Phones Samsung Galaxy S8

[SteveJUAE]

I still like the FP sensor for approving payments. Like in the the app store and etc. Don't wish to see it go anytime soon.

Nice to have options

I'm hoping IR would be mandatory for payments if FP was dropped

 

[mi7chy]

IBM/Lenovo introduced fingerprint to Thinkpad laptops in 2004 so it's dinosaur technology. It needs to die and be replaced with newer better technology.

 

[Fernandez21]

Nice to have options

I'm hoping IR would be mandatory for payments if FP was dropped

Not a big fan of ir. On my Note 7 it worked fine and was a nice option to have when my hands were wet or dirty, but it would hurt my eyes a little, kinda like having a bright light shined in my eyes. I don't mind it on small doses, as a backup to finger print reader, but I would not want it as my main security measure to get into my phone, not with as many times I would use it in a day.

 

[jamezr]

I went to TMO store and played around with the S8+ again...then later went to BB and played around with the S8+ again.....
man the waiting is the hardest part....

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I really do not know what all the fuss is about the FP

I was glad it disappeared generally from most premium laptops some years back, although it did persist with some.

Then Apple res-erected it with a static non swipe version and others followed suit but I always considered this an interim option. My wife hates it and my Company security still requires Bi monthly pin updates etc even with FP for daily use.

Most good airports use Bio-metrics Face/IR and when MS introduced windows Hello 18 months back signing in to your laptop has never been easier IMO

If IR/face has been implemented correctly by Samsung then FP is mute IMO and just becomes a legacy input, but it's nice that Samsung cater for all and does not force the change

Personally I hope FP is gone on the S9 then no need to worry about hidden sensor under the glass development or rear sensor

Face can only be used to unlock the phone, but not for making payments. Iris and fp can be used to make payments, but as far as I'm aware the iris scanner api has not yet been made available for third party apps through Samsung Pass SDK, but Samsung will open that up at some point. So, for at least the near future, the rear fp scanner will be necessary. But yes, perhaps for the S9 things will have changed for the better.
[doublepost=1491012867][/doublepost]

I went to TMO store and played around with the S8+ again...then later went to BB and played around with the S8+ again.....
man the waiting is the hardest part....

I got my case today. It's going to be a LONG three week wait.

 

[Fernandez21]

I went to TMO store and played around with the S8+ again...then later went to BB and played around with the S8+ again.....
man the waiting is the hardest part....

I suggest in the meantime use the iPhone 7 Plus exclusively, this will make the form factor change seem even more extraordinary when you get it.

 

[jamezr]

I suggest in the meantime use the iPhone 7 exclusively, this will make the form factor change seem even more extraordinary when you get it.

lol...then my Pixel XL will get jealous......i have to split time or its chaos man.....

 

[nutriousmitten]

Wow it's true that even Samsung knew how stupid the fp sensor placement was. Very funny, but true. http://www.androidcentral.com/your-galaxy-s8-will-remind-you-clean-finger-grease-your-camera-lens

.

Rumour is Samsung wanted it under the screen this year but the yields and tech wasn't quite ready. So the fingerprint scanner on the back was option B.

I expect the Note 8 will have the underscreen scanner.

Played with the S8 today at Bestbuy. My Note 5 is a champ and has been the last year and a half, but that form factor, size and handlabilty is just too good not to upgrade.

I've wanted to drop the form factor and this does that without losing screen size. A touch bigger around then the smaller IPhone but much more screen size.

 

[5105973]

So is MS Onedrive

For the OP he/she should easily be able to synch photos to grandparents via IPhoto's with any laptop Mac or W10

Ack you're right. I forget I have a Onedrive account too. I don't use it very often, obviously. It's on my Surface.

Well I have decided to cancel my S8 Preorder.

I went to Best Buy. My husband wanted to see the S8's and of course I wasn't going to argue with that. I've been cooped up with the flu except for school commutes after all. I'm a lot better now so I headed off and to my utter shock both phones looked kind of tiny to me. They're not, but they just look so nice to handle. They were both incredibly attractive but that wide expanse of screen on the S8+ was irresistible for me.

While VR and ppi is something of a consideration to me, and the smaller S8 has a higher ppi that makes for a slightly better grain when I stuck the adjacent tethered VR lenses as close as I could get to both displays, I don't know how much I'll be frying my S8 in the VR headset vs my current Samsung. So, I decided to go with the one whose display blew me away for regular use the most, which was the S8+.

I honestly do not understand the difficulties people have reported in reaching the finger print sensor. I had no problems with most ways I normally grip the phone. I can't easily type one handed on the S8+ but I can't say it was a real pleasure typing one handed on the smaller S8, either. And for what it's worth, I tried putting fingerprints on the camera lens and it was not easy. They use a very good oleophobic coating on it. The phones were all covered with smudges but the lenses were very clean.

So at dinner I pulled out my iPhone 7 Plus and placed a preorder for an Orchid Gray AT&T S8+ and the $99 VR immersion set and a purple silicone case. This time I used the credit card that doesn't freak out and automatically decline almost all of my charges and this time I also remembered to log into my Samsung account, so that I could monitor my preorder status. I forgot to do that before.

Now I have to figure out how to cancel my original S8 pre-order. I'm going to let it sit a couple of days to make sure I don't change my mind for some reason.

The regular sized S8 matched very closely the size of my regular S7 encased in its Ringke TPU case.

Ugh...that's right, I have a Ringke TPU S8 case that's already on its way to me. Oh well at least it's only $4. I'll give it to one of my husband's friends if they order the S8.
[doublepost=1491016139][/doublepost]

Not a big fan of ir. On my Note 7 it worked fine and was a nice option to have when my hands were wet or dirty, but it would hurt my eyes a little, kinda like having a bright light shined in my eyes. I don't mind it on small doses, as a backup to finger print reader, but I would not want it as my main security measure to get into my phone, not with as many times I would use it in a day.

Yes, it felt weird to my eyes, too. I used it with my first Note 7 but shied away for the second one. It didn't exactly hurt but left a lingering weird feeling in the eyes.

 

[nutriousmitten]

Further thoughts. A small camera bump is nice but not nice. Still likely to be conscious about laying it down and scratching the lens if going with out a case. And this phone looks better without a case, as does the Note 5 I've just started going without a case on day to day for first time in a year and a half of owenership.

No button for the app drawer is tough to get used to to start if you didn't have a Pixel recently. Swiping up for the screen and the teddy bear icon always on the camera are a bit head scratching too.

Screen is noticeably long/tall. Almost comically long on the S8+. But looks gorgeous and better than my Note 5 screen. Also being able the screen zoom and change font styles puts even more info in certain parts of the UI.The narrowness works great when holding in one hand , which is my main goal in upgrading, to get that smaller form factor, but will take getting used to as in the little I played with it, the screen seemed noticeably narrower than I'd thought.

No home button will take getting use to. Often have it sitting on my desk, and just tapping the home button from above (and facial recognition wouldn't work as I'm at an angle about it) to turn on the scene to just my notifications is muscle memory now. Though i guess the AOD should take care of notifications without turning the screen on manually. In my time testing the IPhone 7 the "Raise to wake" was maybe my top unexpected surprise of the phone and iOS and didn't see if it's on 7.0.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Not a big fan of ir. On my Note 7 it worked fine and was a nice option to have when my hands were wet or dirty, but it would hurt my eyes a little, kinda like having a bright light shined in my eyes. I don't mind it on small doses, as a backup to finger print reader, but I would not want it as my main security measure to get into my phone, not with as many times I would use it in a day.

That's a shame if its that intrusive the Surface Book/SP4 method is not however as others have noted for simple access FR can be used and IR just for secure actions

It can only get better and FP is so yesterday IMO relegated to the rear is a good thing

 

[hot spare]

 

[MRU]

I really do not know what all the fuss is about the FP

I was glad it disappeared generally from most premium laptops some years back, although it did persist with some.

Then Apple res-erected it with a static non swipe version and others followed suit but I always considered this an interim option. My wife hates it and my Company security still requires Bi monthly pin updates etc even with FP for daily use.

Most good airports use Bio-metrics Face/IR and when MS introduced windows Hello 18 months back signing in to your laptop has never been easier IMO

If IR/face has been implemented correctly by Samsung then FP is mute IMO and just becomes a legacy input, but it's nice that Samsung cater for all and does not force the change

Personally I hope FP is gone on the S9 then no need to worry about hidden sensor under the glass development or rear sensor

Given the facial recognition is separate, does not work in conjunction with the Iris Scanner, and can be tricked very easily as videos already demonstrated on show floor, i would suggest if you are interested in security then skip facial recognition and keep to the Iris Scanner or FP instead.

 

[mi7chy]

Blind (not really) pre-production Galaxy S8 vs S7 Edge Camera Photo Comparison

https://www.lowyat.net/2017/128364/blind-camera-comparison-samsung-galaxy-s8-and-galaxy-s7-edge/

See if you can tell the differences then install EXIF Quick View Chrome extension to reveal the camera data in the lower left corner of most pictures by hovering mouse pointer over picture (SM-G950F for S8 and SM-G935F for S7 Edge).

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...pj?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog

S8 improvements I noticed are:

+ Night sky is blacker
+ Less noise
+ More detail retention
+ Better white balance
+ Less lens flare in night shots
+ Less processing artifacts

Google Pixel is going to get dethroned on DxOMark.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Further thoughts. A small camera bump is nice but not nice. Still likely to be conscious about laying it down and scratching the lens if going with out a case. And this phone looks better without a case, as does the Note 5 I've just started going without a case on day to day for first time in a year and a half of owenership.

No button for the app drawer is tough to get used to to start if you didn't have a Pixel recently. Swiping up for the screen and the teddy bear icon always on the camera are a bit head scratching too.

Screen is noticeably long/tall. Almost comically long on the S8+. But looks gorgeous and better than my Note 5 screen. Also being able the screen zoom and change font styles puts even more info in certain parts of the UI.The narrowness works great when holding in one hand , which is my main goal in upgrading, to get that smaller form factor, but will take getting used to as in the little I played with it, the screen seemed noticeably narrower than I'd thought.

No home button will take getting use to. Often have it sitting on my desk, and just tapping the home button from above (and facial recognition wouldn't work as I'm at an angle about it) to turn on the scene to just my notifications is muscle memory now. Though i guess the AOD should take care of notifications without turning the screen on manually. In my time testing the IPhone 7 the "Raise to wake" was maybe my top unexpected surprise of the phone and iOS and didn't see if it's on 7.0.

You don't have to use the swiping up and down function to get to the app draw. You can choose to either display or not display the app draw button.
[doublepost=1491031886][/doublepost]I've decided to go and see them in the flesh today. I've got some errands to run and I'm going to pick up something from Argos so I might as well go and see these beauties. Hopefully they will have them on display in currys/pc world which is next door to Argos otherwise I'll have to go into the town centre which is 5 minutes further on.

I'm back at work next week and I'm on the dreaded 9-5 shift so won't get another chance to go and see them until next weekend. I'm pretty certain that I'll be pre-ordering the S8+. I don't care how big and unwieldy it is. There can't be a high end 6.2 inch phone on the market and I don't have it. The only thing that stopped me getting the mega was that it only had midrange specs compared to my note at the time. My 7 plus will just have to deal and get with the programme.

I'll just have to see this orchid grey as we really have been shafted in the U.K. With colours this year. The black is too plain and well I can't see the grey properly in videos. But I'm hoping it's not like the S6 edge plus my husband owns.

 

[The Game 161]

You don't have to use the swiping up and down function to get to the app draw. You can choose to either display or not display the app draw button.
[doublepost=1491031886][/doublepost]I've decided to go and see them in the flesh today. I've got some errands to run and I'm going to pick up something from Argos so I might as well go and see these beauties. Hopefully they will have them on display in currys/pc world which is next door to Argos otherwise I'll have to go into the town centre which is 5 minutes further on.

I'm back at work next week and I'm on the dreaded 9-5 shift so won't get another chance to go and see them until next weekend. I'm pretty certain that I'll be pre-ordering the S8+. I don't care how big and unwieldy it is. There can't be a high end 6.2 inch phone on the market and I don't have it. The only thing that stopped me getting the mega was that it only had midrange specs compared to my note at the time. My 7 plus will just have to deal and get with the programme.

I'll just have to see this orchid grey as we really have been shafted in the U.K. With colours this year. The black is too plain and well I can't see the grey properly in videos. But I'm hoping it's not like the S6 edge plus my husband owns.

Think I plan to have a look on Monday . I imagine currys near me will have one to check out I hope.

 

[From A Buick 8]

i just placed my preorder for the S8+ from Samsung. Through slickdeals I saw an Ebates offer for 14% cash back on Samsung orders today so I should get about $150 back from them. Also added the $99 immersive pack to the deal and will sell all of that (except for the sd card).

I went with the midnight black.

So here i go again

 

[5105973]

How much better would the Galaxy perform unlocked vs. purchased from a carrier like Verizon? Does the less amount of bloat make a notable difference in performance and/or battery life?

This question is extended to the S7/S7 Edge owners as well.

It's hard for me to say because I have AT&T and did not find them too bad. I did not notice performance issues but of course with only 32GB onboard storage, I resented any storage being taken up by apps I could not fully remove, only disable. I found it very easy to just tuck the AT&T apps in a folder and forget about them. I used one and disabled some and others I left alone since I wasn't sure what they were doing. They might eat up some battery from time to time but otherwise haven't hurt anything.

But from what I remember there were complaints that Verizon disabled or hid access to a Samsung's free backup storage. My dad is on Verizon and I know he had to switch from Android to iPhone a few years ago because Verizon was disabling a map or navigation app he was using so they could sell their own service and meanwhile it's free on Apple. I don't know how heavy handed Verizon is these days, but they can be a pain.

Where going with an unlocked version hurt was getting security updates and then the update to Nougat I think is still not available to unlocked phones. I only just very recently got the March security update. I had been getting by on the October one that the phone must have shipped with (it was purchased in December). But Samsung has pledged to support unlocked phones in a timely manner going forth.
[doublepost=1491044760][/doublepost]

Oh now that's just sad. I was expecting a much better showing from LG than that. Of course I wish I could have seen the colored mat and pencils in person to see which camera got the colors closest to reality. I'm really rooting for the LG to do very well this year to keep Samsung on its toes. I'll withhold judgement until I see more comparisons like that.

 

[akuma13]

Blind (not really) pre-production Galaxy S8 vs S7 Edge Camera Photo Comparison

https://www.lowyat.net/2017/128364/blind-camera-comparison-samsung-galaxy-s8-and-galaxy-s7-edge/

See if you can tell the differences then install EXIF Quick View Chrome extension to reveal the camera data in the lower left corner of most pictures by hovering mouse pointer over picture (SM-G950F for S8 and SM-G935F for S7 Edge).

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...pj?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog

S8 improvements I noticed are:

+ Night sky is blacker
+ Less noise
+ More detail retention
+ Better white balance
+ Less lens flare in night shots
+ Less processing artifacts

Google Pixel is going to get dethroned on DxOMark.

Wow the amount of detail the S8 retains compared to the s7 is amazing. I'm still iffy about the color reproduction though it looks like it was improved too.

 

[5105973]

Wow the amount of detail the S8 retains compared to the s7 is amazing. I'm still iffy about the color reproduction though it looks like it was improved too.

Fixing lens flare is enough to make me happy. I was not a happy camper trying to take pictures of the Christmas lights at a Winter Lights display with my S7 this past Christmas and my husband's IPhone 7Plus. I had to borrow my daughter's SE so I could get a few shots.

The HTC 10 and the Samsung S7 Edge and iPhone 7Plus overexposed and washed out the colors of the lights. I have photographed the Winter Lights display for years using my older iPhones but this was the first time I had so much trouble, because the newer cameras do open up to admit more light. Which is great in a lot of situations but not for photographing Christmas Light displays from a slowly moving car!

Indoors, the IPhone 7Plus did the best job photographing my Christmas tree. HTC 10 and Samsung were overtaken by the lights and did not expose them as well.

The S8 will have a challenge dethroning my 7Plus, at least in my opinion. I admire how most of the time my 7Plus captures colors and lighting conditions very close to how I'm seeing them in person, except for the Winter Lights fiasco. I know Samsung is going to do that bit of "Fujicolors" effect I admired in the late 80's-early 90's and I can live with that. But I can not stand to see my Christmas lights pictures ruined when my old circa 2012 iPhones managed to do them justice. Apparently the IPhone 7Plus struggles with that a bit less than the S7, but struggled nonetheless. So S8 could steal the crown in my house next winter. Of course by then IPhone 8 and Note 8 will be out.

 

[JaySoul]

i just placed my preorder for the S8+ from Samsung. Through slickdeals I saw an Ebates offer for 14% cash back on Samsung orders today so I should get about $150 back from them. Also added the $99 immersive pack to the deal and will sell all of that (except for the sd card).

I went with the midnight black.

So here i go again

Wow, wish we got offers like that in the UK...

 

[co.ag.2005]

i just placed my preorder for the S8+ from Samsung. Through slickdeals I saw an Ebates offer for 14% cash back on Samsung orders today so I should get about $150 back from them. Also added the $99 immersive pack to the deal and will sell all of that (except for the sd card).

I went with the midnight black.

So here i go again

ps, I don't think ebates works on Samsung mobile. I already tried

"Exclusions: Cash Back not available on gift cards, gift certificates, home appliance, mobile. "

I pre-ordered the S8 with the immersion pack from Samsung.com with ebates activated. Was very excited about the ebates cash until I saw the exclusions And my ebates is blank where it should show money back from Samsung.

But, I am stinking excited about the S8. I have the 7+ as my daily driver but am going to try the smaller form factor. I still likely the size of the GS6 and GS7 but want the larger screen, so I think it'll be perfect. But, I will have to try to see one at a Best Buy this weekend. I'm sure I'll be itching to switch to a S8+ after I see it... we'll see!

 

[AppleRobert]

They did not have a black s8 on display, really wanted to see that one but they did for the + so that sufficed.

I said before that the + is too tall, after seeing it just confirmed my feeling about it.

Did not care for the placement of the FP but I am sure I would get use to it.

There was no support at all at the Samsung station. These folks are contracted from another company, I reiterate they are not Samsung employees. They change at my store rapidly, they are more mostly college kids looking to earn some bucks. Not sure how well they are trained, I think they fend for themselves doing online training offered by their company.

 

[Vegastouch]

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.

That is great to know but they still made it too big. So it doesnt matter what they did to it......size matters and for me, bigger isnt better. And they dont offer the flat screen. Im sticking with the S7 but for others it looks like the New Moto G is a good option and starts at only $229 for the 32GB to $299 for the 64GB and has expandible strorage.

 

[MRU]

That is great to know but they still made it too big. So it doesnt matter what thy did it......size matters and for me, bigger isnt better. And they dont offer the flat screen. Im sticking with the S7 but for others it looks like the New Moto G is a god option and starts at only $229 for the 32GB to $299 for the 64GB.

Yeah the Moto g5 plus 16gb/3gb ram is £179 on Amazon.co.uk, which is a great bargain.

I'm with you regarding size of the S8. It's still essentially same size as the S7E which if that was too big, means your out of luck with the S8.

The A7 2017 is not a good value option especially given the S7 is now less than €400 most places and is still a damn fine.phone.