While Samsung may not be releasing a lite version of its Galaxy S8, a slimmed down variant of the former flagship is still in the cards.
Dubbed the Galaxy S Light Luxury, the handset has just been announced in China officially today. It takes many cues from the S8 design-wise, albeit with reduced specs.
It ships with a 5.8-inch full screen "Infinity" branded display, a Snapdragon 660, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There"s also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera and a 16-megapixel rear camera. The dubious fingerprint sensor placement of the S8 has been retained as well. In terms of colours, there"s a choice of either Burgundy Red or Midnight Black.
Users will be happy to find that Samsung also keept the IP68 rating, meaning that it"ll be dust and water resistant. The Bixby button remains present as well, a detail which is either a positive or a negative, depending on how you feel about Bixby in general. Though, as Google"s Assistant is neutered by the Great Firewall, Bixby"s presence on the Luxury Light is less extraneous than it is elsewhere.
The phone will be launching in China via JD.com for ¥3999 ($626). It can also be pre-ordered from June 1st for a slightly cheaper ¥3699 ($579). The Samsung Galaxy S Light Luxury is a China-exclusive smartphone for now, with no word of any plans for an overseas launch.