Galaxy S8 said to sport ‘wraparound display,’ Snapdragon 835 chip

Bloomberg said on Thursday that Samsung’s Galaxy S8 will feature a “wraparound” OLED display. That’s not unlike earlier rumors that have suggested the Galaxy S8 won’t have any side bezels. It’s important to note that the Galaxy S7 Edge doesn’t really have side bezels, either, so perhaps Samsung is bringing the curved OLED display down to the standard Galaxy S8 model. The standard Galaxy S7, for example, still carries a flat screen. It’s also possible the curves carry on a bit further down the sides of the display, though Samsung did this with the Galaxy Note Edge on one side and ultimately pulled the curvature back in subsequent Galaxy phones.

Samsung is also reportedly planning to ditch the home button. Again, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this rumor. Indeed, earlier reports have suggested Samsung will embed the fingerprint reader, perhaps the only reason the home button still exists, into the display. Synaptics has the technology to allow fingerprint readers to exist under the glass of a display, though it’s unclear if Samsung is using Synaptics or another company to pull it off.

Galaxy S8 said to sport Snapdragon 835

Bloomberg said Samsung will launch two models of the Galaxy S8, likely a 5.1-inch and a 5.5-inch model. Those are the screen sizes for the current Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, respectively. The news outlet added that Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 processor will be in tow for one of the devices, while the other will employ Samsung’s Exynos chip. Finally, while earlier rumors suggested Samsung might follow the lead set by Huawei, HTC, Apple and others, Bloomberg said it may ultimately ditch the plan to launch a dual-lens camera on the Galaxy S8. Samsung has established itself as a leader in the smartphone camera space, so making sure the Galaxy S8 has a first-class camera, not whether it has two lenses or one, should be the top priority.

It’s still unclear if Samsung will have a big role at Mobile World Congress, as it has in the past. Bloomberg said the company may push the Galaxy S8 release to April, instead of March, to make sure it’s up to snuff before hitting the market. Samsung needs to avoid another Galaxy Note 7 fiasco at all costs.