We already know the Galaxy S9 is undergoing an extensive redesign and Samsung’s plans for a foldable smartphone are highly ambitions, but that’s just the start of its massive 2018 smartphone overhaul…
A new report from the consistently reliable SamMobile reveals Samsung is going to bring the same cutting edge Infinity Display design to its popular midrange Galaxy A smartphones. The leak occurred after SamMobile spotted specs for the 2018 Galaxy A5 (model number SM-A530F) on the HTML5 Test website.
Among the specs listed is the highlight of an 18.5:9 aspect ratio display. Samsung specifically introduced this longer, narrower display with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus to coincide with its Infinity Display and that was followed by the same aspect ratio switch for the Infinity Display sporting Galaxy Note 8. In fact Samsung has never made an 18.5:9 aspect ratio phone with conventional bezels.
But it’s not all good news. The Test site also reveals the new Galaxy A series will ship with Android 7.1.1 despite the fact Android 8.0 Oreo is already three months old. This ties in with the Galaxy Note 8 which, despite its premium design and price tag, shipping with Android 7.1.1 when it launched last month.
It is worth noting the Test site doesn’t necessarily have finished specs. Android Oreo could make it in a latest test build and the recorded display resolution of just 846 x 412 is clearly wrong (early testing often occurs at low resolutions). But it would require a fundamental change of design and internal circuitry to switch from an 18.9:5 aspect ratio display at this point. Which seems highly unlikely.
While the bezel-less revolution took off in 2017 – perhaps most famously with the jaw droppingly expensive iPhone X – but it is worth remembering it was Samsung which got the ball rolling with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. So it would be apt if Samsung also now broke new ground by bringing the Infinity Display design to its midrange smartphones.
Samsung would also stand out a serious statement of intent both in response to growing pressure from Huawei, Oppo and most notably to Apple and Google: bezel-less designs should not be reserved exclusively for the most expensive models…