Samsung Galaxy S8 Virtual Buttons Are Flexible In Nature (Rumor)

Feb 28, 2017 10:47 PM EST

The Samsung Galaxy S8 might be a no-show at MWC 2017, but this does not mean that there is no attention headed in its direction. Far from it -- there are many rumors and leaks going around concerning this particular flagship device, on how it will look all the way to the kind of hardware which will accompany the device. In fact, one of the latest leaks has pointed to something that is rather interesting -- that the virtual navigation buttons located at the bottom of the device? It does seem as though they can be rearranged.

So far, it does seem as though the South Korean conglomerate is going all out to adopt the use of virtual navigation buttons, and with good reason, too. After all, having fixed navigation buttons would mean using up valuable physical space as part of the device’s make up. If the screen can cover most of the device, then part of the screen will function as the navigation buttons. This does seem to be the trend of future flagship smartphones which we believe, will eventually trickle down to the mid-range and perhaps even entry-level devices. Well, it seems that the Galaxy S8 and larger Galaxy S8 Plus devices which have been leaked, sporting curved screens accompanied by virtual navigation buttons that can be rearranged at your whim and fancy.

Certainly this is nice to play around with, based on each user’s own preference. Basically, it does seem as though the Samsung Galaxy S8 will allow the user to switch around the places of the Back, Home and App Switch buttons. This is also based on the assumption that the standard icons that we have all come to know and love are represented here. In other words, Samsung's default icon layout tends to be reversed compared to other Android devices from Google such as the Nexus and Pixel, and to be able to rearrange them would also make it easier for Pixel and Nexus users to make the jump, so to speak, with a lower learning curve.

At the end of it all, rumors will remain as just that -- rumors. What would really put these rumors to bed would be the actual release of a particular device, or at least an official press announcement that will inform users on the capabilities and abilities of the Samsung Galaxy S8. Heck, even a user manual leak or reveal would also be able to reveal something accordingly, so why not? Perhaps Samsung might be using different button layouts on different phones, which would be an extremely unlikely scenario, or the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone with the Galaxy S8 Plus will allow one to switch between the positions of the virtual navigation buttons. We prefer to lean on the latter theory as that would make far more sense.

If that turns out to be true, it would not make Samsung a pioneer in this aspect, since LG has already offered such levels of interface customization in the past, including handsets with physical capacitive buttons that allow different functions based on the software used. It is the small thoughts that count at the end of the day, and this is one of them.