The Samsung Galaxy S8: A Comprehensive Review
As I sat down to play with the Samsung Galaxy S8 for a couple of days, I couldn't help but feel excited about trying out this latest flagship device from Samsung. The first thing that caught my attention was the screen, which is indeed big, high-resolution, bright, and has a stretched-out aspect ratio that makes widescreen content fit perfectly. I must admit that I have mixed feelings about using this screen with one hand - while it's great for watching movies or browsing the web, I found it to be slightly uncomfortable to use when trying to scroll through pages or text.
The design of the S8 is truly impressive, both visually and in terms of comfort. The curved screen feels really nice in my hand, and I was particularly impressed by the seamless transition from the front glass to the frame and then back glass. However, this sleek design comes with a price - the phone is quite slippery, which made me strongly recommend getting a skin for it. In fact, I've used skins from dbrand before, and they are indeed awesome.
Apart from the screen and design, I was also excited to try out some of the other features that the S8 has to offer. Wireless charging, headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.0, micro SD slot, USB-C port, and a quick performance - these are all things that make me love this phone even more. The camera hardware is similar to that of the Galaxy S7, which means it's not too bad, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by the lack of an upgrade in terms of camera capabilities.
One feature that did impress me was the front-facing camera, which has indeed improved quite a bit since the S7. This is especially significant considering how many selfies are taken every day - and I think Samsung made the right call by not upgrading the camera hardware too much. On the other hand, the battery life was a bit of a letdown - I ended my first full day of use with only 32% left after streaming videos and watching YouTube content for several hours.
Another feature that caught my attention was Samsung Dex, which allows you to turn your phone into a tethered desktop experience. While I don't think I would use it too much personally, I appreciate the option being available if needed. Facial recognition is indeed one of the strongest features of this phone - it works fast and reliably, even when wearing glasses (as I tried out with my own sunglasses).
However, not all features are without their drawbacks. The fingerprint scanner, for instance, is located in a somewhat awkward spot, which means I have to stretch for it every time I want to use it. But since facial recognition is so good, I'm perfectly fine with this placement. On the other hand, the speakers are not stereo, which was a bit of an issue for me - as someone who consumes most of their media on their phone, audio quality is important.
One of the things that did strike me about the S8 was how similar it feels to its predecessors - the S6 and S7. While I loved those phones, this is exactly what makes me hesitate about the S8: if you didn't like certain aspects of those phones, you might end up disliking them too in this latest iteration. As for Bixby - well, let's just say that my personal opinion is a bit divided on this feature.
In conclusion, I have mixed feelings about the Samsung Galaxy S8. While it has some fantastic features and performs admirably, there are also some drawbacks that make me wonder if this phone is truly worth the investment. Ultimately, it comes down to what you're looking for in a smartphone - if you love the S6 and/or S7 user experience, you'll love the S8; but if you have issues with certain aspects of those phones, this might not be the best choice for you.
As I wrap up this review, I hope that you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed testing out the Samsung Galaxy S8. Thumbs up if you liked it, subs if you loved it - and I'll see you all next time!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey, how's it going? Dave2D here!So I was able to play with the Samsung Galaxy S8 for a couple of days,and wanted to share some of my thoughts with you.The first thing I want to talk about is the screen.So it's big, it's high-res, it's bright, the aspect ratio is stretched out, so widescreen content fits it better.The extra visual real estate is nice, but using it one handed is... eh.I'll come back to that.The second thing is the design, I mean, visually, it looks amazing. But it's more than that.This is the first phone that I've used where the curved screen felt really comfortable in my hand.When it comes to phones, I don't care too much about millimeters and grams and stuff like that.I just want it to feel comfortable in my hand, and most curved screens just don't feel good in the hand.But this one does, and it comes from this thing, right here: the frame.The transition from the front glass to the frame and then to back glass feels almost seamless.There's just nothing with texture.It's really nice to hold, but it's also really slippery.I would strongly suggest recommend getting a skin for this thing,I'll link the ones I use below, they're from dbrand, and they're awesome.The other things I like are wireless charging, the headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.0-I love extra range you get from that-I like the micro SD slot, the USB-C port,and the performance feels really quick so far, all good stuff.The camera hardware is similar to the Galaxy S7, but let's be honest, the camera on the S7 was awesome.So it's not too big of a deal to me that they didn't upgrade the camera.Here are some comparison photos,I mean, this isn't a review or anything, but in case you're interested:The front facing camera has improved quite a bit, and considering how many selfies get taken every day,I think this was a good call.Now, these devices have large screens that are super bright, and have high resolutions.So there's a lot of pixels to process, and the battery size isn't huge.So I wasn't expecting amazing battery life.The first full day of use, I ended the day with 32% left, relatively heavy use over the course of the day.At night, I charged it back up, watched some YouTube videos, and then I streamed a Twitch channel overnight,with max volume, max screen brightness, highest resolution.Not the 1080p+ default, but the 1440p+.And when I checked it eight hours later, it was at 36%.Screen on time was basically the same, I think that's not bad,I mean, if I streamed that on an iPhone 7, I'd probably get some very similar numbers.Samsung Dex is kinda cool; I don't know how many people would use it.I mean, turning your phone into a tethered desktop experienceis not something I would use very much personally.But, it's there, the option's available if you need it.The facial recognition is awesome, it works fast, and it's reliable.I tried it with sunglasses, just to see, and I mean, these are the sunglasses I used.They didn't work very well. It just straight up doesn't recognize it.Now, I don't wear glasses, like, regular glasses.And I just wanted to know, what would it be like for people that do wear glasses?So, I popped out the lenses from my sunglasses, this is going to look ridiculous.And I wore it, on my face, and I tried to get the phone to recognize-these look- these look amazing!I tried to get the phone to recognize my face and it was, like, hit or miss.Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't.I should wear this for the rest of the video .*Okay, I can't do it.*The fingerprint scanner isn't in the best location, I have to stretch for it.But really, since the facial recognition is so good, I'm totally fine with it being on the back like this.The Galaxy S8 is packing a lot of cool tech, and that's just how Samsung rolls.They take the top of the line in phone tech and they stuff it into their phones,and they usually end up with something like this. Really high-end tech in a top-tier flagship phone.But hardware specs aren't everything.For me, user experience is by far the most important thing when it comes to any kind of device.And with this, there's a couple things that kinda detract from the user experience.The first is that on-screen home button.I think it could, or should, be a little bigger, and the haptic feedback isn't good.It feels like a regular phone vibration.If you're going to do this, you need a more localized vibration, like how the iPhone 7 button feels.The speakers are also not stereo, and I know a lot of people don't care about this,but it's important to me, I consume most of my media on my phone.And it's so weird watching super high-res video that looks gorgeous on the screen,while having tinny audio that just comes out from one side of the phone. It just feels off.The screen is also difficult to use one-handed.So a wide phone like the Google Pixel XL, this is already wide and a little bit uncomfortable to use.But it's okay, I manage.The S8, because of the tall screen, the vertical stretch is crazy.This is actually the first phone I've had to use one-handed mode.And this was on the S8, it's going to be even worse on the S8 Plus.The last thing is probably my most personal opinion,and I know a lot of people are going to disagree with this.But I don't love where they're going with Bixby.And I know I haven't given it an extended trial, but Bixby is such a heavy investment and commitmentinto the exact type of stuff that I don't like about some of Samsung's software.Their proprietary Samsung apps that are just stuck on your phone and you can't get rid of.And this time, it comes with a dedicated hardware button.So, if you're interested in this phone, and you enjoyed the S6 and/or the S7 user experience,you're going to love the S8. It's just basically an elevated version of those phones.Truly next-level hardware, you're going to love it.But if you didn't like the S6 and/or the S7 because of the user interface, because of the user experience,it's going to feel very similar.That's the end of this video, hope you guys enjoyed it. Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it!I'll see you guys next time.\n"
