Samsung Galaxy S8: Best Smartphone Of 2017? Famous Analyst Says Not

Samsung Galaxy S8 may be the best smartphone yet of 2017 – or not.

With a slew of great features — a borderless design, a powerful Snapdragon chip, a special dock and very own AI to name a few — Samsung Galaxy S8 looks like a contender to become the best smartphone of the year. But famed KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says otherwise. His reason? The Galaxy S8 lacks serious “attractive selling points” and won’t affect the supply chain momentum too much.

Samsung Galaxy S8 at a glance

If all the leaked features and specs of Samsung’s newest flagship are to be believed, it stands to become one of the best smartphones that will be released this year. Following the debacle that the Galaxy Note 7 has made with its explosions, consumers are now itching to know if the Galaxy S8 will be Samsung’s – and maybe the market’s – best smartphone yet this year. Business Insider collected some of the best leaked Galaxy S8 features and specs that are set to make Samsung’s newest flagship as the most anticipated smartphones of 2017.

Samsung is well-known for pioneering curved screens and the Galaxy S8 looks no different if an earlier image leaked by Evan Blass, who was also a famous gadget leaker, proves to be true. There will be no sharp corners for Samsung’s newest flagship. The Galaxy S8 is also rumored to sport a 5.7-inch screen with the rumored Galaxy S8 “Plus” having a larger screen measured at 6.2 inches.

I think this is what you’ve been waiting for. pic.twitter.com/FvYfsLOy0R

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) March 1, 2017

The Home button is a little awkward, however. Instead of a physical button that is usual of Samsung phones, the Galaxy S8 may have its home button embedded underneath the glass panel similar to Xiaomi’s Mi 5s. With this move, the Galaxy S8 would be using the same technology of reacting to touch instead of manually pressing it down. There’s also a likelihood that Samsung will ditch its capacitive touch buttons on the Galaxy S8 and use on-screen buttons instead.

On top of that, the Galaxy S8 may have a dual-lens camera, possibly one that uses the better optical zoom to have better focus on subjects. Business Insider reported that Samsung’s front shutter might be the best in the market thanks to a super-fast autofocus feature. The Snapdragon 835 chip that powers Samsung Galaxy S8 also ensures that it’s powerful and efficient enough to take on several tasks at one time.

The Galaxy S8 may also use an eye scanner for unlocking, similar to the earlier feature found in Note 7. Since Samsung recently acquired the high-end audio company, Harman, there’s a likely possibility that their newest flagship will provide great sounds as well. With the addition of a USB-C port, Samsung also makes it possible for the Galaxy S8 to be plugged into an external monitor and make it work just like a desktop PC. Its water resistance feature is also reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S7 that took a spot as one of the best smartphones of 2016. Lastly, the Galaxy S8 might have its very own AI, Bixby, just like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant after the Korean-based smartphone maker acquired Viv, the founders of which are also the creators of Siri, last year in October.

There’s just a big BUT

Samsung Galaxy S8 looks almost perfect to imagine. But well-known KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo, “The Most Accurate Apple Analyst in the World,” said that Samsung Galaxy S8 lacks “attractive selling points.”

The comment happened this weekend over a new investor note that Kuo did for Apple. There were tidbits about the company as reported by 9to5mac, but most of it had been focused on Samsung and the upcoming release of the Galaxy S8. Kuo noted that Samsung will face tougher competition from Apple this year following the stint of the Note 7 explosions, which led to Samsung releasing just a single flagship in a year.

The KGI analyst explained that the OLED iPhone has better chances of being a “bigger draw for consumers.” He also predicts that shipments of Samsung Galaxy S8 will come around to just 40 to 45 million compared to the 52 million units of Galaxy S7. He also attributed the higher sales of the Galaxy S7 due to the halt in production of the Galaxy Note 7 following multiple incidents of its explosions.

“Galaxy S8 lacks sufficiently attractive selling points (except full-screen design), and OLED iPhone could well be a bigger draw for consumers.”

Kuo ended his note saying that the current demand for Samsung Galaxy S8 is “conservative” and will have limited contribution to the supply chain momentum when compared to the OLED iPhone model of Apple. For a few weeks now, much comparison has been made between the upcoming Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8. As the top two smartphone makers, Kuo’s predictions just added to the tough competition of both flagships once they release in the market.

Samsung will officially unveil the Galaxy S8 on March 29 at 11 a.m. EST in New York at the Galaxy Unpacked 2017 event and will be available on sale by mid- or late April.

What do you think of Kuo’s predictions? Sound off your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Michael Sohn/AP Images]