@MRU, with regards to actual physical size, have you handled the S8 yet in person? Just curious.
As you may or may not know, I'm a small phone kind of guy myself. The S7E last year was the only exception that I could handle only due to Samsung's design and ergonomics. At the time, it was the most maneagable phablet to date and really shamed other phablets.
The S8 is slightly smaller than the S7E. And though by numbers, the difference might not mean much, in person, it does. As someone who had the S7E for the majority of 2016, picking up the S8 was almost mind boggling, especially with respect to the width. The thing is very usable one handed, with only the upper portion a slight challenge to reach.
Didn't you express interest in the G6? The S8 is smaller than that one. It's also smaller than the Pixel XL, and for sure smaller than the iPhone Plus.
As for the curve displays, I have to say again, you ought to get some hands on. In my 20 mins with it, I had no false touches. If you handled the Note 7, then you have some idea of how small the curvature is. The waterfall effect is very minimal now. You hardly notice any of that green-effect. A stark contrast compared to the S7E.
[doublepost=1491320999][/doublepost]I posted this in the other thread, but it deserves to go here, too:
For those who have been interested in Samsung's hardware, but were reluctant for a few good reasons, there hasn't been a better time to, at least, pay attention to what Samsung is doing.
They are really the only Android OEM that is paying this close attention to criticisms, learning from them, and then slowly addressing them to the best of their abilities. We witnessed this happen with the S6 first -- a direct response to all the criticisms of Samsung needing to reign in their hardware, have better design and materials, and to start cleaning up the software. Then the S7 comes along with even more refinements to the software, and for the hardware, putting back microSD expansion and waterproofing, and even making the device actually thicker for battery tech. And if you factor in the Note 8 battery issue, Samsung now has the industry leading battery QC-ing process.
Now comes the S8. I'll just point to a few of the less obvious things that Samsung is improving upon this year:
-For the first time, they've removed their logo on the front.
-They're selling unlocked versions just a couple of weeks after the official launch.
-And if I'm not mistaken, there's only one SKU in the United States
-Which means Samsung's new commitment to keep up with monthly security patches
can be achieved more easily. And if you know anything about the Android landscape,
these are the important updates.
-But in regards to Android version updates, they're at least going to attempt to provide 7.1.1 before or at launch:
http://www.talkandroid.com/312577-samsung-galaxy-s8-software-android-7-nougat-7-1-coming/. This begs the question: can a single SKU also help with Android version updates?
Of course, time will tell whether they come through with these promises, and given their history with updates in general, we all have reason to be skeptical. I said myself in the other thread, I'll believe it when I see it.
But I know that updates continue to be a big point of contention, so if we
are looking at history, then we must also acknowledge that Samsung has proven they are willing to learn and improve over time.
