2017 is shaping up to be the year everyone goes wireless as far as the personal music experience goes. Wireless headphones made the news quite a bit towards the end of 2016, and Apple finally launched its AirPods in “limited” quantities before the New Year. Now, we’ve learned the Samsung may include wireless in-ear headphones with the new Galaxy S8 line-up of smartphones planned for this year.
According to a recent report by SamMobile, they have received information that Samsung will launch wireless in-ear headphones along with its Galaxy S8 smartphones. At this point, we don’t know whether it’ll be bundled in the box or sold as a separate unit, but we’re certain that Samsung wants to match the AirPods sooner rather than later with an offering of their own.
The earlier Gear IconX didn’t exactly wow users, and early reviewers said that it probably wasn’t ready for a prime time unveiling. However, in the months gone by, Samsung may well have ironed out whatever issues the Gear IconX had and create a refreshed version that they can go mainstream with.
There were also reports that the Galaxy S8 will do away with the 3.5mm jack like the iPhone 7, but there are prototypes being tested with and without the jack, so at this point it’s not clear whether Samsung is ready to go fully digital on wired audio.
At least one this is certain: that Samsung will push hard on the wireless audio front now that they own Harman International Industries, the makers of the iconic Harman/Kardon audio brand, among other top brands. They may not feature in any of the 2017 Galaxy devices, but a senior Samsung executive as much as spelled it out that 2018 could be the year for Harman tech on Samsung smartphones.
Also Read: Galaxy S8 Rumor: No Physical Home Button or 3.5mm Audio Jack? Hello iPhone 7!
It’s critical for Samsung that their 2017 smartphones do well in light of what happened last year with the Note 7. The Galaxy S7 has shown strong sales, and Samsung even managed to increase its activation rate to above 20% during the key days of this holiday season, but this year everything hinges on the success of the Galaxy S8, possibly a Galaxy Note 8 as well as the rumored Galaxy X, a revolutionary foldable smartphone.
We do know that Samsung intends to launch the Galaxy S8 sooner than planned, and a release date of February 26 or thereabouts seems to be the most reliable estimate. That coincides with the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2017) this year in Barcelona, where Microsoft may also unveil the “cellular PC” that’s been referred to as Surface Phone for quite a few months now. Wide availability of the Galaxy S8 is expected around the middle of March.
As of now, we’re looking the following rumors, leaks and speculations for the Galaxy S8:
- Early launch, possibly right before the MWC 2017 kicks off
- No flat screens – all with edge-less displays
- No virtual home button
- No 3.5mm audio jack
- 6-inch screen with S Pen support
- 4K screen
- Mini-projector
- 6GB RAM
- 30MP camera
- Larger battery, longer standby and usage times
- Snapdragon 830 processor, but could be upgraded by release date
With so much known about next year’s flagship phone from Samsung, the Galaxy S8 is still sure to surprise us when it comes out. There are just too many new and upgraded features to expect an incremental and disappointing (to many) upgrade like the iPhone 7.
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