Samsung Electronics’ upcoming smartphone Galaxy S8 received a favorable response from its global partners after the company unveiled it to them during the Mobile World Congress last week, according to local news reports.

During the four days from Feb. 27, the Korean tech giant reportedly disclosed its prototype Galaxy S8 to its partners including telecom operators around the world at Hotel Porta Fira, which is located near the Fira Gran Via where the Mobile World Congress took place. 

At the hotel lobby, Samsung set up rooms for demonstrations and meetings, alongside a temporary wall to prevent other hotel guests or visitors from looking into the venue.

At the scene, many global partners who left the demonstration room reportedly said what they saw was “very impressive,” according to a local news report. However, they did not make any comments on the Galaxy S8’s specifications or features as they had agreed not to disclose such details.

On Sunday, Samsung also offered a glimpse of the Galaxy S8 at the end of the press conference introducing the Galaxy Tab S3. On the same day, it sent out press invitations for the unveiling of its new device on March 29 in New York and London.

The Galaxy S8 is expected to feature the artificial intelligent assistant Bixby, iris recognition, fingerprint sensors and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (Exynos 8895) processors.

Samsung has often revealed its newest gadget to a select few in the past. Samsung officials could not immediately confirm the latest arrangement or feedback from the participants.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)