Samsung Galaxy S8 Rumors, Specs and Release Date: Dual-Edge, Curved Screens

By Precious Gem de Peralta
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge curved screen
The Korea Herald is reporting that Samsung will be ditching flat screens for curved screens. The upcoming 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 will both feature such display.  Karlis Dambrans / Flickr

With 2016 almost coming to a close, 2017 will mark the release of some of reigning tech giants’ flagship devices. Other than the upcoming Apple’s iPhone 8, Samsung is expected to start with a clean slate after the Galaxy Note 7 disaster with the launch of Galaxy S8. There have been some rumors surrounding the Korean-based phone maker’s next high-end device. The latest one is ditching the flat screen of the previous Galaxy S versions with a curved screen.

According to the latest report by The Korea Herald, the rumored two Galaxy S8 variants 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch will both feature dual edge screens. A noticeable difference to the usual Galaxy S series with each flat and dual-edge screens. Furthermore, the Galaxy S8 will also be integrated with a bezel-less display. Simply put the device will be 90 percent filled with the screen.

This possible move by Samsung is met with criticisms from industry watchers. They have expressed that the tech giant is faced with two issues. The first one is the fact that it is unclear if “there is sufficient demand for a curved screen-only model.” Also, considering the fact that not many smartphones have curved screens, customers will have to deal with the prospect of no longer using flat screens.

It also does not help that “some still find them [dual-edge screens] inconvenient because they mistakenly touch the sides of the smartphones,” according to analyst Choo Dae-young of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade. Peter Lee of NH Investment & Securities also pointed out that the switch to curved screens may have been driven by the wrong reason. “Samsung appears to be pushing a dual-edge screen to distinguish its design rather than from an efficiency perspective,” Lee said.

Aside from its display, Samsung is also said to be making itself distinct from other smartphones by introducing an autofocus feature on the Galaxy S8’s selfie camera. According to the Korean site ETNews, Samsung will be installing an “encode-type AF actuator.” The company wants to capitalize on the increasing demand of taking high-quality selfie pictures. Normally, smartphones have auto focus function on their rear camera but not on the front camera like Apple’s iPhone. This is because the phone would have been thicker to make that possible. Apparently, Samsung was able to overcome this problem and managed to find a way to add such feature without compromising the phone’s thickness.

As for its specs, the Galaxy S8 should be powered by Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon 835 processor or the Exynos 8895. Qualcomm recently announced that Samsung will be building the upcoming Snapdragon 835. The tech company will be using its 10-nanometer FinFET process. The innovative processor is already tagged as “the most powerful chip” of Qualcomm. In return, this will likely make the Galaxy S8 the fastest smartphone upon its release, according to the Daily Star.

Some possible features of Galaxy S8 also include a digital on-screen Home Button, a 4K resolution screen, 6GB of RAM, a dual-lens camera and a UBS-C audio. It might be equipped with an optical fingerprint scanner, according to a source from Weibo.

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