Galaxy S8 Phone Release Date Pushed Back, Samsung Price Point Too High?
The Samsung Galaxy S8’s release date may have been pushed back. Although there has been no release date officially announced, the rumor was that the device would hit shelves on April 21, 2017. However, Venture Beat‘s Evan Blass reports that the release date will now be April 28. Although that has not been confirmed either, Blass is considered one of the most reliable leakers of information on upcoming cell phones on the internet.
In a recent article, Evan stated that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8+ release date would be pushed back a week later than initially expected according to his source who was “briefed on the company’s revised target.”
According to Gadgets 360, Samsung will be announcing its newest phone today at an unpacking event in New York. It is predicted that pre-orders for the S8 will start on April 10, and a worldwide launch is planned, meaning that the device will go on sale everywhere at the same time.
Samsung’s troubles with the Galaxy Note 7’s exploding batteries and subsequent recall is projected to cost the company $5.4 billion. For this reason, the Korean electronics firm needs to hit a home run with the Galaxy S8. However, some are already complaining that the phone is going to be far too expensive.
Samsung is expected to announce the price point for the series at the New York event. However, BGR reports that price leaks of the Galaxy S8 show a retail cost of €799 with the S8+ going for €899 in the U.K. and other European countries. For U.S. customers this is roughly $865 and $970 respectively. The buzz on Twitter is that this price point is much too high for the average consumer.
Galaxy S8 and S8+ to be even more expensive than previously thought https://t.co/fUZPpG7Kry pic.twitter.com/kRqRXLHjEh
— GSMArena.com (@gsmarena_com) March 23, 2017
#Galaxy #Note8 to be more costly than #Note7. Goldman Sachs – Galaxy S8 will cost between 15% & 20% more than the Galaxy S7. Too expensive.
— MiaView2 (@view_mia) December 29, 2016
650 dollars max… The highest end I can go is the pixel
Galaxy s8 is something I wish I could get but it's too expensive— Shahzin (@Shahzin_) March 8, 2017
Samsung may be trying to recoup some of the losses from the Note 7 recall. However, BGR reports that the phone does sport all of the latest and greatest that the industry has to offer.
The screen of the Galaxy S8 will be a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED QHD+ display. The Plus version will be 6.2 inches. It has long been rumored that the screen will be edge-to-edge. So far nobody has contested this.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 will also feature a 12-megapixel camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The Plus version will likely have the same cameras.
The standard battery will be 3,000 mAh, but the Plus will be able to contain a 3,500 mAh battery thanks to its larger form factor.
Both versions of the phone are expected to support USB-C and have iris scanning technology.
Samsung has also perfected a voice-operated assistant similar to Siri and Alexa called Bixby and an accessory called DeX Station.
Gadgets 360 says, “Bixby is expected to do a lot more that other competitive assistants, and even work exclusively with native apps like Camera and Messages.”
The DeX Station reportedly turns the Galaxy S8 into a desktop computer.
https://twitter.com/fasttechy/status/844442851782115328
According to Slash Gear, the DeX docking station has an “HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 100 Mbps Ethernet port.”
Essentially, DeX Station has all the ports needed for a simple desktop computer and is powered by the S8. Of course, it will be sold separately for a U.S. price of about $160.
In the United States, the processor will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 running at 2.45 GHz, which is about equivalent to the A10 in Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus according to Trusted Reviews. The Qualcomm chipset will give the device longer battery life and boost charging times while offering better performance than previous Samsung phones. In fact, performance should beat any competitor currently available.
According to BGR, “Leaked benchmarks [show that] 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.”
While the current price point puts the Galaxy S8 and its larger counterpart close to $1,000, its rich features are what Samsung expects to sell the phone. Even though the device looks to be retailing higher than any other competitor currently on the market, MacRumors reports that the iPhone 8 may sell for up to $1,000. If that turns out to be true, then Samsung’s price point seems more competitive than expensive. However, for fans who may have been hoping for something cheaper, they may have to wait for a price drop to get their hands on the device.
If all goes as expected, Samsung should confirm or renounce all of these rumors including the price and release date for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ by the end of the day.
[Featured Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Samsung]
