So, do the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ come with an IR blaster? Leaked photos had indicated that Samsung might reintroduce the IR blaster on its flagship devices this year after removing it from the Galaxy S7 last year.

Sadly though, contrary to what rumors had suggested, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ do not come with an IR blaster. This means that there is no way you can use the phone to control your non-smart TV, AC, and music player.

An IR blaster is surprisingly a very handy tool to have on a smartphone, so it is disappointing to see Samsung not reintroduce it on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ this year. With LG also ditching the IR blaster from the G6 this year, it is unlikely that any flagship smartphone being released this year will feature an IR sensor.

Interestingly, Samsung has included an IR blaster on its flagship devices starting from the Galaxy S4 up to the Note 4 and Galaxy S6 but removed it from its lineup completely with the Galaxy Note 5 onwards. It is likely that the Samsung found in its research that not many people were using the IR blaster on their Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S6, which led to the company removing the sensor from its devices. However, IR blaster on phones is incredibly popular in Asia and nearby regions, so Samsung should have ideally kept the handy sensor on its flagship devices. After all, it would have only increased its BOM by a couple of dollars at the very maximum.