We already had an inkling from the rumour mill that the Galaxy S8 was going to be in attendance at MWC 2017, it just wasn't going to show its face publicly, it was instead going to be revealed behind closed doors to a select cabal of Samsung partners, carrier networks, and similar industry bods.
That's apparently happened, because now the phone has leaked onto the net in a series of hands-on photographs. BGR picked up the scoop with an exclusive hands-on, which, as the publication points out, lines up very well with the press render leaked by prominent tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks).
"The phone pictured here is the smaller version of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone duo. The larger Galaxy S8+ version features a 6.2-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display compared to the 5.8-inch screen on the S8, and the battery in the plus model is larger as well. The two phones are otherwise expected to be just about identical," states the report.
BGR appeared to confirm some aspects of the phone's design and some specs, although it's not clear how much of this information came from the hands-on, and how much is just existing rumour regurgitated for illustrative purposes. The devices will allegedly use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 in the US market and the Samsung Exynos equivalent elsewhere. All variants will have 64GB of onboard storage, microSD support, and 4GB of RAM.
"The glass back on the S8 and S8+ is also rounded on the sides so the phones sit comfortably in the user’s hand," it said, "Despite the large displays on both models, the phones are narrower than expected thanks to a design that is nearly edgeless on either side of the screen."
A 12MP dual-pixel camera is also described - dual-pixel refers to the autotfocus type and not the presence of two sensors configured together; it would appear we're dealing with a single 12MP sensor on the back. The fingerprint scanner is also confirmed for the rear panel, while the front has both an iris scanner and an 8MP secondary camera, and the underside has a Type-C USB port, speaker, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
Curiously, earlier leaks have indicated that the volume keys on the side are paired with the dedicated Bixby button, but the BGR report strongly implies that the Bixby key will be on its own, while the triple-button combo is actually power and volume together. The report also confirms IP68 water and dust resistance.
