Expect these ‘disruptive’ smartphones in 2017

The year 2016, left us with some very memorable gadgets. There were Google’s first Pixel smartphones, dual-camera iPhones and exploding Galaxy Note 7.

The innovations also had us gushing about the new ‘normal’. For instance, it is becoming very difficult to find a new smartphone with a screen resolution lower than 720×1280 even at the bottom end of the low-cost segment. Add that to the fact that overall quality has improved due to drop in cost of manufacturing, which means clearer pictures, videos, games and good looking text.

2017 is shaping up to be even bigger in the smartphone world and the companies leading the campaign have already offered snippets of what to expect.

Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung electronics is one mobile manufacturer takes very serious in terms of quality of products and service. However, following the debacle last year, the company knows it must redeem its image. From every indication it is planning big for 2017.

The Galaxy S8 is a new flagship phone expected to launch in late February of 2017 at the Mobile World Congress. According to a Samsung announcement, the Galaxy S8 will come with an artificial intelligence (AI) based digital assistant built by Viv, a startup it acquired in October 2016. The digital assistant will be competing with Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon’s Echo. In fact, Viv is reported to have also built Apple’s Siri. Samsung is hoping that its assistant is “unlike other existing AI-based services.”

The S8 is also reported to include an extremely high-resolution ‘4K’ display, a second rear camera and for added security, possibly an iris scanner.

Foldable Samsung Phone

2017 is projected as the year Samsung will finally unveil its foldable or bendable smartphone in the market. The company is reported to have been developing the device for years.

Analysts project that as part of efforts to redeem itself and lead the positive phone conversations like it did with the launch of Galaxy S7, the bendable phone is likely to see the light of day this year. It is perhaps the reason it filed a patent for such a device towards the end of 2016.

iPhone 8

As part of activities to mark the ten years anniversary of the iPhone, Apple is expected to launch its new designed iPhone model. Several reports points to a total overhaul of the iPhone brand. The new design may include an all-glass design, an organic LED (OLED) display for better images. To be sure, major features of OLED displays include thinner, lighter, and more flexible than LCDs. Apple also plans to enable the phone to react when you touch any of its sides instead of just one.

Microsoft Surface Phone

We knew that the new Microsoft Surface series of laptops, PCs and tablets was missing something. The company’s CEO Satya Nadella recently gave it away by announcing that an ‘ultimate mobile device’ was in the works. He also admitted that the company had “missed the mobile boom”.

Microsoft further revealed it was teaming up with Qualcomm to bring the full Windows 10 desktop experience to smartphones and other mobile devices. This experience is also expected to be in the Surface phone when it is released.