Samsung Reveals Its Long-awaited iPhone killer – Galaxy S8 & S8+

Samsung has unveiled its new flagship smartphone, Galaxy S8 and S8+, the Korean giant’s latest attempt to take on the iPhone. The phone was launched at an event in New York on Wednesday 29th March 2017.

The launch of the device is seen as a crucial moment for Samsung coming after the scandal that saw it forced to recall and cease production of the Galaxy Note 7, its previous top-end phone. “As you all know, it has been a challenging year for Samsung. A year filled with valuable lessons, hard decision and important new beginnings,” DJ Kho, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business, said onstage at Wednesday’s event. Problems with the Note 7s arose shortly after the launch last August, with several complaints of devices catching fire when charging. Some replacement phones also caught on fire. Samsung initially blamed faulty batteries, but some experts believe a design flaw may have been the cause. The recall wiped out billions of dollars of profits and hurt Samsung’s brand. “The launch of the new device must be perfectly executed for Samsung to gain innovation leadership and to gain market share in the high-end smartphone segment,” said Thomas Husson, vice president and principal analyst at research and advisory firm Forrester. The new device comes in two sizes, the 5.8-inch S8 and the 6.2-inch S8+. They feature a new design in which the “infinity display” wraps around the device, meaning that the large screen takes up almost all the front of the phone. For the first time on a Samsung phone, the physical home button is removed entirely. (This is already the case on most other Android devices). Specification of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• 5.8 inches (S8) / 6.2inches (S8+) QHD + Super AMOLED curved display for Galaxy S8 + 18.5:9 aspect ratio + 2960 x 2400 Infinity display resolution
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform or 2.45GHz octa-core Exynos 8895 processor (depending on the market)
• 64GB / 128GB of in-built storage with microSD (expandable up to 256GB)
• 4GB RAM (6GB in China and Korea)
• Main camera: 12 megapixels, f/1.7 aperture and dual-pixel sensor
• Front-facing camera: 8 megapixels, f/1.7 and autofocus
• OIS and 4K recording
• 3,000mAh (S8) / 3,500mAh battery (S8+)
• Rear – mounted fingerprint scanner to the right side of camera
• Front – facing Iris Scanner
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Dual band Wi-Fi, LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC
• Fast Charging with USB Type-C, and even faster Wireless Charging with 15-20w output
• Dual Stereo Speakers
• IP68 Dust & Water Resistance
• Bixby AI assistant (with dedicated button)
• Optional Samsung DeX HDMI dock for desktop mode
• Android 7.0 Nougat with Google Assistant

Price: Galaxy S8 price will start at €799 (N345,200) and Galaxy S8+ at EUR €899 (N388,000).