Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Essence distilled

21 April 2017
When 5 inches is the de-facto standard for a compact Android handset, yet you want to prove that more is always better, what do you do? If you're Samsung, you make a 5.8-inch phone that's as compact as a 5-incher.

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AlienNextDoor, 22 Apr 2017Comparing a second hand phone to a new one? What??? Also... moreg6 and s8 new, bought for re-sale
re-sale prices usa 470$ brand new lg g6, 720$ s8
no more words to add

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    • AlienNextDoor
    • JK1
    • 22 Apr 2017

    Nick.B, 22 Apr 2017lg g6 camera is better than s8 lg g6 camera is better than... moreComparing a second hand phone to a new one? What???

    Also, good luck trying to find G6 second hand.

    Also, have fun with bootloops.

      Nick.B, 22 Apr 2017lg g6 camera is better than s8 lg g6 camera is better than... moreDid... did you just compared the price of a USED phone to a new phone? And are you seriously surprised that a 2nd hand used phone is cheaper than a new phone? Why would you make a comparison like that?

      And btw, a new LG G6 is $750 while a new Galaxy S8 is $720.

        so basically you buy 900$ phone which review in section camera is copy pasted texts and shooted photos from last years model which you can buy now for 250$ 2nd hand
        that must be a win for samsung

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          • AnonD-632062
          • Hxc
          • 22 Apr 2017

          The battery was one of the few difference from the S8+ and the S8's eagerly awaited battery endurance rating is truly...........not available at the moment. :(

          Awesome Sunlight legibility BTW: After the S6 edge+ and the S8+ came close, the S8 finally dethrones the venerable 808 Pureview!

            lg g6 camera is better than s8
            lg g6 camera is better than huawei p10
            lg g6 is 470$ 2nd hand s8 720$
            no words to add

              What I LOVE about the Galaxy S8:
              1. Infinity Display
              2. 3K HDR sAMOLED display
              3. Rear and front Camera
              4. dual-edge design
              5. Iris Scanner
              6. Samsung Experience UI (or TouchWiz)
              7. fast wireless charging
              8. IP68 rating
              9. new gen battery that will degrade slower
              10. Front and Back Dual Ambient Light Sensors
              11. Bluetooth 5.0
              12. Samsung's implementation of the Multi-Window Mode
              13. AKG earphone included in the box
              14. No protruding rear camera

              What I HATE about the Galaxy S8
              1. Bottom speaker
              2. Awkward FPS location
              3. Only 64 GB storage option for the international version

              Things that I don't care:
              1. 1 GB/s LTE
              2. Bixby
              3. Facial Recognition
              4. On screen navigation
              5. 18.5:9 screen ratio
              6. The chipset (SD 835 / Exynos 8895)
              7. Heart rate scanner (WHY IS IT STILL THERE?!)
              8. No stereo speakers

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                • Anonymous
                • 9An
                • 22 Apr 2017

                Edges are terrible. That is the only think I hate in my s7edge. I will never ever ever ever buy another phone with curved display.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • tDC
                  • 22 Apr 2017

                  Anonymous, 22 Apr 2017Mi6 is much better than S7. Weekly updates, more Ram, more... moreWhitch part? Splash resistant? Yearly old IPS screen that mi5 used? FHD resolution? Docking like samsung Dex?

                  Weekly update? These phone just release yesterday & you got weekly update? Tell that to mi5 & mi5s user that they will got weekly update, seriously?

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                    • AlienNextDoor
                    • JK1
                    • 22 Apr 2017

                    Anonymous, 22 Apr 2017I'd take a darker display over a shitty OS which is full of... moreEven supercomputers have microstutters. You can't notice any, even on an S5, unless you actively try to bring forth one. If you really want to make them happen then you can do so on ANY phone, including every iPhone and Pixel/Nexus.

                    Also, stop calling it lag. It's stuttering. Lag pertains to your internet connection, not cpu or os.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • pBC
                      • 22 Apr 2017

                      AnonD-660490, 22 Apr 2017brightest display.. awesome job sammyI'd take a darker display over a shitty OS which is full of microlags and burns 10 or 15% of battery overnight.
                      Try again, 'sammy'.

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                        • Moi
                        • 0Tn
                        • 22 Apr 2017

                        And again, as in the s8+ review, it looks you deliberately didn't mention the slow motion video on the camera. Is it still stuck @240 fps?

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                          • AnonD-621510
                          • tu6
                          • 22 Apr 2017

                          "new record holder in our outdoor visibility test, dethroning the Nokia 808 PureView".

                          Finally.

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                            • sam
                            • ut{
                            • 22 Apr 2017

                            AlienNextDoor, 22 Apr 2017Also taller, wider, heavier, not water resistant, ips inste... moreIps instead of amoled, lolz noob, ips is not a screen type

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                              • Anonymous
                              • v6J
                              • 22 Apr 2017

                              AlienNextDoor, 22 Apr 2017Also taller, wider, heavier, not water resistant, ips inste... moreYep, the OS was one reason i returned the Mi Mix.

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                                • AlienNextDoor
                                • JK1
                                • 22 Apr 2017

                                Anonymous, 22 Apr 2017Mi6 is much better than S7. Weekly updates, more Ram, more... moreAlso taller, wider, heavier, not water resistant, ips instead of amoled, 1080p instead of 2k (though this isn't important), no micro sd, much worse camera, no headphone jack, soc isn't better if you have the exynos S7 (but even SD 820 is almost as good), battery isn't better and probably even worse compared to exynos version, and most importantly MIUI is a addware and spyware infested piece of crap.

                                Try again.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 6jq
                                  • 22 Apr 2017

                                  RaghavaZ, 22 Apr 2017The success of big screen phones tell the other story. Once... moreAfter some months with big screen phones I would always go back to smaller ones.

                                  Smaller phones are comfortable, period. In fact they are so comfortable that you can hardly go to bigger phones. And then you remember that this is also your computer (unlike 5 years ago that it was merely a secondary screen) and start to think that maybe comfort is less important than having big content to your computer's screen.

                                  BTW that's the only reason why phablets (big screen phones) won. Because increasingly phones became the primary screen of people.

                                  Still a return of the more pocketable screen of the past *along* with the greater real estate of the future would be a blessing. People would carry tablets if they could pocket them. The tablet size is the most popular for data consumption , but (obviously) hard to carry... in other words fexible phones can't come fast enough. When "closed" act like any sub 5 inch phones, when "opened" act like a 7 inch tablet....

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 6jq
                                    • 22 Apr 2017

                                    AlienNextDoor, 22 Apr 20171. Yes you can go back. I had the Note 4. Loved everything ... moreMi6 is much better than S7. Weekly updates, more Ram, more storage, better SoC, more battery at half the cost...

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                                      • AnonD-525557
                                      • pXf
                                      • 22 Apr 2017

                                      AlienNextDoor, 22 Apr 20171. Yes you can go back. I had the Note 4. Loved everything ... more100% agree

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                                        • AlienNextDoor
                                        • JK1
                                        • 22 Apr 2017

                                        RaghavaZ, 22 Apr 2017The success of big screen phones tell the other story. Once... more1. Yes you can go back. I had the Note 4. Loved everything about it EXCEPT the size. Went to an S6 edge. Loved the size, hated the edges. Now I couldn't be happier with ny regular S7. Perfect size and screen. So not only can you go back, many do gladly.

                                        2. Doesn't matter if the phone is the same size, the screen is taller and thus harder to use. They should have cut off the bezels and not enlarge the screen. This would have kept the perfect ratio instead of going with this new black bar crap, AND would have made the phone smaller l.

                                        3. Taller screen with edges is terrible for consuming media. There's less viewing area without glare. The taller and narrower the phone, the less flat surface and more edges there are, and thus the more glare there is.

                                        Conclusion: less comfortable, impossible to use one-handed, more glare, terrible aspect ratio...more expensive. Yea keep buying drone.

                                        PS There aren't many options for people who want android but don't want a phone larger than 5 inches. At least no flagships. Then again...my S7 will probably last me 2 or 3 more years. By then midrange phones like A3 and A5 will be just as great...unless Samsung decides to make them taller too...