At this point, there is precious little we don’t know about Samsung’s upcoming new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. As we’ve seen in countless leaks including BGR’s own exclusive report, the company’s new flagship phones will feature a stunning new design that removes the home button from the face of the phones, thus narrowing the bezels and inching us closer to the all-screen design of our dreams. We also know practically all there is to know about the Galaxy S8’s specs, which are set to be the post impressive specs we’ve seen among all Android phones to date.
We know when the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be unveiled, we know when they’ll be released, and we know about nearly all of the features they’ll introduce. What we don’t know, however, is how much they’ll cost — but if new claims from a well-known smartphone retailer end up panning out, Android fans should prepare to cough up a whole lot of cash to get their hands on Samsung’s latest and greatest smartphones.
If all goes according to plan, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be unveiled by Samsung later this month during a press conference on March 29th. The phones are then expected to go on sale a month later on April 28th. The release date was initially said to be April 21st, but a source with a terrific track record reported on Tuesday that Samsung’s plans have changed.
As far as specs go, we’re looking at a killer flagship phone powered by Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon 835 chipset in the US, or by a comparable Exynos processor elsewhere. The phones will also feature Samsung’s latest flexible Super AMOLED displays (5.8 inches for the S8, 6.2 inches for the S8+), 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with microSDXC support, 12-megapixel Dual Pixel rear cameras, 8-megapixel front cameras, IP68 water and dust resistance, Android Nougat and, yes, a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Now, here’s where things get a bit troubling. According to British gadget retailer MobileFun.co.uk, the phones will have sky-high pricing at launch. In an email to BGR, the retailer said that the Galaxy S8 will cost £799 and the larger Galaxy S8+ will cost £899. For comparison, the iPhone 7 starts at £599 in the UK, while the iPhone 7 Plus costs £719 and up.
These prices are not confirmed yet, of course, but MobileFun.co.uk is a well-known smartphone retailer that may indeed have access to official pricing information. Both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have already been made available for preorder on the company’s website, though no release date has been specified.
