Folks, you really have to see the S8 in person to appreciate its beauty. It is stunning in person. I just spent a good 20 mins hands on with it at Best Buy. Unfortunately tethered by the security chord, but still got a great feel for the hardware and software...
The screen is 100% deserving of all the hype. This cannot be overstated: There's so much screen in so little phone. Talk about immersive. And it's so narrow that, for the most part, it's very usable one handed. The only challenge was reaching up to the notification shade, which involved a little shifting. I can confirm the waterfall effect is extremely minimal (especially when compared to the S7E). I got no false touches whatsoever using the device. Even better, that green effect is nearly imperceptible thanks to the smaller curvature. The screen is everything you imagined it would be. I will say, the S8+ felt way too tall for me. Clearly not meant for me, but also gorgeous as well.
And the overall build really is superb. The ergonomics, the seamless designs, the buttons felt great... just a well crafted and refined piece of technology. My only one gripe (and it's not new...) is the fingerprint location. It is hard to tell the difference between the FPS and the camera -- this will take some getting used to. Luckily, many impressions of face unlock have been positive. If face unlock really lives up to the hype, the S8 could usher in a new norm for how we unlock our devices. Speakers were also loud and clear, and I believe significantly louder than my S7E ever was, but that's something that's hard to truly gauge in a store.
Orchid Gray is really stunning in person. It's more gray than purple, and it appeared darker to me overall than in photos/renders. The black was a stunner, too, but the black is so deep and rich, you almost don't get any of the details of the S8. It felt like a void. Didn't get to see Arctic Silver.
The software deserves praise, too. For the first time, there is this butteriness to the entire OS -- not unlike iOS and Pixel software -- where the animations and transitions are not only fast, but smooth and natural. I predict TouchWiz on top of Nougat will be a lovely experience that, once again, marries features with speed and stability. The App switcher, which was sometimes an area of contention, felt incredibly smooth and responsive. And generally navigating around the OS was very fluid. Touch response, from what I could perceive, was terrific, too. Again, not unlike the Pixel experience. My only one gripe was with the app drawer; you can slide up to pull up your app drawer (just like the Pixel launcher) but then to go to the next page of apps, you have to swipe right/left. That's inconsistent to me. Also worth noting, for the first time ever, the TouchWiz default icons aren't grotesque. Of course, I plan to customize with Nova and icon packs anyway.
Samsung deserves our praise for the S8. It really is the whole package: stunning hardware and great software. Even from an early impression, you can tell the S8 is a natural and logical next step in the progression of the Galaxy S line. It really is the S7E and Note 7 refined, with a ridiculously gorgeous screen experience.
I still cannot believe how small this device feels in the hand. It's smaller than the S7 Edge. It's mind boggling when you first pick it up.
I sincerely hope that Samsung lives up to their promises in regards to safer battery QC and support. The fact that they are only implementing one SKU across all carriers/unlocked model is a great start and, I predict, is something that'll help them keep to their promise that they'll update the unlocked versions with monthly security updates. Hopefully the single SKU will help with Android version updates, too.
People are going to run out of excuses with Samsung. They are already the clear leader in hardware with only a few nitpicky issues; their software has, for the past couple of years, been consistently getting better and smoothed out; and they're making the right decisions on all the little things that matter, like security updates, having only a single SKU, less carrier branding/control, selling unlocked versions shortly after launch (quicker than Apple), no logo on the front of the device (it would have been truly criminal to get in the way of the beautiful screen), offering promos, keeping both models the same except for the obvious screen/battery (instead of hoarding features in only the larger model...), bumping up the onboard storage to 64GB, and other things I probably can't think of right now.
I'll be preordering the unlocked version from Best Buy May 9th.
The screen is 100% deserving of all the hype. This cannot be overstated: There's so much screen in so little phone. Talk about immersive. And it's so narrow that, for the most part, it's very usable one handed. The only challenge was reaching up to the notification shade, which involved a little shifting. I can confirm the waterfall effect is extremely minimal (especially when compared to the S7E). I got no false touches whatsoever using the device. Even better, that green effect is nearly imperceptible thanks to the smaller curvature. The screen is everything you imagined it would be. I will say, the S8+ felt way too tall for me. Clearly not meant for me, but also gorgeous as well.
And the overall build really is superb. The ergonomics, the seamless designs, the buttons felt great... just a well crafted and refined piece of technology. My only one gripe (and it's not new...) is the fingerprint location. It is hard to tell the difference between the FPS and the camera -- this will take some getting used to. Luckily, many impressions of face unlock have been positive. If face unlock really lives up to the hype, the S8 could usher in a new norm for how we unlock our devices. Speakers were also loud and clear, and I believe significantly louder than my S7E ever was, but that's something that's hard to truly gauge in a store.
Orchid Gray is really stunning in person. It's more gray than purple, and it appeared darker to me overall than in photos/renders. The black was a stunner, too, but the black is so deep and rich, you almost don't get any of the details of the S8. It felt like a void. Didn't get to see Arctic Silver.
The software deserves praise, too. For the first time, there is this butteriness to the entire OS -- not unlike iOS and Pixel software -- where the animations and transitions are not only fast, but smooth and natural. I predict TouchWiz on top of Nougat will be a lovely experience that, once again, marries features with speed and stability. The App switcher, which was sometimes an area of contention, felt incredibly smooth and responsive. And generally navigating around the OS was very fluid. Touch response, from what I could perceive, was terrific, too. Again, not unlike the Pixel experience. My only one gripe was with the app drawer; you can slide up to pull up your app drawer (just like the Pixel launcher) but then to go to the next page of apps, you have to swipe right/left. That's inconsistent to me. Also worth noting, for the first time ever, the TouchWiz default icons aren't grotesque. Of course, I plan to customize with Nova and icon packs anyway.
Samsung deserves our praise for the S8. It really is the whole package: stunning hardware and great software. Even from an early impression, you can tell the S8 is a natural and logical next step in the progression of the Galaxy S line. It really is the S7E and Note 7 refined, with a ridiculously gorgeous screen experience.
I still cannot believe how small this device feels in the hand. It's smaller than the S7 Edge. It's mind boggling when you first pick it up.
I sincerely hope that Samsung lives up to their promises in regards to safer battery QC and support. The fact that they are only implementing one SKU across all carriers/unlocked model is a great start and, I predict, is something that'll help them keep to their promise that they'll update the unlocked versions with monthly security updates. Hopefully the single SKU will help with Android version updates, too.
People are going to run out of excuses with Samsung. They are already the clear leader in hardware with only a few nitpicky issues; their software has, for the past couple of years, been consistently getting better and smoothed out; and they're making the right decisions on all the little things that matter, like security updates, having only a single SKU, less carrier branding/control, selling unlocked versions shortly after launch (quicker than Apple), no logo on the front of the device (it would have been truly criminal to get in the way of the beautiful screen), offering promos, keeping both models the same except for the obvious screen/battery (instead of hoarding features in only the larger model...), bumping up the onboard storage to 64GB, and other things I probably can't think of right now.
I'll be preordering the unlocked version from Best Buy May 9th.
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