Samsung Galaxy S8 leak points to big dual-camera changes

With most of 2016's major smartphones now here and seemingly almost nothing left to learn about the iPhone 7, attention is turning to 2017 and to the Samsung Galaxy S8, which if the latest rumors are to be believed could have a very different camera to the Samsung Galaxy S7.

According to a Weibo leaker, the flagship will have a dual-lens rear camera, which is becoming a common feature for phones, with the LG G5 and Huawei P9 both sporting one, while the iPhone 7 Plus and LG V20 are also rumored to offer it too.

Apparently one lens on the S8 will be 12MP (just like on the S7), while the other will be 13MP, and the company will supposedly be using both its own lenses and Sony's.

This isn't the first time a dual-lens camera has been rumored for the Galaxy S8 and it's a believable feature, with so many rivals opting for the same. What's not clear though is what purpose the second lens would serve. It might be monochrome like in the Huawei P9, wide-angle like the LG G5 or something else entirely.

Upgrades all round

But according to the Weibo post, spotted by TechAndroids, it's not just the rear camera that's changing, as the front-facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy S8 will apparently be 8MP, up from 5MP on the Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

This too is a believable change, as Samsung hasn't changed the spec of its flagship selfie snapper in a couple of years.

Supposedly the S8 will also have an iris scanner, which is the most believable part of the leak, as an iris scanner was one of the Note 7's big new features and it would make sense for Samsung to carry it over to the Galaxy S8 - although it was largely ineffective.

But while all these things seem more than possible we'd still take them with a pinch of salt for now, as the Galaxy S8 is months away and the leaker has provided no real evidence for their claims.

• We're also expecting to see the HTC 11 in early 2017