With the recall issues surrounding the Galaxy Note 7, fans are looking forward to Samsung launching its next flagship early next year. Speculations suggest that the upcoming Galaxy S8 will debut on Feb. 26.

According to GSM Arena, a supposed leaked press invite from the South Korea-based tech giant has pegged Feb. 26 as its next "Galaxy Unpacked" event. This is scheduled at a date before Samsung's presentation for the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The 2017 MWC is slated to happen from Feb. 27 to March 2.

Should this happen, it doesn't deviate from the usual schedule timeline of Samsung for its Galaxy S-series launches. Previous flagship iterations like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S6 were also launched a day before Samsung presented at the annual Mobile World Congress. This is contrary to previous rumors saying that because of the Galaxy Note 7 recall, Samsung may be pressed to launch the Galaxy S8 earlier than its expected debut date.

Meanwhile, as to what fans can expect in the upcoming flagship, it seems that Samsung will want to make up for the Galaxy Note 7 issue by featuring next-gen specs and features in the Galaxy S8.

Speculations suggest that one noted upgrade for the next flagship is a newer Exynos 8895 chipset. Interestingly, the new processor is said to be paired with an ARM Mali-G71 graphics unit. The new GPU is one of the most performance-based and powerful GPU available, leading to rumors of upper-tier features for the flagship. With the new GPU, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to come out with 4K display, as well as native support for virtual reality content.

Other purported specs of the Galaxy S8 include a company-first dual cam setup, iris and/or ultrafast fingerprint sensor, edge-to-edge screen, accessory add-ons like the improved Gear VR, and major redesign improvements.