of what to expect, as dozens of rumours have leaked out.

From a massive front-filling screen, to a new AI assistant and plenty of power there’s a lot to look forward to, so read on for everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S8 so far.

Release date and price

Samsung has confirmed that it’s announcing the Samsung Galaxy S8 at an event on March 29th, so we’re very close to getting an official look at it.

That’s not when you’ll be able to buy the phone, but rumours point to an April 7th or April 10th pre-order date, before the handset hits the shelves probably on April 21st.

You’d better get saving though, as several sources now agree that it will cost €799, which amounts to roughly £695, up from the £569 starting price of the Samsung Galaxy S7.

And that’s for the standard handset. Opt for the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus and you could be paying €899, or roughly £780.

Design

Images of the Samsung Galaxy S8 have been extensively leaked, so we have a very good idea of what it will look like.

You can expect a metal frame and a glass back, just like on the Samsung Galaxy S7, but this time there will be no physical home button below the screen, and the fingerprint scanner will be moved to the back, alongside the camera.

The results of this are a handset with tiny bezels and dimensions of 148.90 x 68 x 8mm, making it smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, despite having a larger, likely 5.8-inch screen (detailed below). You can see how it compares to that phone and the iPhone 7 in the image below, shared by Slashleaks.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is also thought to be IP68 certified dust and water resistant, meaning it can survive being dunked up to 1.5 metres deep in water for up to 30 minutes.

You’re likely to be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy S8 in black, grey and silver, among possibly other colours.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to have a 5.8-inch screen (though a couple of sources claim 5.7 inches), while the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is thought to be even larger at 6.2 inches.

Either way, it will be a lot bigger than the 5.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 and even the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

The display is expected to be sharper than the QHD screens on those phones too, with recent rumours suggesting it will be 2400 x 2960 pixels per inch, for a QHD+ resolution. That would make it very, very sharp, even with it being so large.

The screen is also thought to have a new 18.5:9 aspect ratio, making it more widescreen than most phones, and it will almost certainly support HDR content, given that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 does.

It’s sure to be Super AMOLED as before, meaning you can expect bright and vibrant images, and it will be curved on both the standard and Plus models.

Despite the extra size the S8 might be surprisingly small in the hand though, thanks to the shrunken bezels, with the front of the phone being almost all screen. You can see one of the best looks yet at it in the image above, shared by @evleaks. This shot also gives you a look at the black, grey and silver colour schemes.

Power and specs

Most rumours now agree that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will have an Exynos 8895 processor in the UK (and a Snapdragon 835 one in the US). It’s expected to be clocked at 3GHz for seriously speedy performance. The Galaxy S7, for comparison, uses the older and slower 2.3GHz Exynos 8890 and is still one of the fastest phones around.

That chipset is likely to be paired with 4GB of RAM, though as much as 6GB is possible.

The Galaxy S8 is also sure to run the latest version of Android, namely Android Nougat, and have Samsung’s TouchWiz interface over the top.

Storage meanwhile may come in at up to 256GB, and regardless of what it tops out at microSD card support is all but guaranteed.

We also have a good idea of the battery, with a 3,000mAh one rumoured, or a 3,500mAh one in the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus.

3,000mAh is exactly the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S7’s battery, which isn’t all that big for a 5.8-inch phone, so this is one area which could be a disappointment, but Samsung has likely worked to optimize power use, and at the very least it’s sure to charge fast, via a USB Type-C port.

Camera

Samsung may not change the Camera much for the Galaxy S8, with a 12MP f/1.7 aperture one rumoured.

That’s exactly the same spec as the Samsung Galaxy S7’s snapper, but the software and features are likely to be improved. For example, it’s thought that the Samsung Galaxy S8’s camera might be able to record slow motion video at 1,000fps according to Naver. That’s up from just 240fps on the Samsung Galaxy S7.

You can see how the camera might look in the image above, shared by Evan Blass. Note also the fingerprint scanner alongside it.

The front-facing camera could get more improvements though, rising to 8MP from just 5MP on the Samsung Galaxy S7, as well as getting an autofocus, which is something rarely found on front-facing cameras and would allow it to focus on objects and people at different distances.

Features

One big new feature that we know is coming to the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a new AI assistant called Bixby.

This has been created by Samsung, and the company has confirmed that there will be a dedicated hardware button to launch it.

Supposedly Bixby will let you fully interact with the phone without using the touchscreen. At launch it will only work with a small selection of apps, but this is set to grow over time.

The S8 is also likely to get the iris scanner and USB Type-C port from the Galaxy Note 7, and may even get that phone’s S Pen stylus as an optional extra.

It’s bound to inherit most of the S7’s features too, including a fingerprint scanner (moved to the back of the phone), a waterproof build, a microSD card slot and fast charging.

Less likely rumoured features include a mini projector, dual stereo speakers, and the ability to plug the phone into a monitor and use it like a computer, with a keyboard and mouse.

Also, while not a feature as such, most leaks and rumours suggest the Samsung Galaxy S8 will have a 3.5mm headphone port, so it won’t be following Apple’s lead there.

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