Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the wait is almost over. We are less than 24 hours away from seeing Samsung take the wraps off of its new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones. Look, let’s not beat around the bush: no other Android phones that launch anytime soon will be able to touch Samsung’s new flagship phones. They feature bold new designs that are nothing short of stunning, and they pack specs that blow every other smartphone out of the water. How do we know all this if the Galaxy S8 and S8+ haven’t even been announced yet? These new phones also just so happen to be the worst kept secrets in the industry.
We’ve seen dozens upon dozens of leaks at this point, and we know practically everything there is to know about Samsung’s next-generation flagship smartphones. In this post, we’ll round up all of the most important info out there so you know exactly what to expect on Wednesday when Samsung finally makes its new Galaxy S phones official.
Design
Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will indeed be the most powerful Android phones on the planet when they’re released next month, but that’s not what everyone will be talking about tomorrow following the company’s press conference. That’s right, the phones’ gorgeous new design will be the first things on everyone’s minds.
We don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times photos of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have leaked at this point. BGR was one of the first sites in the world to post real photos of a functioning Galaxy S8 handset, and the floodgates opened from there.
In a nutshell, Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ feature a sleek new design that removes the home button from the phone’s face and narrows the bezels above and below the display. The sides are still curved, as they have been on the Galaxy S7 edge and Galaxy Note 7. The result is a design that is almost all screen on the front.
The back of the S8 and S8+ are still glass, and they’re also curved on the sides like the Note 7 so that the phones fit more comfortably in the hand. The fingerprint scanner as been moved to the back as well, but not the home button — Samsung has chosen to go with a virtual home button at the bottom of the display, as you can see in the photo above.
Specs
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are clear market leaders when it comes to design, and the same holds true for the handsets’ specs. Here’s a quick rundown of the key specs that have leaked:
Galaxy S8
- 5.8-inch Super AMOLED QHD+ display
- 18:9 aspect ratio
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor in the US model
- Samsung Exynos 8895 processor in the global model (4×2.45GHz + 4×1.9GHz)
- 12-megapixel rear camera
- 8-megapixel front-facing camera
- 3,000 mAh battery
- 64GB of storage
- Iris Scanner
- USB-C
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Galaxy S8+
- 6.2-inch Super AMOLED QHD+ display
- 18:9 aspect ratio
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor in the US model
- Samsung Exynos 8895 processor in the global model (4×2.45GHz + 4×1.9GHz)
- 12-megapixel rear camera
- 8-megapixel front-facing camera
- 3,500 mAh battery
- 128GB of storage
- Iris Scanner
- USB-C
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Both phones are expected to be available in five colors: Black, coral blue, gold, silver, and gray.
Performance
All those specs sure look nice on paper, but far more important is the experience all of those components combine to deliver. According to leaked benchmarks, that experience is going to be beyond impressive.
Nothing can touch Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus when it comes to single-core performance, but the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ set new records for multi-core benchmark scores. In fact, they don’t just break Apple’s old multi-core record, they obliterate it.
Key features
Beyond the design and specs, Samsung is also expected to introduce a number of exciting new features on the Galaxy S8. The biggest one is Bixby, which is Samsung’s answer to Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Siri. Another awesome addition is the new DeX Station accessory, which will enable a Desktop Experience. In a nutshell, this nifty new feature will transform the Galaxy S8 from a smartphone into a powerful Android-powered desktop computer.
Find out more about the Galaxy S8’s key features in this post.
Release date and pricing
Last but certainly not least is the release date and pricing. Curiously, these are the only two areas where there is still any mystery left. There are conflicting surrounding the release date, but it looks like it’s either going to be April 21st or April 28th. As for pricing, US prices have yet to leak but in Europe it looks like the Galaxy S8 will cost €799 while the Galaxy S8+ retails for €899.
