Phones Samsung Galaxy S8

[Technarchy]

Just to play devil's advocate here, higher sales numbers means more popularity and that means higher resale value and easier to sell my iPhone when the time comes to upgrade. I don't disagree with you that it's annoying and sometimes trollish when people post sales numbers on the forums, but at the same time I do look at it as a positive when I purchase something, more money in my pocket.

I don't have that problem. I just give the phone back to AT&T and in return they give me something shiny and new.

 

[Zaft]

Gotta say...the more I use the Galaxy S8 + the more I like it.
It has been a true performer for me. Samsung has provided a very robust lag free user experience for me so far.
Battery life is exceptional...right up there with my 7+.
Camera is on par with my Pixel XL.
I like the aspect ratio because it lets me use the phone with one hand most of the time.

Performance has been stellar! Not a hiccup or hint of lag for me. It has been so rock steady for me i don't even think about anything but just using it....no worries about battery life getting me through the day. Just a very pleasant user experience. easily the best Samsung phone so far!

But....while the FPS is very accurate....but...that location is dumb to say the least. I have no problems reaching it as I have big hands. I have no problems with the FPS being on the back. But it should be below the camera and round!
To my surprise the iris scanner has be great and very accurate. I use a combo of FPS and Iris to unlock my phone.

People may get the wrong idea about the S8 at the store. That demo they run lags the phone a good amount...

 

[mjschabow]

Gotta say...the more I use the Galaxy S8 + the more I like it.
It has been a true performer for me. Samsung has provided a very robust lag free user experience for me so far.
Battery life is exceptional...right up there with my 7+.
Camera is on par with my Pixel XL.
I like the aspect ratio because it lets me use the phone with one hand most of the time.

Performance has been stellar! Not a hiccup or hint of lag for me. It has been so rock steady for me i don't even think about anything but just using it....no worries about battery life getting me through the day. Just a very pleasant user experience. easily the best Samsung phone so far!

But....while the FPS is very accurate....but...that location is dumb to say the least. I have no problems reaching it as I have big hands. I have no problems with the FPS being on the back. But it should be below the camera and round!
To my surprise the iris scanner has be great and very accurate. I use a combo of FPS and Iris to unlock my phone.

Yes agreed! It's by far the best phone I've ever owned. And for battery, I agree. I'm seeing U2 in a couple of weeks and I have no concerns that it will last the whole night even when snapping pics and videos.

 

[jamezr]

People may get the wrong idea about the S8 at the store. That demo they run lags the phone a good amount...

If they have the demo video running......then it will slow things down for sure. It will di that on all phones.

 

[jamezr]

Yes agreed! It's by far the best phone I've ever owned. And for battery, I agree. I'm seeing U2 in a couple of weeks and I have no concerns that it will last the whole night even when snapping pics and videos.

I love U2...ine of my favorite all time bands!
Post some pics when you get back

 

[mjschabow]

I love U2...ine of my favorite all time bands!
Post some pics when you get back

Nice! I will for sure. A bit nerdy of me but this will be my 11th time seeing them.

 

[jamezr]

Nice! I will for sure. A bit nerdy of me but this will be my 11th time seeing them.

Nice! You are all like family now!

 

[5105973]

Nice! I will for sure. A bit nerdy of me but this will be my 11th time seeing them.

I am sometimes stunned when I stop and realize how long I've been a fan. My husband got an extra tape of The Joshua Tree and gave it to me when we were just starting to date. He used to be in a record and tape club and would sometimes forget to decline the selection of the month so I'd get the duplicates he got stuck with. He didn't much care for U2 one way or the other but I liked them a lot.

 

[mjschabow]

I am sometimes stunned when I stop and realize how long I've been a fan. My husband got an extra tape of The Joshua Tree and gave it to me when we were just starting to date. He used to be in a record and tape club and would sometimes forget to decline the selection of the month so I'd get the duplicates he got stuck with. He didn't much care for U2 one way or the other but I liked them a lot.

Nice! Achtung Baby is what really got me into them. They're 90's sound really shaped my music preferences for life. With that said, the Joshua Tree is still one of my favorite albums of all time. So it's going to be really cool to see them play the whole album in order!

 

[spinedoc77]

That's a legit reason or consideration, but it isn't the reason people on fora post them or use sales numbers. They do so normally for argument and to validate their preference or justification of their choice. They use it solely as ammunition. As evident all over this fora.

Likewise greater sales of a device doesn't always mean greater resale value. I have found the iPhones last year or two seemingly depreciate from where they were as there is an over abundance of them for resale which means it becomes a buyer's market. Something which is harder to get hold of and therefore much smaller sales numbers can at times hold its value moreover simply due to less concentration of devices for resale.

So more sales doesn't translate to greater resale value. It can act as the reverse due to sheer market saturation.

Oh I completely agree. Losing the argument?... toss in the sales numbers, instant perceived win!

On the resale value, I've found the iphones continue to have excellent resale value, especially the past couple of years. I know it sounds contradictory to have a lot of inventory yet have prices stay high, but somehow the iphones do it. I'm not aware of any other phone that wouldn't be close to half the price it was released at or less at about one year when a new model gets released, but the iPhone handily beats that depreciation for some reason. My suspicion is that there are a lot of consumers who would rather buy last years iPhone for 70% of the cost outright than pay $900 for this years model, and they probably follow that upgrade path with the consumers below them who want to buy a 2 year old model for 50%, and so on. It's nuts, look on swappa there is still a robust market for the iPhone 4!

 

[tbayrgs]

I do agree the apple watch kind of sucks because it's not al always on screen. The battery life is fairly poor as well IMO, if I workout in the morning it won't last me past 4pm or earlier so I had to get a 2nd AW just for the gym. Frontier is super super nice, but hamstrung by a lack of apps due to Tizen, it's also kind of huge/thick as well.

Which gen Apple Watch? I previously owned the first version (gen '0') and never once ran out in a single day, including days where it didn't go back on the charger until 1 or 2 am. I now own the second gen version and could probably go 2 days on a single charge in most cases. For instance, it's 6:30 pm locally, my watch has been off the charger since 5:30 am, usage includes tracking a one hour walk with GPS, and I'm at 79% remaining battery.

I just wonder if you have a lemon if you have a hard time lasting a single day.

 

[spinedoc77]

What's your carrier again? Mine is AT&T. Some people on Verizon had serious complaints about their call quality on the S8 and S8+.

I have the unlocked iPhone 7 Plus.

Did you all see the news on the front page of this forum where some Russian company found out Apple keeps our deleted notes well past the stated time frame they promise? And that there are other logs they keep on our calls and FaceTime and deleted search histories that they don't disclose to us? So much for security and privacy promises! My search history is not particularly exciting but I would prefer full access and control over it. At the very least, if I'm told stuff is not kept past a certain time period, I expect that to be honored.

I had decided to move as much reliance off of iCloud as possible so I could be more platform neutral. This takes my decision further, to copy my data elsewhere and wean myself off of the iCloud completely. I don't delude myself into thinking I would have privacy anywhere. But at least the alternatives I am using are honest about the extent to which they track me and stick their noses into my business and record my every move for posterity.

I didn't mean to get negative on Apple here but there's been a build up of things bothering me. I definitely need to move on and let Apple cycle back to a better place.

I was with ATT for like 10 years, but have been on Verizon for the past 1 year or so. They both were great, but Verizon is a bit more stable IMO. I get reception inside my house with Verizon, with ATT as soon as I walked in my front door reception would be from none to maybe 1 bar, 10 years and a microcell later I finally said that was enough. I also had weird issues with ATT like echoes in calls and dropped calls, but not commonly only once in a while.

Yeah I saw that news article about Apple, not good. My thing is that Google is built from the ground up as a business which makes most of its money off of mining my data and knowing every single nook and cranny of my soul. Apple, on the other hand, makes its money primarily by selling hardware, and secondarily selling apps/music/services, etc. Of course Apple collects information on me, but it's not the heart and soul of their business. What really solidified it for me was their stance against giving the government a backdoor to their encryption, especially with all the recent articles which vindicates Apple when looking at the wannacry ransomware scare. But yeah I'm probably being a bit naïve in giving Apple so much credit.

I suppose in the end I will have to give it up anyway in order to use and enjoy technology today, it's getting harder and harder to keep any amount of privacy. I'll be interested to see how my kids grow up and what they will feel comfortable sharing in 20 years. Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I imagine a camera in every room in their house, one in their car, at work, at the gym, etc and their entire lives just being on social media. Dunno, maybe not far fetched seeing these teens these days who cannot even take a poop without tweeting and putting it on Instagram.
[doublepost=1495234004][/doublepost]

Which gen Apple Watch? I previously owned the first version (gen '0') and never once ran out in a single day, including days where it didn't go back on the charger until 1 or 2 am. I now own the second gen version and could probably go 2 days on a single charge in most cases. For instance, it's 6:30 pm locally, my watch has been off the charger since 5:30 am, usage includes tracking a one hour walk with GPS, and I'm at 79% remaining battery.

I just wonder if you have a lemon if you have a hard time lasting a single day.

2nd gen, I've had 3 of them and all do the same thing. I suspect it's the heartrate sensor and motifit fitness app being run for 2+ hours really taxes it. I'm probably being a bit greedy expecting it to last until I go to bed with that kind of a morning, but then again that's how I use it. If I don't go to the gym then it will last me all day and until bedtime with probably 20-30% left.

 

[M5RahuL]

Yep. Showing off my little guy here but aside from the cuteness, this is the best photo quality I've ever seen on a smartphone.

Adorable lil guy!! Pic looks amazing on my 30" 4K screen!

 

[mib1800]

I suppose in the end I will have to give it up anyway in order to use and enjoy technology today, it's getting harder and harder to keep any amount of privacy. I'll be interested to see how my kids grow up and what they will feel comfortable sharing in 20 years. Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I imagine a camera in every room in their house, one in their car, at work, at the gym, etc and their entire lives just being on social media. Dunno, maybe not far fetched seeing these teens these days who cannot even take a poop without tweeting and putting it on Instagram.
[doublepost=1495234004][/doublepost]

Writing on the wall is telling us science fiction is becoming reality tomorrow. There will be no more individual lives. All will be connected to each other in cyberspace.

 

[5105973]

Writing on the wall is telling us science fiction is becoming reality tomorrow. There will be no more individual lives. All will be connected to each other in cyberspace.

I wonder if it's the way things really are or the way things Zuckerberg and his ilk want us to think they are. I left FB almost a year ago. I don't have Instagram. I had Pinterest but lost interest in it. I have a Twitter account but forget to check it a lot. If I were a rare case because I'm weird I'd worry. But I have friends weaning themselves off of FB for the same reasons I left, namely it was becoming intrusive and such an insane environment. If we decide to go back on it, it will only be to share 360 camera photos and videos with just a few members of the family. People are getting sick of posting every thought and arguing about it.

As for the younger people, they're all over the place. Some don't do social media at all, being to busy actually living life to endlessly post about it. For example, my 15 and 16 year old grand nieces are too busy with science clubs and cheerleading camp and sports to ever post about what they are doing, so their mom, my eldest niece, is the one who puts it all on FB for us. Others can't seem to survive without it. A lot of us parents of 12 and unders saw how our older kids turned out being obsessed with social media and even oppressed by it, and made a concerted effort to make these younger ones more discerning about social media, if not downright cynical and wary. So it's going to run a gamut of interest and involvement, I think.

At least I hope so. The kind of super connected world Mark Zuckerberg keeps trying to sell us on is my idea of hell.

 

[Technarchy]

Despite this being the most fluid and streamlined version of TouchWiz yet the amount of customization in the settings is quite deep. After a couple of weeks of tinkering I've got the S8+ fully dialed in and providing the level of fluidity, responsiveness and battery life I fully expect from a flagship phone.

I'll also say Samsung still has better audio processing hardware and software than Apple. iPhone audio is very flat sounding and lacks air, while Samsung has better openess and presence with better low frequency reproduction without distortion.
[doublepost=1495277475][/doublepost]

Which gen Apple Watch? I previously owned the first version (gen '0') and never once ran out in a single day, including days where it didn't go back on the charger until 1 or 2 am. I now own the second gen version and could probably go 2 days on a single charge in most cases. For instance, it's 6:30 pm locally, my watch has been off the charger since 5:30 am, usage includes tracking a one hour walk with GPS, and I'm at 79% remaining battery.

I just wonder if you have a lemon if you have a hard time lasting a single day.

My first gen lasted about a day+ on average. I've never had it die in a single day of use though. I'd say 30 hours between charges was normal.

S3 Frontier is vastly better though. 4 days between charges is the norm so far.

 

[daveathall]

I had a spare 16 quid and got the two piece Samsung cover, I wasn't expecting much to be honest, and the photos I have seen of it look quite ugly. I am pleasantly surprised, it looks very nice and understated (I got the black) and doesn't look as pronounced as I thought when looking at the photos. It doesn't ruin the good looks of the phone at all, (in my opinion) it still looks very sleek. Now, its not going to protect the phone if I drop kick it down the road, but, the lips slightly protrude over the glass screen that may help it on a drop off a table or from one's hand and the corners are well looked after. It's not an Ottorbox by any stretch of the imagination but it gives a degree of protection to those that don't abuse their phones (Baby them, dare I say it) without it becoming too "armoured" and boxy.

I like it
[doublepost=1495288113][/doublepost]

Yep. Showing off my little guy here but aside from the cuteness, this is the best photo quality I've ever seen on a smartphone.

Your baby and photograph are both wonderful.

 

[webslinger85]

I keep hearing people say this phone had average battery life, but on average I've been going from 630am to 10pm on moderate to heavy usage, and go to bed with at least 40-50% left in the tank.

I've been using it pretty heavily today, browsing the web, social media, and some YouTube, and I'm sitting at 50% with 4.5 hours of SOT. I know usage varies, and everybody gets different results, but this is impressive as hell battery life for me

 

[jamezr]

I keep hearing people say this phone had average battery life, but on average I've been going from 630am to 10pm on moderate to heavy usage, and go to bed with at least 40-50% left in the tank.

I've been using it pretty heavily today, browsing the web, social media, and some YouTube, and I'm sitting at 50% with 4.5 hours of SOT. I know usage varies, and everybody gets different results, but this is impressive as hell battery life for me

I have been getting great battery life too!

 

[5105973]

I just ordered from Amazon a Gear 360 camera and a pod to hold it and a little cover for the camera ball. It's the last year's camera not the 2017 one that I can't find anywhere yet. It was about $168 for the camera for Prime customers so I figured I'd give it a try. I didn't want to wait for the new one because I'm heading out on my annual cross country school hiking trip in a few days.

If I like the camera eventually I'll give the new one a try when the price drops a bit.

I was testing out the S8+ camera vs the iPhone 7 Plus camera last night. I was taking a picture of the house across the street which was lit up by landscape lighting. It's crazy how close the two cameras performed. I had to look at the exif files to determine which phone took which picture.

I also figured out how to calibrate the S8+ display to more closely match the warmth I like on my iPhone 7 plus display.

My husband and I are also experimenting with different messaging options. So far Telegram and Textra are fun.

It's getting to the point my S8+ is rendering my iPhone 7 Plus redundant. The longer I have it the more I learn how to get it to replicate the features I liked so much about my iPhone 7 Plus.

Looking at night scene photos it does finally at long last hit me that lcd panels don't do blacks very well. I was seriously a huge hold out in terms of being a convert to the appeal of OLED. That's because I never had an OLED display calibrated to my very specific tastes before.

The recent update that fixed the pink edge gave me a beautiful display.

I do still wish the display were flat because the curves do throw out reflections and refractions in many lighting conditions. On my flat S7 display this is never an issue. However I would not want to give up my Edge screen features. I've got those customized.

Knock wood, the Samsung customization of Nougat has been a pleasure to use. I am sorry it didn't work out for some folks here, but I really like it very much. I will see how it holds out over time.

I'm still taking my iPhone 7 plus on my big trip but when I come back I'm taking the Sim out and putting it in my iPhone SE, which is easier to keep on me in the summer. Then in the fall this main sim is going into my S8+.

That's the plan anyway. The iPhone 7 Plus will be staying with me. I don't plan on selling it. I'm not upgrading any iPhones in 2017 so I want to keep an excellent one on hand. I AM definitely interested in the new iPhone 8 or whatever they'll call it. But I'm not dropping any more moolah on a new iPhone type until they have all the bugs worked out. I'm no longer interested in iOS 10, though. I've seen enough of it. I definitely prefer Nougat and Samsung Experience for now. But I think iOS 11 will be exciting. I look forward to getting back with Apple in 2018.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I just ordered from Amazon a Gear 360 camera and a pod to hold it and a little cover for the camera ball. It's the last year's camera not the 2017 one that I can't find anywhere yet. It was about $168 for the camera for Prime customers so I figured I'd give it a try. I didn't want to wait for the new one because I'm heading out on my annual cross country school hiking trip in a few days.

If I like the camera eventually I'll give the new one a try when the price drops a bit. .

I have the same camera with a selfie stick that I screw in to the base of the camera then screw the tripod in to the bottom of the selfie stick so you can stand the camera at more pleasing eye levels a bigger tripod adds a lot more stability outdoors or one of those grippey flexible mounts for cameras

I sent you this link before but just in case you lost it it has some good info and resources plus syntax for postings and setup

http://ivrpa.org/about-ivrpa/360-vr-photography-360-video-resources/

 

[5105973]

Thank you for the link again. I have it on my iPad but just added it to my S8+ homepage. I'm a weird one in that I prefer to populate my home screen with icon shortcuts to web pages instead of using the bookmarks on my browsers.

I am currently the only person in my family interested in 360° photography and videography so if I get stuck on anything I cant count on my husband to bail me out like I'm used to doing. I'll be reading that site a lot and practicing with the camera the next few days before the trip.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Thank you for the link again. I have it on my iPad but just added it to my S8+ homepage. I'm a weird one in that I prefer to populate my home screen with icon shortcuts to web pages instead of using the bookmarks on my browsers.

I am currently the only person in my family interested in 360° photography and videography so if I get stuck on anything I cant count on my husband to bail me out like I'm used to doing. I'll be reading that site a lot and practicing with the camera the next few days before the trip.

Your more than welcome, I like the fact that it's very interactive with your phone even more so than a watch in some instances as the post processing can be done on your S8 especially posting on Google maps, never done FB. Even using your S8 as a remote to fire the shutter so your not in every shot by hiding behind a post or sofa etc

A simple project just to get use to it is to do a house inventory for insurance as its both practical and you will realise just sticking it on the coffee table wont work hence the elevated position on a selfie stick enjoy

I did some promotional estate agent type walk through's for a friend and I did manage to overheat the camera but it was +30c in an unused house and I had taken maybe 15 or 20 shots in succession so the camera battery was hot and gave a warning then took a few mins to cool down else no real issues.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

Despite this being the most fluid and streamlined version of TouchWiz yet the amount of customization in the settings is quite deep. After a couple of weeks of tinkering I've got the S8+ fully dialed in and providing the level of fluidity, responsiveness and battery life I fully expect from a flagship phone.

I'll also say Samsung still has better audio processing hardware and software than Apple. iPhone audio is very flat sounding and lacks air, while Samsung has better openess and presence with better low frequency reproduction without distortion.
[doublepost=1495277475][/doublepost]

My first gen lasted about a day+ on average. I've never had it die in a single day of use though. I'd say 30 hours between charges was normal.

S3 Frontier is vastly better though. 4 days between charges is the norm so far.

The s3 is very underestimated in these forums, and by reviews that predated some significant software/ fitness tracking upgrades.

This watch tracks my runs as well as my Garmin 235, including cadence, etc. I also can get 3 days of battery life, with 1.5 hours or so if running included. Honestly, I just charge the watch when I shower, and can go almost a week without needing to worry about it.

It's a great watch, and it's better than it was on release. I bought and returned one months ago, but ended up getting a other one more recently. I love it.

I find it like is a smidge better than my Apple watch Nike edition I had before selling my 7s plus.

 

[Zaft]

The s3 is very underestimated in these forums, and by reviews that predated some significant software/ fitness tracking upgrades.

This watch tracks my runs as well as my Garmin 235, including cadence, etc. I also can get 3 days of battery life, with 1.5 hours or so if running included. Honestly, I just charge the watch when I shower, and can go almost a week without needing to worry about it.

It's a great watch, and it's better than it was on release. I bought and returned one months ago, but ended up getting a other one more recently. I love it.

I find it like is a smidge better than my Apple watch Nike edition I had before selling my 7s plus.

3 Days of battery life with an always on screen??
[doublepost=1495463442][/doublepost]So this thread has really got me into Android again.. I have a 7 Plus now but I am really thinking about trying out Android again..Kind of missing the customization honestly.

For the S8 owners, do most apps scale up to the new aspect ratio?