What's up guys? David here.
And I've decided to make the switch from my Google Pixel XL...
...which I switched to about six months back, to the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Now I have a 8 bunch of different reasons on why I'm making the switch.
But the gist of it is, there's no smartphone right now that comes close to the S8 on a hardware level.
This thing straight up looks like it's a phone from the future. And while Samsung software is far from perfect...
it has improved over the years and comes with its own unique set of advantages.
But what I want to talk about in this video is not so much why I switched to the Galaxy S8...
but why I didn't end up switching to the Galaxy S8+ (plus).
Because I've always been the kind of person to go with the bigger model of a smartphone...
and my reasoning has always been the same. With a bigger phone, comes a bigger screen and a bigger battery.
So when Samsung first announced the Galaxy S8 and the S8+, I was fully expecting the S8+ to win me over.
But after using both phones for a while now and going back and forth between them...
For the first time ever, I think the smaller model is the better option. At least for me.
Now before those of you who bought the Galaxy S8+, dislike this video. I know it's going to happen anyway.
I'm not saying that the S8+ is a bad choice okay?
If I thought the S8+ was a bad choice then I wouldn't have switched to the S8 to begin with.
And believe me when I tell you that choosing between the 2 wasn't an easy decision...
as the S8+ still has the advantage of a bigger screen and a bigger battery.
So why then? Why would I, someone who's always used the bigger phone or the bigger model of a phone
decide to give up the bigger screen and the bigger battery for the smaller S8.
Well, first thing has to do with the placement of the fingerprint scanner
we all know that Samsung messed up with this placement
And with the S8+, with it being such a tall phone, it's just not easy to reach
I'm not going to be one of those people who says its unreachable
It's not unreachable, but it isn't comfortable to reach either
On the regular S8 at least if you're right handed this isn't really an issue
now I can already see the comments about how Samsung offers alternative lock methods
And if you don't like the fingerprint scanner you don't have to use it
but I don't really buy that argument, okay?
facial recognition is obviously insecure and while the iris scanner is secure
I don't it's a good option as a primary lock method, if your walking, if your in direct sunlight or if you're wearing sunglasses
it isn't going to work well, and it's always going to be a slower two step process
of first waking the phone, and then bring it up to your face, that's not convenient to do
and that's not something I'd want to do every time I wanted to access my phone
I know to some of you, the finger print scanner may seem like a small thing to complain about
but according to Apple's data, people unlock their phones on average 80 times per day
for me it's easily over 100 times per day, but even if you multiply 80 by 365 days in a year
and multiply that, over 2 or 3 years of ownership, it adds up to over 50,000 plus, minor inconveniences
and that's not even counting the misreads okay and trust me there will be misreads
that fingerprint scanner on the S8, both the S8s isn't the most accurate one out there
it doesn't compare with the Pixel or the OnePlus 3
and on the S8 Plus it's even worse because sometime's you don't reach up high enough and it only gets a partial print
the second argument I have in favor of the S8
is unlike the S8 Plus the top of the screen is easily reachable with one hand
On the S8 Plus with the new aspect ratio the opposite corner of the screen is almost unreachable
without completely having to adjust your grip.
For comparison, the regular or smaller S8 screen is about as high up when you hold it in your hand
as the Google Pixel XL or the iPhone 7 Plus
which for many people it's already near the limits of one handed use,
the S8 Plus literally takes it to a whole different level.
And unless you plan on using Samsung's one handed mode a lot
I would say that the S8 Plus is a two handed phone
and then my third and final argument in favor of the "smaller Galaxy S8"
has to do with those air quotes I've been using throughout this video
when I refer to the "smaller S8"
because while the huge display on the S8 Plus is amazing
lets not forget, that the smaller Galaxy S8 has a pretty damn big screen itself
I mean you see Samsung fanboys laughing at iPhone users
because the "smaller S8" has a bigger screen than the 7 Plus
but I don't know if people are taking that seriously enough
I mean, Samsung fit a 5.8 inch display or the surface area equivalent of a 5.5 inch display
into the width of a 5.1 inch phone
that's a big deal and I don't think people ever bought big phones because they just love the big form factor
I don't think people bought big phone because they wanted something harder to hold in the hand
or something that took up more room in their pocket
No, I think people bought big phones because they wanted the bigger screen
and the bigger battery,
and while you don't get the bigger battery on the Galaxy S8
lets be clear about that, you are at least getting a big screen.
and it comes with all the advantages of having a smaller overall device
I watched a movie on both phones to test them out
and I found the experience on the regular S8 to be more enjoyable because the difference in screensize
was easily accounted for by bring the phone closer to my eye
but the lighter weight on the S8 made holding the phone for an extended period of time
much less of a strain than it was on the S8 Plus
Now don't get me wrong okay?
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that the new aspect ratio on the S8 changes everything
in certain situations, like when you're watching videos in portrait on instagram
your still limited to the screen width
which takes you right back to making it feel like a traditional 5.1 inch display
and in those situations, I miss the bigger screen on the S8 Plus
Also, at the end of the day when my S8 had 10% battery remaining
even though it was technically enough and did the job.
I still found myself missing the peace of mind I had with the additional 5 or 10 percent
I was getting on the bigger model.
But when you factor in the more convenient fingerprint scanner
the easier to reach display, a screen that's arguably big enough
and all the perks you get with a smaller overall device
and the fact that it cost 100 dollars less,
I think this year the smaller S8 has the edge.
but that's just my opinion. Okay? It's just an opinion, what do you guys think?
Which model of the S8 did you end up going with and why?
Let me know down below in the comments.
Anyways that is it for me in this video. Thank you guys for watching and always I'll see you in the very next episode.