Galaxy A8S's O-notch screen hints at Galaxy S10 design - CNET

The Samsung Galaxy A8s is now official.

Samsung

There's one major reason why you should keep your eyes glued to Samsung's new Galaxy A8S phone for China. Its screen looks unlike any other Samsung phone on the market, and could prefigure Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship, which we expect to see in late February or early March.

The Galaxy A8S is the first phone to include Samsung's "Infinity-O" display, and that makes it unique. Where other handsets use bezels or notches to house the front-facing camera, the Infinity-O display fits the lens into a small punch hole within the screen itself.

samsung-galaxy-a8s-china-lineup — Could the A8S be Samsung's practice phone for the Galaxy S10?
Samsung

The furor over screen notches on Android phones reveals buyers' strong feelings about phone design. Samsung's unique approach would allow it to stretch the display across most of the phone face, while also carving out a space for the phone's front camera. A successful design could earn Samsung kudos and keep its reputation for innovation strong alongside aggressive Android competitors like Huawei and Google, while also quieting naysayers who bristle at having a notch taken out of the all-screen display.

There have been multiple rumors that the Galaxy S10 may get the Infinity-O display, which would make the S10 look a lot like the Galaxy A8S -- all screen with a small camera cutout in the corner.

So far the Galaxy A8S has only been announced in China, where it'll go on sale Dec. 21. There's no word yet if other countries will get the phone and when.