Samsung Galaxy S8 news 2016: Release date, specs rumors suggest 'Plus' to feature 6-inch display, S8 to retain 5-inch

Samsung's next-generation flagship device, the Galaxy S8, is said to be arriving in two variants next year. Similar to the current Galaxy S7, the first model will bear a 5-inch screen. Meanwhile, the second model, touted as the Galaxy S8 Plus, will feature a massive 6-inch AMOLED screen — the largest to ever be featured in any Samsung flagship smartphone.

According to reports originating from South Korea (via GSMArena), the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is said to be very similar to the now-defunct 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 7. The disaster caused by the phablet's exploding batteries led to Samsung halting its production. Now, the South Korean tech giant hopes to service consumers who tend to gravitate toward larger-screened devices with the Galaxy S8 Plus. However, reports mentioned that it will not be equipped with a stylus. This is understandable because reports suggest that Samsung has not given up yet on the Galaxy Note lineup and will be releasing the Galaxy Note 8 sometime in August 2017.

Sources also revealed that both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will have curved screens. Aside from the screen size, other specs of the upcoming flagship device have also been seemingly leaked.

Recently, Weibo user Ice Universe (via MySmartPrice) revealed that the Galaxy S8 will feature 8 GB of random access memory (RAM) and a new UFS 2.1 flash storage chip. The flagship devices are also expected to be equipped with either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip or Samsung's own Exynos 8895 processor. Furthermore, Samsung is said to be developing its own artificial intelligence digital assistant to rival the likes of Apple's Siri and the Google Assistant.

Production on the upcoming flagship devices is expected to begin in January 2017. This particular timeline confirms that the smartphones won't be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2017. Instead, Samsung is rumored to be introducing the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus at an event in New York in April 2017.