Samsung launches Galaxy S8, S8+ with Infinity Display, Bixby digital assistant; price, specs, all you need to know

After months of speculations, Samsung on Wednesday officially unveiled the much anticipated Galaxy S8 series at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Samsung's new phone is coming in two variants—one, generic 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and a bigger 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ (or Plus). As rumoured, it comes with radical new design language. It boasts super AMOLED-based Infinity display, a bezel-less, full-frontal, edge-to-edge screen having 18.5:9 aspect ratio and WQHD+ (2960x1440p) resolution. With extended display, Samsung has incorporated virtual home button right on the screen.

Also read: Android-creator Andy Rubin teases enticing new phone; here's what you need to know about iPhone X, Galaxy S8 challenger

Key design changes also include, repositioning of physical finger print sensor (seen in Galaxy S7 series) to back of the device, right beside the camera module. 

Most notable aspect of the Galaxy S8 series is the Bixby digital assistant. It is capable to support almost every task that the application is capable of performing using the conventional touch gesture command. Currently, the rival digital assistant have mastered in a few select applications leading to confusion among users which commands works via touch and voice.

In the front panel, the company has incorporated an 8MP snapper with f/1.7 aperture, wide FoV (Field of View) lens, a Iris scanner with face recognition technology.

On the rear, Galaxy S8 series houses 12MP dual-pixel camera with f/1.7 aperture at the top center, a LED flash to the left side, fingerprint scanner to the right and a heart-rate sensor below.

It is powered 10nanometer class octa-core processor with Android Nougat OS. Depending on the region of sale Samsung Galaxy S8 will come in two sub-variants based on CPUs. The new phones heading to the US, China and select developed markets will have Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 octa-core System-on-Chip (SoC). Whereas, the ones sold in Europe, India and rest of the regions, they will have Samsung's own Exynos 9985 series processor.

The new Galaxy S8 also boasts Samsung DeX feature. Users, with the help of the display dock, can convert the phone into a mini-computer via DeX. It will offer new adaptive user experience on a big screen with optimised look and behaviour of apps as per usage preferences of the customer to provide a PC-like experience.

Samsung Galaxy S8 series comes with IP68 water-and-dust certifications meaning, it can survive five feet underwater for close to 30 minutes. Device owners can take it for a dip in the swimming pool and also take photos and take calls, as well

Samsung Galaxy S8 series price and availability:

Samsung's Galaxy S8 and the S8+ prices start at $720 (approx. €669/Rs. 46,706) and $840( roughly €781/Rs.54,499), respectively. They are said to hit stores on April 21 and pre-order service is slated to go live in select markets on March 30 onwards. They will be made available in Midnight Black, Orchid Blue, Maple Gold, Orchid Gray, and Arctic Silver colour options.

There is no word on when the new Galaxy S8 series will be made available in India.

Watch this space for latest news on Samsung Galaxy S8 series.

Key specifications of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+: