I finally arrived at the Samsung Unpacked event in London along with thousands of people
all for one reason, to see the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.
This has been a long time coming and the S8 is the most anticipated smartphone to be released
in recent times.
Samsung is hoping for a hit with this phone after the demise of the Note 7, so have they
achieved this?
In one word yes, in my opinion this will be the number one selling smartphone in 2017,
no ifs no buts and I will show you why right now.
The S8 and S8 plus are made of Samsungs signature glass and metal build.
This is some of the best hardware I have ever seen, the phones look stunning, sleek and
dare I say futuristic.
The s8 measures in at 148.9 by 68.1 and 8.0mm thick, the S8 plus is slightly larger at 159.5
by 73.4 and 8.1mm thick, and weighing in at 155 grams and 173 grams respectively.
The power button is located on the right and the volume rockers are on the left with the
Bixby button just below those, more on Bixby later.
The bottom houses the speaker, mic, usb type c charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack.
The back of the phones are curved symmetrically, which mirror the display making the S8 and
S8 plus the most ergonomic handsets I have ever held.
IP68 water and dust resistance is still here Samsung really went all out on the build quality
without compromise.
The new handsets come in several colours including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic
Silver and Maple Gold, all equally beautiful, my personal favourites being the black and
gray varients.
Let’s kick off with the screen, Samsung are calling this the Infinity display, the
reason for this is as you can see the screen runs off the edge of the phone, just like
an infinity pool you find in a high-class hotel.
The screen comes in at 5.8 inches on the Galaxy S8 and 6.2 Inches in the big brother the S8
Plus, both are Quad HD + Super Amoled 2960 by 1440 bezel-less full-frontal edge to edge
screens which are nothing short of gorgeous.
Just look at how beautifully those colours pop and how deep those blacks are, Samsung
make the best screens in the business and this is the best display I have ever seen
on any smartphone.
The screen ratio is now at an astonishing 18.5 by 9 aspect ratio and this means you
will be able to view HDR+ content from the likes of Amazon and Netflix as examples.
I almost forgot to mention that the Always on Display is also still present and correct
giving you the usual information we have all seen before.
Now having such great screens is no good without a power house to push those pixels and im
glad to report Samsung hasn’t short changed us here either.
Depending on your region you will have either the new Snapdragon 835 or the Samsung Exynos
8895 chipset coupled with 64GB of built in storage, expandable with an SD Card and 4GB
of RAM meaning this is the most powerful smartphone ever built besting even the iPhone 7 with
its A10 Fusion chip, Sorry Apple fans.
With a 3000 mah battery in the S8 and 3500 mah in the S8 plus you might think that battery
life will be an issue, but coupled with the efficiency of the Super Amoled screen and
a chipset that is 21% more efficient than last years offerings this should appease most
end users, especially with the return of fast charging.
The Samsung S8 and S8 Plus are also the first phones to support Gigabit LTE and Wifi and
to top off the wireless connectivity list, they have thrown in Bluetooth 5.0 for good
measure.
What does this mean?
Simply put these smartphones are the fastest ever built when it comes to downloading or
streaming content and will be able to send audio to 2 bluetooth devices at once.
Talking about audio let me tell you this, Samsung have chosen to keep the 3.5mm headphone
jack, so time to rejoice if like me, you enjoy using any headphones without the restriction
of needing an adapter.
Samsung have also teamed up with AKG to include in the box a set of AKG earphones worth £100,
these coupled with the Ultra high quality 32-bit PCM & DSD Playback support means killer
sound quality.
The front cameras on both the S8 and S8 plus are 8mp with a F1.7 Aperture and on the back
of the phones Dual Pixel 12MP shooters also with F1.7 Aperture, OIS, 4K video recording
and slow motion support at 240 fps.
The usual suspects are also present such as Pro mode, Panorama, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse
and Food Mode and also the ability to save in RAW file format.
Now on paper these seem like last years S7 Edge cameras but when you already have the
best smartphone camera how do you improve on it?
Well Samsung have improved on the post processing software which allows the camera to take 3
photos simultaneously and stich them together to give the best possible result.
There are no camera humps either and the lens is flanked by the High CRI LED flash and the
fingerprint sensor.
Now the placement of the fingerprint sensor has been a big controversy since the early
leaks, to be totally honest I have had zero issues with the fingerprint sensor during
my time with the handsets.
I found them easy to reach and my finger naturally landed on them, they unlock the device very
fast and also have finger gestures which can be activated in the settings, allowing you
to swipe down on the fingerprint sensor to bring down the notification shade then swipe
up to close it again.
Now if you prefer there is an Iris Scanner on the front and the ability to use your face
to unlock the phone, Samsung really has covered all bases here.
Obviously having the fingerprint sensor on the back means Samsung removed the physical
home button from the front of these phones, instead it has been replaced by an on screen
home button with Force touch like capabilities and instead of the capacitive back and multi
task buttons these are also on screen now.
The app drawer is now accessed by swiping up on the screen just like the Pixel handsets.
The software skin is using the much improved Grace UX which has had a design refresh and
the icons look alot more modern and clean giving the s8 a fluid and fast software experience
with no more lag.
As promised earlier lets talk about Bixby.
Pressing the Bixby button gives me 3 ways to engage with the s8 not just one, Since
Bixby understands talk, text, and taps, you're able to use the most convenient way at the
time.
You can also switch between modes whenever you need to.
Bixby will change the way you search.
Because you only have to open your camera or use an image to get results right away.
Whether you'd like to know more about a product or place, want to find a restaurant nearby,
or even need to translate a document—just call up Bixby.
No more typing into boxes.
Press the Bixby key or swipe right from the lock screen or home screen to get curated,
customized information as well as direct access to the apps you need at that time.
The more you use your phone, the better results you get.
Think of Bixby as your personal concierge.
Of course the launch of the S8 and S8 plus wouldn’t be complete without some brand
new accessories to compliment your new toy, and I’m glad to report that once again Samsung
has delivered in spades here.
They will be launching the all new Gear VR headset with a controller and what goes hand
in hand with that?
Of course the second generation of the Gear 360, now capable of shooting video in 4K resolution,
I also tested out the Samsung Dex which transforms your S8 into a desktop computer, allowing
you to edit documents using the Microsoft suite of apps, edit pictures and photos using
adobe and playing the occasional game during downtime.
Samsung also show cased a plentiful array of cases including their own official ones
and cases from third parties such as Otterbox, Adidas, Buggati and so on.
I also saw their new Wireless convertible desktop charger, wireless speakers, earphones
and battery chargers so something for everyone.
So in summing up I hear some of you asking should I upgrade from my Samsung Galaxy S7
Edge?
Yes 100%, Samsung have improved on last years design in every way and from where im standing
no other manufacturer is even in the same ball park let alone able to compete with the
S8 and S8 plus.
These really are the most beautiful, ergonomic and well designed smartphones I have ever
used, Samsung has achieved something stunning here, something phenomenal, an all in one
package that doesn’t strive for greatness but has already achieved it.
I was so smitten by Samsungs new flagships that I actually ordered the S8 Plus in Midnight
Black from Samsungs website, whilst still in the conference, no special price, no discount
but full retail cost without hesitation.
That in itself should speak volumes of how great the S8 and S8 plus are.
Samsung has really focused on the details with these devices and it clearly shows that,
throughout both handsets, in both the hardware and the software experience.
I will finally end with this video with one statement, The S8 and S8 Plus, best smartphones
of all time.
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next time peace.