ISSUE 46 • ANDROID ADVISOR 69PREVIEWRather than a thin strip at the top in which to
house the sensors, camera and speakers the iPhone
8 features a notch at the top and then minimizes
the bezels to the left and right of this. It’s not an
attractive design, but it does allow for a higher
screen-to-body ratio. Patents unearthed by Galaxy
Club suggest Samsung has the same idea.
Samsung will allegedly implement its Y-OCTA
tech into both models this time around, with only the
standard Galaxy S8 getting the treatment in 2017 (the
Galaxy S8 Plus does not and the Note 8 apparently will
not get it either). Y-OCTA uses a single manufacturing
process for the screen and the touch-film element.
In 2016 Samsung patented a glass-coating
technology that helps water to bounce off the screen,
making it much easier to use in the rain. This tech
could well be introduced in the Galaxy S9, which will
itself most likely be waterproof. (The Galaxy S8 is
rated IP68, which means it is resistant to submersion
up to a depth of 1.5m for up to 30 minutes.)
Processor
In the UK we’ll almost certainly see the Snapdragon
845 powering the Galaxy S9, which was in early
December confirmed by Qualcomm at a special press
event in Hawaii. It may once again hold the exclusive
on this chip, forcing rivals to wait until the Galaxy
S9 has been unveiled to use that same chip, but for
now that is merely a rumour.
The 10nm Snapdragon 835 Samsung helped
Qualcomm to manufacture was 27 percent faster and
40 percent more energy-efficient than the company’s