The Samsung Galaxy S8 could hit another major milestone, as it could be the first smartphone to rock the latest Bluetooth 5.
Galaxy S8 rumors are already piling up and the flagship is shaping up as a real powerhouse with many firsts checked off its list. The Galaxy S8 is expected to be the first smartphone to pack the Snapdragon 835 processor, the first to sport an optical fingerprint scanner embedded into the display, and the latest rumor now pegs it as the first smartphone to run Bluetooth 5.
Why It Matters
Just last week, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group just adopted Bluetooth 5.0 as the latest version of the core specification. The new Bluetooth 5 is bound to deliver a longer range, faster speed, as well as larger broadcast message capacity.
"Bluetooth 5, projected for release in late 2016 to early 2017, will quadruple range and double speed of low energy connections while increasing the capacity of connectionless data broadcasts by 800 percent," says the Bluetooth SIG.
"With the major boost in broadcast messaging capacity, the data being transferred will be richer, more intelligent," it adds.
The improvements in range, speed and broadcast message capacity are compared to the current Bluetooth 4 version.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Bluetooth 5 Support
According to SamMobile, the Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship might just be the very first smartphone to boast Bluetooth 5 connectivity.
Samsung is a member of the Bluetooth SIG and its next-generation Galaxy S8 flagship is expected to be one of the hottest and most powerful smartphones of 2017. Marking a number of firsts, including launching as the first smartphone with Bluetooth 5, would make perfect sense.
Samsung also has a lot to recover after its disastrous Galaxy Note 7 release, which ended up with two recalls and a kill switch update to permanently disable it. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 will have to make up for it and rebuild Samsung's reputation and fortunes, so top-notch specifications are an absolute must.
Rumor has it that both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8 could rock foldable screens to stand out from the crowd, but they might also lack other features such as a headphone jack, dual camera and physical home button.
We're still months away from the Galaxy S8 release, however, so it's tough to tell anything for sure at this point. Until Samsung makes a formal announcement, it all remains in the rumor state and should be treated accordingly. The final design may change, not all specifications tested might make it, and the Bluetooth 5 launch is not set in stone to a specific date, so take this information with a grain of salt for now.
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