Incorrect. It isn't double press, it is a long hold. Just like with the S7 models.
[doublepost=1490821337][/doublepost]
Having used the phone, I can tell you that it is a normal press and you return home. Had it long and you get Google Assistant.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Phones Samsung Galaxy S8
- Thread starter Surf Donkey
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
[doublepost=1490821337][/doublepost]
Camera shopping? What the hell is that! Glad to know it'll do other things though. And is it actually Google Now, or Samsungs version of it?
It's essentially just using the API from Amazon and what you can do on the existing Amazon app on iOS and Android.
Ohhh sounds interesting. I'm too old fashioned for that nonsense and just search on the web lol!
That's what 99.99% of people do regardless. It's normally quicker too. It's just another new feature that a tiny percent will ever utilise, speaking of which, I can't believe they are still including the dodgy heart rate sensor on the S8 & S8+. Does anyone really use it, and if you really want to monitor your heart rate during exercise you would be using either a chest belt or smart watch / fitness band for consistent reading. On a phone the heart rate sensor is so anomalous it may as well not exist.
That needs to go. I like throw everything at the wall Samsung but what's the point of it. If people are serious/interested in monitoring their heart rate they will invest in a wearable which will be far more accurate. In fact Samsung should be pushing people towards getting one of their watches and get rid of it. It's ridiculous that they would keep it around but not include the IR blaster.
The DEX thing actually looks more functional than Continuum which is embarrassing for Microsoft.
Very surprised at the apathy/negativity in this thread. The Front Page comments are more positive than these!
I thought it was generally a very successful presentation. Suzanne De Silva had the best part, great presenter and had exciting new products to demonstrate in an innovative way. As for the phone...
SAMSUNG S8:
I love it. It's not perfect but frankly they have to leave SOME stuff for next year's phone, that's just sensible business practice/roadmapping.
S9 should have a fingerprint sensor embedded where the touch-sensitive Home button is now. The Camera should get a significant physical upgrade (maybe 2 lenses). The battery could be bigger. The speakers might improve. But there's not much else they can do to the S9 because they've done a helluva lot to the S8!
- Increased the base storage to 64GB. For people who use music streaming and Google Photos, they'll probably never even need a micro-SD card. I mean there exists the option to have a 384GB phone!!
- Camera WILL improve for sure. If you know about the architecture of Qualcomm's SnapDragon 821 then that is what enabled the Pixel to improve image processing (and subsequently the photo quality) so much. And Snap 835 should be even better - hence Samsung should be able to leverage Pixel-esque consistency, and the S7 was already ridiculously good. In fact, I'm unsure whether Exynos will have similar capabilities (for UK). I hope it does!
The camera sensor honestly doesn't need a massive upgrade - at a certain point, it's a law of diminishing returns. Sensors have been great for ages, it's the IMAGE PROCESSING that will ultimately make the difference and is FINALLY catching up. The S8 should see significant improvements (especially when trying to capture photos of children and pets running around). It will be more reliable a la Pixel but with Samsung's already brilliant essence instead of 6 good photos out of 10, you'll get 9 great photos out of 10. And front camera should be excellent.
- Design is beautiful. I mean c'mon. Makes the iPhone and Pixel look like LEGO designed them. Plenty of lovely colours and NO LOGO on the front... Finally!
- Fingerprint sensor is the only poor desicion. Yet there is PIN, Pattern, Iris and Facial recognition to boot (which is getting rave reviews). Plus Smart Lock meaning that trusted location/bluetooth devices can unlock it. How many more options do we need?? It will be in the S9 probably.
- Heart rate sensor: don't think people realise how good it is and how certified it is. It's not like these rubbish ones on every smartwatch/fitness tracker ever. My Dad had a heart attack and any time he's not feeling well, he loves being able to get an accurate reading on my phone and it puts his mind at ease.
- Battery... Did it need to be bigger? They did get rid of most of the bezels... I'd love to see the teardown - would they really have been able to cram in more and risk a N7 fiasco? Did they play it safe? Regardless, it will be far more reliable, retaining charge over long-term far more successfully. The S7 thread is constantly full of Edge owners in particular (myself included) bragging about amazing battery life.
- Fast-charging is huge. I love it. I have a charger at home, work and in the car. This covers me for 95% of the day, typically. I probably had one day where battery life got dicey in the last 6 months. There is also wireless charging, and wireless fast-charging, and accessories to boot... These are things iPhone owners still think don't exist in any hemisphere!
- Headphone jack and included quality AKG headphones... This makes me very happy. It took courage.
- Bluetooth 5.0 means coverage should be even better, and you can dual stream which is potentially awesome. As a standard, Bluetooth 5.0 is actually the most significant leap forward for a while, I'm ecstatic it made it to the S8!
- Software. Like someone else said, I'm sure it won't ship with 7.0 but even if it did, TouchWiz has dramatically improved and as a mature phone platform, the Samsung is streets ahead of the Pixel in terms of functionality and everyday usage (in my opinion). This will be another evolution.
- Bixby: I am probably most cynical about this lol. Could be great, could be a waste of time. It has a button.
- Price: OK for me personally I'd always wait a while for the price to drop (I got my S7 Edge for an artificially low bargain price of £300 which has contorted my view of what the price should be!). Never would I pay £680 for a phone, but if someone else did, they'd be getting probably the sexiest phone in the history of the world ever. I'll wait for a sub-£500 deal. Doesn't look like UK will get amazing freebies but oh well, worse things happen at sea.
OK there are duplicate apps, that fingerprint sensor and questions over software updates (I'm already used to the first and third issues). But for me, there are more than enough positives on offer. OK we knew most of them through leaks but that's not Samsung's fault.
The 360 Camera looks fantastic. The Gear VR is on-the-low a fantastic experience at a very enticing price. The DeX thingy looks cool and may be useful in a few years time, this seems like a Year Zero testing point.
I thought Samsung did a really good job. It will be my next phone, probably. But we are all phone junkies in this thread so who knows
I thought it was generally a very successful presentation. Suzanne De Silva had the best part, great presenter and had exciting new products to demonstrate in an innovative way. As for the phone...
SAMSUNG S8:
I love it. It's not perfect but frankly they have to leave SOME stuff for next year's phone, that's just sensible business practice/roadmapping.
S9 should have a fingerprint sensor embedded where the touch-sensitive Home button is now. The Camera should get a significant physical upgrade (maybe 2 lenses). The battery could be bigger. The speakers might improve. But there's not much else they can do to the S9 because they've done a helluva lot to the S8!
- Increased the base storage to 64GB. For people who use music streaming and Google Photos, they'll probably never even need a micro-SD card. I mean there exists the option to have a 384GB phone!!
- Camera WILL improve for sure. If you know about the architecture of Qualcomm's SnapDragon 821 then that is what enabled the Pixel to improve image processing (and subsequently the photo quality) so much. And Snap 835 should be even better - hence Samsung should be able to leverage Pixel-esque consistency, and the S7 was already ridiculously good. In fact, I'm unsure whether Exynos will have similar capabilities (for UK). I hope it does!
The camera sensor honestly doesn't need a massive upgrade - at a certain point, it's a law of diminishing returns. Sensors have been great for ages, it's the IMAGE PROCESSING that will ultimately make the difference and is FINALLY catching up. The S8 should see significant improvements (especially when trying to capture photos of children and pets running around). It will be more reliable a la Pixel but with Samsung's already brilliant essence instead of 6 good photos out of 10, you'll get 9 great photos out of 10. And front camera should be excellent.
- Design is beautiful. I mean c'mon. Makes the iPhone and Pixel look like LEGO designed them. Plenty of lovely colours and NO LOGO on the front... Finally!
- Fingerprint sensor is the only poor desicion. Yet there is PIN, Pattern, Iris and Facial recognition to boot (which is getting rave reviews). Plus Smart Lock meaning that trusted location/bluetooth devices can unlock it. How many more options do we need?? It will be in the S9 probably.
- Heart rate sensor: don't think people realise how good it is and how certified it is. It's not like these rubbish ones on every smartwatch/fitness tracker ever. My Dad had a heart attack and any time he's not feeling well, he loves being able to get an accurate reading on my phone and it puts his mind at ease.
- Battery... Did it need to be bigger? They did get rid of most of the bezels... I'd love to see the teardown - would they really have been able to cram in more and risk a N7 fiasco? Did they play it safe? Regardless, it will be far more reliable, retaining charge over long-term far more successfully. The S7 thread is constantly full of Edge owners in particular (myself included) bragging about amazing battery life.
- Fast-charging is huge. I love it. I have a charger at home, work and in the car. This covers me for 95% of the day, typically. I probably had one day where battery life got dicey in the last 6 months. There is also wireless charging, and wireless fast-charging, and accessories to boot... These are things iPhone owners still think don't exist in any hemisphere!
- Headphone jack and included quality AKG headphones... This makes me very happy. It took courage.
- Bluetooth 5.0 means coverage should be even better, and you can dual stream which is potentially awesome. As a standard, Bluetooth 5.0 is actually the most significant leap forward for a while, I'm ecstatic it made it to the S8!
- Software. Like someone else said, I'm sure it won't ship with 7.0 but even if it did, TouchWiz has dramatically improved and as a mature phone platform, the Samsung is streets ahead of the Pixel in terms of functionality and everyday usage (in my opinion). This will be another evolution.
- Bixby: I am probably most cynical about this lol. Could be great, could be a waste of time. It has a button.
- Price: OK for me personally I'd always wait a while for the price to drop (I got my S7 Edge for an artificially low bargain price of £300 which has contorted my view of what the price should be!). Never would I pay £680 for a phone, but if someone else did, they'd be getting probably the sexiest phone in the history of the world ever. I'll wait for a sub-£500 deal. Doesn't look like UK will get amazing freebies but oh well, worse things happen at sea.
OK there are duplicate apps, that fingerprint sensor and questions over software updates (I'm already used to the first and third issues). But for me, there are more than enough positives on offer. OK we knew most of them through leaks but that's not Samsung's fault.
The 360 Camera looks fantastic. The Gear VR is on-the-low a fantastic experience at a very enticing price. The DeX thingy looks cool and may be useful in a few years time, this seems like a Year Zero testing point.
I thought Samsung did a really good job. It will be my next phone, probably. But we are all phone junkies in this thread so who knows
Last edited:
Agree with a lot. I will likely preorder tonight with Tmobile.
Was hoping we'd hear something about unlocked versions, but alas.
Gotta fight the urge......don't need...want.
Nope, I'll wait for the Note, but the S8 looks like a top end device
Nope, I'll wait for the Note, but the S8 looks like a top end device
Very surprised at the apathy/negativity in this thread. The Front Page comments are more positive than these!
I thought it was generally a very successful presentation. Suzanne De Silva had the best part, great presenter and had exciting new products to demonstrate in an innovative way. As for the phone...
SAMSUNG S8:
I love it. It's not perfect but frankly they have to leave SOME stuff for next year's phone, that's just sensible business practice/roadmapping.
S9 should have a fingerprint sensor embedded where the touch-sensitive Home button is now. The Camera should get a significant physical upgrade (maybe 2 lenses). The battery could be bigger. The speakers might improve. But there's not much else they can do to the S9 because they've done a helluva lot to the S8!
- Increased the base storage to 64GB. For people who use music streaming and Google Photos, they'll probably never even need a micro-SD card. I mean there exists the option to have a 384GB phone!!
- Camera WILL improve for sure. If you know about the architecture of Qualcomm's SnapDragon 821 then that is what enabled the Pixel to improve image processing (and subsequently the photo quality) so much. And Snap 835 should be even better - hence Samsung should be able to leverage Pixel-esque consistency, and the S7 was already ridiculously good. In fact, I'm unsure whether Exynos will have similar capabilities (for UK). I hope it does!
The camera sensor honestly doesn't need a massive upgrade - at a certain point, it's a law of diminishing returns. Sensors have been great for ages, it's the IMAGE PROCESSING that will ultimately make the difference and is FINALLY catching up. The S8 should see significant improvements (especially when trying to capture photos of children and pets running around). It will be more reliable a la Pixel but with Samsung's already brilliant essence instead of 6 good photos out of 10, you'll get 9 great photos out of 10. And front camera should be excellent.
- Design is beautiful. I mean c'mon. Makes the iPhone and Pixel look like LEGO designed them. Plenty of lovely colours and NO LOGO on the front... Finally!
- Fingerprint sensor is the only poor desicion. Yet there is PIN, Pattern, Iris and Facial recognition to boot (which is getting rave reviews). Plus Smart Lock meaning that trusted location/bluetooth devices can unlock it. How many more options do we need?? It will be in the S9 probably.
- Heart rate sensor: don't think people realise how good it is and how certified it is. It's not like these rubbish ones on every smartwatch/fitness tracker ever. My Dad had a heart attack and any time he's not feeling well, he loves being able to get an accurate reading on my phone and it puts his mind at ease.
- Battery... Did it need to be bigger? They did get rid of most of the bezels... I'd love to see the teardown - would they really have been able to cram in more and risk a N7 fiasco? Did they play it safe? Regardless, it will be far more reliable, retaining charge over long-term far more successfully. The S7 thread is constantly full of Edge owners in particular (myself included) bragging about amazing battery life.
- Fast-charging is huge. I love it. I have a charger at home, work and in the car. This covers me for 95% of the day, typically. I probably had one day where battery life got dicey in the last 6 months. There is also wireless charging, and wireless fast-charging, and accessories to boot... These are things iPhone owners still think don't exist in any hemisphere!
- Headphone jack and included quality AKG headphones... This makes me very happy. It took courage.
- Bluetooth 5.0 means coverage should be even better, and you can dual stream which is potentially awesome. As a standard, Bluetooth 5.0 is actually the most significant leap forward for a while, I'm ecstatic it made it to the S8!
- Software. Like someone else said, I'm sure it won't ship with 7.0 but even if it did, TouchWiz has dramatically improved and as a mature phone platform, the Samsung is streets ahead of the Pixel in terms of functionality and everyday usage (in my opinion). This will be another evolution.
- Bixby: I am probably most cynical about this lol. Could be great, could be a waste of time. It has a button.
- Price: OK for me personally I'd always wait a while for the price to drop (I got my S7 Edge for an artificially low bargain price of £300 which has contorted my view of what the price should be!). Never would I pay £680 for a phone, but if someone else did, they'd be getting probably the sexiest phone in the history of the world ever. I'll wait for a sub-£500 deal. Doesn't look like UK will get amazing freebies but oh well, worse things happen at sea.
OK there are duplicate apps, that fingerprint sensor and questions over software updates (I'm already used to the first and third issues). But for me, there are more than enough positives on offer. OK we knew most of them through leaks but that's not Samsung's fault.
The 360 Camera looks fantastic. The Gear VR is on-the-low a fantastic experience at a very enticing price. The DeX thingy looks cool and may be useful in a few years time, this seems like a Year Zero testing point.
I thought Samsung did a really good job. It will be my next phone, probably. But we are all phone junkies in this thread so who knows
The 64gb capacity, AKG earphones and the iris scanner were the strong points for me.
The weak battery and the larger size were the major negatives. The dodgy FPS location didn't make it any better. (Who wants to bet me that the FPS won't go back to the front next year?)
Unknowns: the curved front (not a fan)
Colors are gorgeous, but I can't love this phone from afar!
Had this came out in the 5.2" range... there was an outside chance of buying this if the iPhone edition didn't sway my interest.
I guess with the S8, Samsung has abandoned the idea of appealing to Apple's 4.7" crowd.
Not smart, Samsung...who else has the money to spend on expensive flagship phones?! Not smart at all.
Now the only hope is I don't buy anything this year and we try again in 2018, assuming Samsung will get some sense in their head and goes back to smaller again.
Please Samsung!
Last edited:
I'd love this if it has some form of DAW with input for my Helix, that would be awesome!
I doubt it though...
I agree with you generally except regarding the heart rate sensor. Even for your father, whilst it may offer him some placebo effect of re-assurance, its usefulness even for those with heart conditions and i speak as someone who has been on heart medication for years is not really advantageous. If you have had any heart disease or attack you should be on medication for the rest of your life and even if you are reading normal heart signal, that alone is actually not indicative of your chances of a further attack.Very surprised at the apathy/negativity in this thread. The Front Page comments are more positive than these!
I thought it was generally a very successful presentation. Suzanne De Silva had the best part, great presenter and had exciting new products to demonstrate in an innovative way. As for the phone...
SAMSUNG S8:
I love it. It's not perfect but frankly they have to leave SOME stuff for next year's phone, that's just sensible business practice/roadmapping.
S9 should have a fingerprint sensor embedded where the touch-sensitive Home button is now. The Camera should get a significant physical upgrade (maybe 2 lenses). The battery could be bigger. The speakers might improve. But there's not much else they can do to the S9 because they've done a helluva lot to the S8!
- Increased the base storage to 64GB. For people who use music streaming and Google Photos, they'll probably never even need a micro-SD card. I mean there exists the option to have a 384GB phone!!
- Camera WILL improve for sure. If you know about the architecture of Qualcomm's SnapDragon 821 then that is what enabled the Pixel to improve image processing (and subsequently the photo quality) so much. And Snap 835 should be even better - hence Samsung should be able to leverage Pixel-esque consistency, and the S7 was already ridiculously good. In fact, I'm unsure whether Exynos will have similar capabilities (for UK). I hope it does!
The camera sensor honestly doesn't need a massive upgrade - at a certain point, it's a law of diminishing returns. Sensors have been great for ages, it's the IMAGE PROCESSING that will ultimately make the difference and is FINALLY catching up. The S8 should see significant improvements (especially when trying to capture photos of children and pets running around). It will be more reliable a la Pixel but with Samsung's already brilliant essence instead of 6 good photos out of 10, you'll get 9 great photos out of 10. And front camera should be excellent.
- Design is beautiful. I mean c'mon. Makes the iPhone and Pixel look like LEGO designed them. Plenty of lovely colours and NO LOGO on the front... Finally!
- Fingerprint sensor is the only poor desicion. Yet there is PIN, Pattern, Iris and Facial recognition to boot (which is getting rave reviews). Plus Smart Lock meaning that trusted location/bluetooth devices can unlock it. How many more options do we need?? It will be in the S9 probably.
- Heart rate sensor: don't think people realise how good it is and how certified it is. It's not like these rubbish ones on every smartwatch/fitness tracker ever. My Dad had a heart attack and any time he's not feeling well, he loves being able to get an accurate reading on my phone and it puts his mind at ease.
- Battery... Did it need to be bigger? They did get rid of most of the bezels... I'd love to see the teardown - would they really have been able to cram in more and risk a N7 fiasco? Did they play it safe? Regardless, it will be far more reliable, retaining charge over long-term far more successfully. The S7 thread is constantly full of Edge owners in particular (myself included) bragging about amazing battery life.
- Fast-charging is huge. I love it. I have a charger at home, work and in the car. This covers me for 95% of the day, typically. I probably had one day where battery life got dicey in the last 6 months. There is also wireless charging, and wireless fast-charging, and accessories to boot... These are things iPhone owners still think don't exist in any hemisphere!
- Headphone jack and included quality AKG headphones... This makes me very happy. It took courage.
- Bluetooth 5.0 means coverage should be even better, and you can dual stream which is potentially awesome. As a standard, Bluetooth 5.0 is actually the most significant leap forward for a while, I'm ecstatic it made it to the S8!
- Software. Like someone else said, I'm sure it won't ship with 7.0 but even if it did, TouchWiz has dramatically improved and as a mature phone platform, the Samsung is streets ahead of the Pixel in terms of functionality and everyday usage (in my opinion). This will be another evolution.
- Bixby: I am probably most cynical about this lol. Could be great, could be a waste of time. It has a button.
- Price: OK for me personally I'd always wait a while for the price to drop (I got my S7 Edge for an artificially low bargain price of £300 which has contorted my view of what the price should be!). Never would I pay £680 for a phone, but if someone else did, they'd be getting probably the sexiest phone in the history of the world ever. I'll wait for a sub-£500 deal. Doesn't look like UK will get amazing freebies but oh well, worse things happen at sea.
OK there are duplicate apps, that fingerprint sensor and questions over software updates (I'm already used to the first and third issues). But for me, there are more than enough positives on offer. OK we knew most of them through leaks but that's not Samsung's fault.
The 360 Camera looks fantastic. The Gear VR is on-the-low a fantastic experience at a very enticing price. The DeX thingy looks cool and may be useful in a few years time, this seems like a Year Zero testing point.
I thought Samsung did a really good job. It will be my next phone, probably. But we are all phone junkies in this thread so who knows
As i actively monitor my heart rate using a proper chest band each day whilst exercising and from a fit bit blaze everyday I know that based on readouts and tracking they are calibrated very accurately and are far more accurate than any heart rate result i have got from my S5 onwards (S6e, S6e+, Note 4, Note 5, S7e, S7e+ ) which are a one shot readout rather than continuous which in itself is flawed as it provides only snapshots of data and not continuous ....
There is a reason why they strap people to an ECG machine and do it over a period of time rather than for 3 seconds for a 'single' baseline reading..
The heart rate sensor on the Samsung phones are provided flawed inaccurate & placebo fake re-assurance rather than genuine useful data and read out accuracy ...
Last edited:
There is no 'hard press'. The S8 does not have 3d touch.
Ohhh. Thank you for clearing that up. I was so confused.
But I thought I saw something about a layer of pressure sensitivity technology underneath just the home button. I must've read/heard wrong.
I would love to have a flat display model as well.
But I do intend to JoD to the S8. Just haven't quite decided the S8 or S8 Plus.......but that Orchid Gray is soooo nice!
Don't want carrier bloat ware? Best Buy has confirmed they'll sell the s8 unlocked beginning may 9th. Correction: available for preorder may 9th.
S8 $725
S8+ $825
-the verge.
What do you guys think? T-Mobile or unlocked?
S8 $725
S8+ $825
-the verge.
What do you guys think? T-Mobile or unlocked?
Several reviewers have stated that the home button is pressure sensitive.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/1...ed-features-release-date-video-specificationsThe Verge said:
https://www.sammobile.com/2017/03/2...keys-can-be-customized-home-key-is-always-on/Sammobile said:
Perhaps the hard press feature only works when the phone is off or when you're in a full-screen app?