Samsung Galaxy S8: First leaks hint at 4K screen

Samsung Galaxy S8: First leaks hint at 4K screen

Phone is still nine months away, but talk of a better display is already doing the rounds of the rumour mill

Samsung's latest flagship smartphones – the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge – are merely months old, but rumours about next year's handset are already hitting the web, with gossip focussing on camera, display, and virtual reality technology.

For starters, it's tipped the phone could sport a 4K display with a resolution of 2160 x 3840 and a pixel density of 806ppi, says Pocket Lint, picking up the Chinese blog whispers.

There's evidence to support the rumour. Samsung has already shown off prototype 4K smartphone displays and, the site adds, it is likely that production versions of these will be on the next handset.

This year's Galaxy S7 uses a 2.5K panel with 1440 x 2560 resolution. It's a screen which Display Mate says sets new records for smartphones and delivers "absolutely stunning and beautiful images".

While the 4K panel would make an already brilliant smartphone slightly sharper, it's Samsung's virtual reality ambitions that could be the main beneficiary of the rumoured advance.

Currently, the firm sells its Gear VR virtual reality headset alongside the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. It uses the smartphone's display to power its images, something which demands greater pixel density, as the stretching of the image, combined with it being screened so close to the eyes, means displays with lower pixel counts can become blurry. A 4K display could mark a large improvement.

Also tipped to be heading the S8's way is a dual camera – something hotly rumoured to be arriving on the iPhone 7 Plus later this year and already on the Huawei P9 and LG G5.

As Know Your Mobile points out, this would keep Samsung's smartphone in trend with its main rivals as dual cameras become more popular.

However, with the handset around nine months away, all the rumours should be taken with a grain of salt. As [4] PC Advisor points out, we will probably see the next Galaxy smartphone around the same launch window as always – just prior to the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, so a date of 26 February 2017.