^ the HTC design looks to me like an old compromise where a potentially much sleeker phone had to be encased in an ugly roundish shell. The absurdity of the sharp rectangle screen surroumnded by ill-matching rounded 'cases' just looks retro and awful. (And even at the time HTC had much better designs.)
I see the resemblance as it is only in that the outer "roundiness" of the phone leans just a shade toward retro to me... but the saving grace is the fact that the much improved and curved screen melds into the contours of the device so well.
I like the S8 concept well enough, but I'm really hoping the Note 8 follows the superior design language of the Note 7. How I STILL miss that slab of sheer awesomeness. The proportions of that device were just so no-nonsense and professional compared to other more roundish devices.
I'm willing to wave bye bye to my hardware buttons that I've always liked on Samsung phones if they keep everything else on the same evolutionary track as the Note 7.
Something like the above right I'm hoping for.
Side note....imagine if Apple hits it out of the park, dropping all retro baggage and going with a future-reaching design like this:
Something that awesome could almost (almost!) lead me to suffer with iOS just to possess. Of course the mandate for lack of ports (plus iOS) would mean no way, but at least it'd be interesting to be jealous of an Apple design for the first time in... years.
Greatest thing for me is... we're approaching the reality of phones that I've been wanting since 2010 or so and that not that long ago some swore up and down at me were impossible! (Hey, the future always is!)
It's 2017... I hope the 'future' arrives this year. 2014 and before can have all their stuff back!