Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini release date, news and rumors
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini will be one of the first smartphones to use the Snapdragon 840 processor, which is more than likely an update to the Snapdragon 820, rather than a replacement for the 835 that features in many of 2017's flagship phones.
Both handsets rock a “bezel-less” design, with Samsung managing to maximise screen-to-body ratio by squeezing as large a display as possible into an unusually compact body.
Having spent time using both devices, I found that the S8+ was unnecessarily large.
The S8 ‘Mini’ Samsung is claimed to be working on could actually prove more appealing to many consumers than the original releases, despite being slightly less powerful.
The event will take place in New York's Park Avenue Armory at 11am EST (4pm UK), and you'll be able to watch the live stream on this page.
There is some talk of a Samsung Galaxy S8 mini being in development, rumoured to appear in South Korea in the not too distant future. These rumours are entirely unsubstantiated, of course, and may be no more than wishful thinking.
Indeed, according to The Leaker, Samsung has no plans to announce a Galaxy S8 mini. It says plans have been shelved, since there was no point in creating a smaller, less powerful version of the handset, and mini models hadn't been hugely successful for the company in the past. It also says Samsung was having trouble sourcing smaller QHD curved panels for the mini, what with the Note 8 launch around the corner.
It’s not yet clear whether the device would feature the Bixby AI assistant or not. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are the first devices to get Bixby, as well as a dedicated button to activate the AI assistant. Anyway, it’s interesting to see how the smartphone sizes have evolved over the years. The original Galaxy Note was considered a “phablet” and had a 5.3-inch screen. Now a device coming with the same 5.3-inch display is seen as a “Mini” version.
If the leaked image below is to be believed, Samsung will be keeping a very similar design for the Galaxy S8 Mini compared to its big flagship phones.
Chinese site IT Home has posted leaked images of the expanded Galaxy S8 lineup, with the main phone and the Plus pictured alongside the Galaxy S8 Mini.
The promo image suggests the phone will look much like the two larger versions, but it will just be shrunk down a little to fit in a smaller screen.
Specs leaked alongside the image suggests the phone will have a 5.3-inch display but this will feel like a 4.7-inch screen in the hand as it has an extra-wide aspect ratio of 18.5:9.
Hopefully this small yet premium design will allow the Galaxy S8 Mini to feel even more comfortable in the hand than its larger siblings.
All we can say for now is that we'd expect it will cost less than the £689 ($725, AU$1200) price of the Galaxy S8.
Samsung has released mini variants of its flagship smartphones in the past, but they’ve tended to be significantly pared-down options. The S8 Mini sounds very different.
The company is yet to confirm or deny the existence of the Galaxy S8 Mini, which is claimed to be coming out later this year, but we should gain a clearer understanding of its plans in the next few weeks.
Samsung has typically offered no hint that the rumoured Galaxy S8 Mini is indeed in production – let alone whether it’ll get the summer release date that’s being bandied about. It hasn’t launched a mini version of any of its smartphones since it followed up the Galaxy S5 with the Galaxy S5 Mini, so it’ll be interesting to see what its diminutive newcomer will have to offer.
“Bezel-less” Design
The new Samsung device listing, picked up by German site Winfuture.de, currently has the name SM-G9600 and was only uploaded on 12 July. It's more than likely going to be a Galaxy S8 Mini, and will come with a new 1.77GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 840 processor and Android 7.1.2 out-the-box.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini will be one of the first smartphones to use the Snapdragon 840 processor, which is more than likely an update to the Snapdragon 820, rather than a replacement for the 835 that features in many of 2017's flagship phones.
Both handsets rock a “bezel-less” design, with Samsung managing to maximise screen-to-body ratio by squeezing as large a display as possible into an unusually compact body.
Having spent time using both devices, I found that the S8+ was unnecessarily large.
The S8 ‘Mini’ Samsung is claimed to be working on could actually prove more appealing to many consumers than the original releases, despite being slightly less powerful.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini release date
Samsung has confirmed it is holding an Unpacked event on 23 August. This will be the date it unveils its Galaxy Note 8, but could we also see a Galaxy S8 Mini?The event will take place in New York's Park Avenue Armory at 11am EST (4pm UK), and you'll be able to watch the live stream on this page.
There is some talk of a Samsung Galaxy S8 mini being in development, rumoured to appear in South Korea in the not too distant future. These rumours are entirely unsubstantiated, of course, and may be no more than wishful thinking.
Indeed, according to The Leaker, Samsung has no plans to announce a Galaxy S8 mini. It says plans have been shelved, since there was no point in creating a smaller, less powerful version of the handset, and mini models hadn't been hugely successful for the company in the past. It also says Samsung was having trouble sourcing smaller QHD curved panels for the mini, what with the Note 8 launch around the corner.
Galaxy S8 Mini Rumored specs
According to the report, the S8 Mini would be powered by last year’s Snapdragon 821 rather than Snapdragon 835. That shouldn’t be a huge problem considering both Google Pixel and LG G6 come with Snapdragon 821, and they are among the best smartphones out there. The Mini model would have the same iris scanner, 4GB RAM, and 12-megapixel main camera as the standard version.
However, the Mini S8 would have 32GB of built-in storage compared to the original model’s 64GB storage. Fortunately, there would be a microSD card slot to let you expand storage by up to 256GB. The leaked renders (above) obtained by ITHome show the size difference between the upcoming Mini and its bigger counterparts. The leak indicates that the S8 Mini would be much closer to the standard version than the Galaxy S5 Mini ever was.
However, the Mini S8 would have 32GB of built-in storage compared to the original model’s 64GB storage. Fortunately, there would be a microSD card slot to let you expand storage by up to 256GB. The leaked renders (above) obtained by ITHome show the size difference between the upcoming Mini and its bigger counterparts. The leak indicates that the S8 Mini would be much closer to the standard version than the Galaxy S5 Mini ever was.
It’s not yet clear whether the device would feature the Bixby AI assistant or not. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are the first devices to get Bixby, as well as a dedicated button to activate the AI assistant. Anyway, it’s interesting to see how the smartphone sizes have evolved over the years. The original Galaxy Note was considered a “phablet” and had a 5.3-inch screen. Now a device coming with the same 5.3-inch display is seen as a “Mini” version.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini design and display
If the leaked image below is to be believed, Samsung will be keeping a very similar design for the Galaxy S8 Mini compared to its big flagship phones.
Chinese site IT Home has posted leaked images of the expanded Galaxy S8 lineup, with the main phone and the Plus pictured alongside the Galaxy S8 Mini.
The promo image suggests the phone will look much like the two larger versions, but it will just be shrunk down a little to fit in a smaller screen.
Specs leaked alongside the image suggests the phone will have a 5.3-inch display but this will feel like a 4.7-inch screen in the hand as it has an extra-wide aspect ratio of 18.5:9.
Hopefully this small yet premium design will allow the Galaxy S8 Mini to feel even more comfortable in the hand than its larger siblings.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Mini Pricce
We’re expecting the phone to cost less than the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, but it might not be as cheap as you may have expected. The design looks high-end and it doesn't seem to be missing many of the headline features from the Galaxy S8, so it may just be slightly cheaper than the other two phones.
All we can say for now is that we'd expect it will cost less than the £689 ($725, AU$1200) price of the Galaxy S8.
Samsung has released mini variants of its flagship smartphones in the past, but they’ve tended to be significantly pared-down options. The S8 Mini sounds very different.
The company is yet to confirm or deny the existence of the Galaxy S8 Mini, which is claimed to be coming out later this year, but we should gain a clearer understanding of its plans in the next few weeks.
Samsung has typically offered no hint that the rumoured Galaxy S8 Mini is indeed in production – let alone whether it’ll get the summer release date that’s being bandied about. It hasn’t launched a mini version of any of its smartphones since it followed up the Galaxy S5 with the Galaxy S5 Mini, so it’ll be interesting to see what its diminutive newcomer will have to offer.
Comments
Post a Comment
LEAVE A COMMMENT