Samsung Galaxy S8 release date, specs rumors: Flagship to use Snapdragon 835 chipset

Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and Ben Suh, senior vice president, foundry marketing, Samsung, show off the first 10 nanometer mobile processor, the Snapdragon 835, at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in New York.Qualcomm/Samsung

With Samsung and Qualcomm confirming that the new next-gen processor is already in production, it is confirmed that the new Samsung flagship, the Galaxy S8, is bound to use the Snapdragon 835 chipset.

Previously, it is expected that Qualcomm will come out with a new SD 830 processor as a follow-up to the Snapdragon 821 chipset in recent flagship releases. However, the new chipset may have major improvements and new features, as Qualcomm and Samsung confirmed the jump in version models, announcing the new processor. The Snapdragon 835 chipset is a significant version, since it is the first chipset to feature a 10nm process technology.

"Using the new 10nm process node is expected to allow our premium tier Snapdragon 835 processor to deliver greater power efficiency and increase performance while also allowing us to add a number of new capabilities that can improve the user experience of tomorrow's mobile devices," stated Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm.

Meanwhile, since the new chipset is a collaboration between Qualcomm and Samsung, it is expected that the South Korea-based tech maker will use the processor to power its next-gen flagship, the Galaxy S8. It has been a custom for Samsung to provide both Exynos and Snapdragon versions for Galaxy S-series releases, with the SD edition getting a global launch. It is expected that the Snapdragon 835 chipset will be the counterpart of the Exynos 8895 variant of the Galaxy S8.

With the new chipset, it is also a given that Samsung will pack the Galaxy S8 with new features and tweaked hardware components. It is said that the new flagship will have at least 4 GB of RAM and a radical redesign for its body, including an edge-to-edge display. New features supposedly include a dual-cam setup, an iris scanner, and 3D touch screen.

The new Galaxy S8 is expected to appear early next year.