Samsung Galaxy S8 & Galaxy S8 Plus specs, features and launch details: New S8 photos virtually confirm removal of front buttons

A woman speaks on an Apple phone as she passes an advert for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in London, Britain, September 2, 2016. Reuters/Luke MacGregor

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus next month. Fans are getting more and more hyped as the launch draws near. Now they have another reason to get even more excited as a couple of leaked photos have made rounds showing what are supposedly the back cases of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, and they almost confirm the rumours regarding the upcoming smartphones.

Two images of the apparent back covers of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus were found on Chinese site Weibo. The cases appear to match the alleged Galaxy S8 photo leaked by reliable insider Evan Blass just over a week ago (see photo below). The back covers had cut-outs for what are believed to be fingerprint sensors, which further fuels the belief that the upcoming flagships will have no physical home and navigation buttons at the front, just an all-glass panel.

Both the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 and the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to be powered by either an Exynos 8895 chipset or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, depending on the market or region. Each of the Galaxy S8 handsets is expected to equip a Super AMOLED QHD curved display with a 1,440 x 2,560 resolution, either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM and a USB Type-C port. At least a 12 MP primary camera and a 5 MP secondary snapper are expected on both smartphones.

According to MySmartPrice, the 5.7-inch Galaxy S8 may pack a 3,250 mAh battery, so it’s safe to assume that the larger Galaxy S8 Plus is going to sport a more powerful cell. Samsung is also reportedly going to include a 2,600 mAh battery pack in the official list of Galaxy S8 accessories for users who need portable power. Other supposed Galaxy S8 accessories include a multimedia dock with connectivity enhancements, standard and special screen protectors and protective cases and even Level In headphones.

The Super AMOLED QHD display panels that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are going to furnish are said to be the same ones that the now-discontinued Galaxy Note 7 had. One or both of the S8 handsets may even feature the S Pen stylus, an accessory that has always been exclusive to the Note series phablets.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus were initially projected to have a February launch at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC 2017). Instead, the South Korean tech giant is reportedly going to show a 60-second teaser of the Galaxy S8 phones at the event. Samsung is now expected to launch the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus on March 29 in New York.