Ever since the fiery Note7 debacle, Samsung has been trying to focus on the future and give us hints about the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship. Rumors soon started spreading, suggesting the phone would feature a radical new design, powerful internals, and intriguing artificial intelligence functionality. Now all of these become much more credible in the light of a new report.
Citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, a report from Bloomberg claims to confirm many of the previous rumors that had been circling around. Just as we covered back in October, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will reportedly launch with an “all-screen design”, which will see the handset lose its bezels and opt instead for a curved-edge AMOLED display over the entire front. The device is also expected to run on Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 835 system-on-a-chip, though plans for a dual-camera setup may be abandoned due to manufacturing costs.
The new design will also lead to the traditional home button being abandoned, to be replaced instead by a digital button on screen.
Of course, Samsung won’t be the first to market with such a device. Earlier this year Xiaomi unveiled the Mi MIX, a very interesting concept phone with almost no bezels, which sold out in 10 seconds. Other Chinese manufacturers are following suit, and Apple is rumored to ditch its own home button entirely next year.
That being said, Samsung will be the biggest manufacturer to bring such a bold design to market, no doubt in an effort to recapture some of the brand loyalty and user excitement that went up in smoke with the Note7.
The Galaxy S8 is expected to be unveiled in the first part of next year, though its launch may be delayed, as previously rumored, thanks to an extended testing process that the handset will go through.
Source: Bloomberg