Rumours suggest technology giant Samsung’s next edition of the Galaxy smartphone will be unlike anything on the market today, and fans are waiting with bated breath ahead of the phone’s launch on March 29.
The company has been tight lipped on the release, with many still scratching their heads at the Mobile World Congress in late February about what the device would look like. However, a number of rumours have given punters a fair idea of what the high-end phone will be like.
Read more: Five rumours about what Apple’s iPhone 8 will look like
The rumours are just that, and have not been confirmed by the company, but they have come from sources who have a proven track record of getting things right. That being said, here are six things to know about Samsung’s next flagship.
In a series of somewhat cryptic promotional ads, Samsung has alluded to “unboxing” the phone, showing a silhouette of a smartphone without any side bezels. Bezels are the borders around the edges of a phone that prevent the screen from running all the way to the edge.
Evan Blass, journalist at VentureBeat, has posted a number of images on his Twitter page, that some believe are promotional shots of the new Samsung Galaxy S8. The shots correlate with the silhouette shown in Samsung’s promotional video, showing a phone with no side bezels whatsoever.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus (top to bottom) in black sky, orchid grey and arctic silver (left to right) pic.twitter.com/ISo7W10sYV
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) March 19, 2017
Interestingly, the phone also lacks a home button, with the bottom bezel being too thin to house one. Rumours suggest the phone could have a virtual fingerprint sensor and home button under the display, leaving more real estate for the screen.
As shown in Blass’ photo above, the S8 could possibly come in a number of colours, including gold, white, black, blue, purple, and grey.
In line with all flagship phones released in the past year or so, the S8 will reportedly be available in two sizes, one shipping with a 5.7-inch screen, and the other coming with a whopping 6.2-inch screen.
The larger model is rumoured to be called the Galaxy S8 Plus, however with the phone’s lack of bezels and maximum screen real estate, the phone should feel smaller than previous “plus sized” models.
Business owners already do a lot of work on their smartphones, with modern day devices having similar functionalities to a desktop or laptop PC.
However, Samsung could be taking that to the next level, with an adapter for the S8 reportedly being available to transform the phone into an Android-based computer.
News.com.au reports the module will have the ability to connect to a monitor, an ethernet connection, and will come with two USB ports to connect a keyboard/mouse.
The module will also charge and cool the phone so it doesn’t overheat with intensive use. There’s no news yet about how the computer will function.
This is the Samsung DeX Station. The #GalaxyS8 USB-C dock w/ 2 USB ports, Ethernet and ACTIVE COOLING! more here: https://t.co/Hv6A0ymgb3 pic.twitter.com/UgxDYv7bGz
— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) March 21, 2017
This has been confirmed by Samsung: Bixby will be the company’s first foray into the world of smartphone assistants, competing with Apple’s Siri or Google’s Assistant.
Bixby will do all the things its competitors can do, like set reminders, call contacts, or save notes. Samsung also says the assistant will have the ability to parse more complex commands, such as “Find a photo of the Sagrada Familia. Send that image to Sally,” reports CNET.
Consumers that don’t want to use Bixby might be somewhat out of luck, however, as the company confirmed the assistant will be able to be launched via a dedicated button on the side of the phone.
The Galaxy S8 will reportedly have two cameras on both the front and the back of the phone for the selfie-obsessed among us.
Rumours suggest the cameras on the back of the phone will feature a dual-lens, which may have the capability of filming video at 1000 frames per second, placing the phone miles ahead of competitors if the rumours are true.
For the front-facing camera, leaks claim the phone will feature one eight megapixel camera along with another for iris scanning or facial recognition. This could give users another way to unlock the phone, simply by looking at it.
Trying desperately to make consumers forget about the Note 7 exploding batteries debacle, the company has clearly outlined it will have stringent battery testing procedures for its next line of phones.
The battery itself could also be bigger and better, with the smaller model potentially having a 3,250mAh battery and the larger plus model having a 3,750mAh battery. Bigger batteries will be essential for the S8 given the size and quality of the screen.
The phone will also reportedly ship with four gigabytes of memory to help the phone tackle the latest and greatest apps.
All these rumours will either be confirmed or denied come March 29, when Samsung will take the wrapping off its newest offering.
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