Samsung Galaxy S8 review
Samsung Galaxy S8 review
You know the feeling when everything just makes sense and feels right? That's how the Galaxy S8 wowed us in 2017. Its highlights include the display with its 18.5:9 aspect ratio, an improved user interface and great performance. However, there have been some compromises, too - battery capacity, for instance. Read on to find out if the strengths of this device still hold up in 2018
Samsung Galaxy S8 release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy S8 has become more affordable since its release, and now costs around $630 unlocked. It will be available in four colors: Orchid Gray, Midnight Black, Arctic Silver, and Coral Blue. All major carriers in the US offer the device, and you can also order through the Samsung website.
Samsung Galaxy S8 design and build quality
As I said at the beginning of this review, holding the S8 just feels right. The slight change in dimensions (the device is a little longer than the Galaxy S7) from the previous generation is too slight to make a real difference.
The same isn't true of the display though, where Samsung has done a really nice job. The new Samsung flagship's display makes use of 83.6 percent of the surface space, while its predecessor uses just 72.1 percent. The difference in display size has a much bigger impact on the experience than the phone being an extra 6.5 mm longer than the S7.
The same isn't true of the display though, where Samsung has done a really nice job. The new Samsung flagship's display makes use of 83.6 percent of the surface space, while its predecessor uses just 72.1 percent. The difference in display size has a much bigger impact on the experience than the phone being an extra 6.5 mm longer than the S7.
the optimization has allowed the South Korean manufacturer to put a 5.8-inch screen on the Galaxy S8 while keeping the phone virtually the same size as the previous generation. To do this, it was necessary to ditch the physical home button on the front - making it the first of its series to do so.
Every time I pick up the phone to check a notification, I'm struck by the display's design. The S8's screen is referred to as Infinity Display, because it gives the impression that the whole front of the device is taken up by the screen. This is because, unlike previous models in the S series, the front of all the devices (no matter the color variant) are black - so you can't differentiate between display and bezel.
Even the sensors and front camera are camouflaged, so it's only when the screen is on that you can discern the thin bezels surrounding the display panel.
To our dismay, not everything is in its proper place. On the back of the S8, the fingerprint scanner is located just beside the camera lens. Honestly, it's not too difficult to unlock the phone with a fingerprint or even slide your finger across the sensor to check your notifications. That's not the problem.
The issue is that every time you want to unlock the phone, you have to feel around to find the scanner and hold the device with both hands. It's awkward, inconvenient and you end up having to clean the camera lens every time you want to take a photo or video.
Considering that the vast majority of people don't reflexively clean the lens of their camera before taking a picture, I'd say this will hurt user experience. However, Samsung does offer other methods of unlocking the screen.
Regarding the materials, the S8 has Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, and from my experience, the back is better at preventing fingerprints. The aluminum frame is extremely thin on both sides, and as Samsung decided to add a dedicated button for Bixby, there's been a change in the visual balance of the device.
I've often found myself pushing the Bixby button and activating it accidentally, thinking it was the volume down button. At first, this button was disabled and only used in South Korea but now it allows users to use Bixby.
As the S8 comes with IP68 certification, you don't have to worry about getting the phone wet, and you can even record video or take pictures underwater. However, it can't go more than 1.5 meters deep or spend more than 30 minutes submerged. As a consequence, however, the speakers need a bit of time to dry to go back to their full quality, which makes sense.
The Screen is the star of the show
Samsung’s main focus is the front of the Galaxy S8, and this is most obvious in the display. No one wants to drag a huge tablet everywhere, so Samsung has balanced a large screen with a body that isn’t too big.
LG faced the same problem with the G6, and used an 18:9 aspect ratio instead of the classic 16:9. With the S8, Samsung uses an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,960. Compared to normal QHD phones, this makes the display of the S8 400 pixels taller.
The Galaxy S8 is equipped with a brighter display than other devices available on the market. We were able to see more content on the Galaxy S8 screen than we could see on the Galaxy S7 screen, for example. In addition, the ratio 18.5:9 ratio allows for using smaller fonts, better utilization of UI elements, and optimized use of the multi-window feature.
There are a lot of benefits to this aspect ratio. However, it's a new technology, and not all apps support it. As a result, most games and videos will display a black bar at the top and bottom of the screen, or on the sides. So, some games in 16:9 format may lose pixels to compensate for these black borders.
With the Sky Dancer game as an example, the menu buttons are cut off, and due to the curved edges of the S8, the experience was even worse than what we had with the flat screen on the G6.
I also noticed that, unlike with the LG G6, the Galaxy S8's software is less intuitive and it takes longer to select the full screen option even for apps that support it. So, to improve my experience, I configured which apps to use the full screen for in the Display menu - that means the game doesn't have to start from scratch each time just to change the screen ratio.
Unfortunately, even if Samsung refines this feature and makes it smoother to switch between 16:9 and 18.5:9, as long as apps don't support the ratio, the screen's size won't be fully taken advantage of. Fortunately, apps like Netflix and YouTube can be used without any issue in this mode.
The S8 has a Super AMOLED display that uses a wide color space. The panel is super bright, has accurate color representation and offers deep blacks thanks to its AMOLED screen. Ho
wever, the whites tend toward blue - this doesn't interfere with the quality of the experience, though.
Even the smaller of the two S8 devices has an edge display. Just like the LG G6, the corners of the screen are rounded, which looks nice when watching videos or playing games. When you look at the front of the phone, you barely notice the subtly curved edges, so it doesn’t interfere with the viewing angles as much as it did with the S7, though they do sometimes still reflect a bit too much light.
The S8's display is set by default to offer Full HD+ resolution (2,224 x 1,080), which is smaller than QHD+ (2,960 x 1,440). Samsung did this first with the S7 when it updated the smartphone to Android 7.0 Nougat to save battery life. This can be changed in the device settings.
I'm a fan of this function. Just as the processor isn't firing up all eight cores all the time, a smartphone doesn't always need to be in top performance mode. Samsung offers the option to optimize based on what you're doingL gaming, entertainment, or demanding activities. Using the edge display as a shortcut, you can select any of these modes quickly and optimize for a range of use cases - from battery saving to high quality video.
When the S8 is set to use maximum specs, however, there's a huge difference in the display quality and audio quality - not to mention how quickly the battery drains. So this feature isn't a gimmick - it's a tool. Knowing how and when to use it will really improve your experience of the Galaxy S8.
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