It's official: the Galaxy S8 is coming soon -- very soon.
Though Samsung did not offer a sneak peak of its forthcoming phone at Mobile World Congress in February, the company did use the press event for its new Tab S3 tablet to announce the date of the Galaxy S8 launch: March 29, 2017.
That day can't come soon enough for the troubled company, which has endured a series of PR fiascos over the past year. Samsung's de facto leader, Jay Y. Lee, is currently standing trial on charges of embezzlement and of bribing South Korea's embattled president. And, of course, there was the company's exploding Galaxy Note 7 scandal, which became one of 2016's biggest tech stories. Given all of this, it's difficult to overstate the importance of the followup to its flagship Galaxy S7, released last March.
Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S8 in New York on March 29.
All eyes will be on Samsung at the upcoming March 29 Unboxed event. Though the company has done a good job keeping the design under wraps so far, more leaked pictures and videos of the Galaxy S8 are emerging daily. As we get our first (alleged) looks at the evidence, the question remains: will the Galaxy S8 have the goods to win back shoppers who bolted after the Note 7 debacle?
With the Galaxy S8 just days away from its debut, the leaks are now gushing. We've assembled the most important of them below.
What we know for sure
- Samsung will reveal the Galaxy S8 March 29 in New York City
- It will use Samsung's revised eight-point battery testing procedure.
- Samsung will leave more space inside for the battery (even though that's not what caused the Note 7 to flame out).
What's possible based on the rumors
- A virtual home button or one that's located on the rear of the phone
- Facial recognition and/or iris scanning
- Inclusion of a headphone jack
- USB-C port
- SIM card or microSD slot
- Front and rear cameras
- Colors options including black, white, blue, gold, and silver
Facial recognition and iris scanning
The Galaxy S8 may include a facial recognition feature -- in addition to a possible iris scanner and the usual fingerprint sensor, which may have migrated to the back of the device, according to a report by Korea Economic Daily. (Note that the forthcoming iPhone 8 is also rumored to supplementing its Touch ID technology with facial and/or iris recognition.)
Size matters
Speaking of Apple, the Galaxy S8 already has -- and will continue to have -- lots of competition. In addition to phones still in the pipeline for later this year -- such as the iPhone 8, expected to debut in the fall, and the new LG G6 -- there's a handful of terrific options currently on the market including the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and the OnePlus 3T. OnLeaks published a neat comparison of how some of them will stack up from a size perspective.
A rainbow of options (plus gold)
Among a torrent of leaked photos and mockups appearing during the past week, TechDroider tweeted a picture that appears to be the front plate of the Galaxy S8 in a variety of colors including black, white, blue, gold, and silver. Another tweet included additional images of what appeared to be a Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, powered on.
All screen, all the time
The face of next year's Galaxy S8 could be 90 percent screen, according to one report out of South Korea, up from an average ratio of 80 percent screen-to-bezels. It wouldn't be the first time we'd see a nearly bezel-less screen. Chinese phone maker Xiaomi just released the latest attempt at this tech unicorn, the ceramic-backed Mi Mix.
The home button: virtual or moved to the back
On a related note, some have suggested that a reduced bezel would compel Samsung to do away with the Galaxy S8's home button, including the fingerprint reader, and use an optical sensor beneath the display. There are also rumors that Samsung may have incorporated virtual navigation buttons and moved the fingerprint sensor to the back of the phone.
Super-high 4K resolution
It's also expected that Samsung will go ultra-high-def for its next big phone, bumping up the S7's current resolution (2,560x1,440 pixels) to a 4K resolution of 3,840x2,160 pixels.
Sony beat Samsung to the UHD punch last year with its Xperia X Performance. At that time, TV reviewer David Katzmaier and I argued the futility of such a move, but with VR headsets that integrate with phones slowly gaining fans (like Samsung's own Gear VR), there is at least one case for having more pixels on your phone than you might have on your TV.
Unlike the S7 and S7 Edge here, both Samsung's Galaxy S8 phones could curve.
Galaxy S8 and curved-screen Edge could be one and the same
The Galaxy S8 could have the same curved sides as the S7 Edge, according to another rumor. But that wouldn't mean Samsung would only sell one phone. Keeping up with a recent tradition, the Galaxy S8 could still come in two sizes.
Two rear cameras
A report out of Korea points to two cameras on the back, just like with the iPhone 7 Plus, LG V20 and Huawei P9.
The Galaxy S8 might have a pressure-sensitive screen
Yeah, yeah, we've heard this rumor before when the Galaxy S7 was supposedly going to have a screen you could press and hold to make submenus pop up (like Apple's 3D Touch for iPhone). It never happened, but maybe this time, one Korean outlet reported, it will.
It could have an AI assistant named Bixby
Filing a patent for a digital assistant named Bixby is a pretty good indicator of Samsung's intentions in this area. The info dovetails nicely with rumors that the Galaxy S8 will include a new digital assistant, and perhaps a dedicated button to launch it. Handily enough, Samsung bought AI startup Viv, which coincidentally spun up Apple's Siri.
We'll update as more rumors and stories surface in the long leadup to the launch. This story was last updated March 13, 2017.