Samsung Galaxy S8 review

PROS

• Awesome display
• A phone that feels like the future
• Stunning camera
• It’s actually innovative

CONS

• Awfully placed fingerprint sensor
• Bixby is a bit of a dud

KEY FEATURES

• 5.8-inch quad-HD Infinity Display (AMOLED)
• Samsung Exynos 8895 (Europe and Asia) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (USA)
• 4GB RAM, 64GB storage (microSD up to 256GB)
• 3000mAh battery with wireless and fast charging
• Rear camera: 12 megapixels, f/1.7 aperture and Dual Pixel sensor
• Front camera: 8 megapixels, f/1.7 and autofocus
• Iris and fingerprint scanner
• Samsung Bixby personal assistant
• Android 7 Nougat with Google Assistant
• Manufacturer: Samsung
• Review Price: 7500 MAD / 700$.

WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S8?

Phones have become a little stale. Whether it's an iPhone 7, Huawei P10, Sony Xperia XZ Premium or any other flagship phone, they all look and feel the same. But just when I thought a phone couldn't surprise and delight me any more, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has proved me wrong.

From the moment I picked up the S8 – and its larger, 6.2-inch sibling the Galaxy S8+ – I realised it was even more special than I expected. This is a phone that feels innovative, a phone that I can’t help but recommend – even if it will set you back £689/$720.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – DESIGN

Nothing comes close to the Galaxy S8 design-wise. It's the best-looking phone I've ever seen, leaving every other handset trailing in its wake.

The curved rear, as seen on the Galaxy S7, nestles perfectly in your palm, while the glass shimmers as the light hits it. The device is available in three colours – a dark black, bright silver and a grey with a blueish tinge – with no ugly white front plate in sight.

My review unit is the black option, and it’s properly black all over, with shiny sides that blend into the display. It feels like one complete piece, with the glass, screen and metal combining all together.

The volume rocker and standby switch are joined by a new button on the side. This is a dedicated Bixby button – which I'll cover in more detail in the Software section – and while it shows Samsung is taking its new virtual assistant seriously, it feels too much for Bixby to have its own button.

The S8 is thin and incredibly light at 155g, but it feels sturdy and precisely made. The last time Samsung opted for a huge change of direction with its flagship, many of the basic features were lost in the transition. Thankfully, this isn’t the case here. A microSD slot continues to sit tucked away with the nano-SIM, the criminally underrated Qi wireless charging is also present, and the device is IP68 water- and dust-resistant too, so it will survive a dunk in water for 30 minutes to depths of 1.5 metres.

Samsung has also retained the headphone jack; I'd be very surprised to hear that anyone thinks that’s a bad idea. Apple’s decision to remove a physical headphone connection looked like it might signal the demise of the 3.5mm jack, but Samsung has gone in the other direction, by including a pair of very good AKG wired buds in the box.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – SCREEN

Not only has Samsung crafted what is, in my opinion, the best-looking phone out there, but it's slapped on the finest display too. Although, when you consider that Samsung has demonstrated the best screen tech for a number of years, this isn't really a surprise.

There’s more to the display than just the curves. First, it has a new aspect ratio of 18.5:9, rather than 16:9. This means it’s taller, essentially giving you more space in a body that isn’t that much bigger than that of the S7. While the Galaxy S7 had a 5.1-inch display, the S8 bumps that to 5.8.

It sounds huge, but the phone itself is compact and Samsung is keen to point out that it can still be used comfortably in one hand. I wouldn’t say that you can do quite 'everything' with one hand – especially reaching to pull down the notification tray – but this is far from a phablet.

The 5.8-inch display size is in some ways deceiving, however. Don’t pick up this phone thinking it will have the same size of screen as the Nexus 6P or HTC U Ultra in a much smaller body. This is a tall screen and it’s bigger than the S7, but it’s much narrower than proper phablets. Width-wise, it’s barely wider than an iPhone 7 and noticeably narrower than the Pixel XL.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – PERFORMANCE

Under the stunning body is a serious amount of power, although where you live in the world will determine the SoC (system-on-chip) at the heart of the device. Brits, and those in Europe and Asia, will get Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 chipset, while folk in the USA will get a device with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

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Whichever CPU you end up with is unlikely to make a huge difference on performance. But considering I've so far used only the Exynos version, I can’t say too much about the 835.

Both are the fastest CPUs out there, built using a 10nm production process for improved efficiency. There’s 4GB of RAM – any more is basically pointless for a phone at this stage – and it has a roomy 64GB of internal storage with support for up to 256GB microSD cards.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – SOFTWARE

Software used to be one of Samsung’s weaknesses, and although far from being one of the company's strengths in the S8, improvements are clear to see.

In fact, the software layer on top of Android 7.0 is good-looking and functional. Icons are more mature, and the on-screen buttons – a first for a Samsung S-series phone – are angular and edgy. I'm particularly a fan of the haptic feedback you get when you push the virtual home button, which can be accessed even when the display is off.

The stark white colour scheme is clean and crisp, and all of Samsung’s native apps have adapted that look. Google Assistant is on board, although there’s no Daydream support, since that sort of clashes with the newly updated Gear VR and its snazzy motion controller.

The biggest software addition for the Galaxy S8 is Bixby, Samsung’s rival to Siri – and it’s probably the biggest disappointment, too. This digital personal assistant pops up everywhere, plus there’s a dedicated Bixby button on the side, so you don’t need to call out an awkward phrase to get it going. The thing is, it feels half-baked and not quite ready yet.

Another new software feature is ‘DeX’. I like to think of this as 'Microsoft Continuum, if it wasn't terrible'.

Like Continuum, DeX requires a sold-separately dock that connects to an HDMI-equipped monitor and turns your Galaxy S8 into a mini-PC. The dock also has power, two USB-A ports and an Ethernet connector, along with a smattering of fans in the base to keep the phone from becoming too hot.

If you connect the phone via the USB-C port inside the cradle, a new desktop – which looks a lot like Windows 10 – pops up. Your apps are displayed in a very familiar layout and there’s a software dock along the bottom that lets you access all the phone and text functions of the phone.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – CAMERA

The S8 is a sizeable improvement over the S7 in almost every area, but the camera has received the fewest upgrades – on paper, at least. There’s no dual-sensor system here, no wide-angle lens or variable aperture. Instead, there’s a single 12-megapixel sensor behind a wide f/1.7 lens that uses the same Dual Pixel tech as the S7.

The Galaxy S8, like the Google Pixel, shows it’s as much about the optics and sensor as how the software and image signal processor (ISP) work together. The photos achieved by the Galaxy S8 are truly stunning, and it’s a huge jump from the already excellent Galaxy S7.

The first thing you’ll notice about the camera is just how fast it is. A double-tap on the power key opens the camera quicker than any other phone, and focusing is equally snappy. I've probably taken over 1000 photos with the Galaxy S8, and no more than two or three have had to be deleted because they were either out of focus or the sensor had focused on the wrong spot.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – BATTERY LIFE

The biggest concern I had about the Samsung Galaxy S8 was the battery life. Considering the fallout from trying to cram a big battery inside the slim Note 7, it’s probably no surprise that Samsung has been a little conservative with the cell inside the Galaxy S8.

But can a phone with a 5.8-inch quad-HD+ HDR-ready display really last the whole day on a 3000mAh battery? That's the same size of battery that managed to make it through just a day on the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7.

The answer is yes – but it isn't so straightforward. The fact is that, more than ever, how long the battery lasts will depend on how you use the phone. You can change the performance, the screen resolution, whether or not brightness is boosted when you’re watching videos, and each of these will affect the battery in different ways.

Out of the box, with the screen resolution bumped to quad-HD+ and the brightness at a very viewable 30%, I managed a comfortable day of use – 4hrs 30mins screen-on time – with about 10% left when I went to bed. That’s a busy day, and quite an impressive result. Dropping the resolution to 1080p got me about an extra 5-6% at the end of the day; turning off the Always-on Display bought me another 3-4%.

SHOULD I BUY THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S8?

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a new beginning for flagship phones. It’s a gorgeous sliver of tech that utilises its power for extending the experience beyond the 5.8-inch display, but manages to still be a phone that's easy to use.

It crams a huge screen into a compact body, without sacrificing features such as water-resistance and expandable storage, and takes phone design to the next level. Once you’ve picked up a Samsung Galaxy S8, all other phones will somehow feel less interesting.

The screen, the camera, the design are all top-notch; there really isn't anything missing here. Slightly small battery aside, there isn’t an obvious compromise.

Not everything hits the mark, but considering there’s so much here and Samsung is trying all these different things, that’s not surprising. I could live without the iris scanner and I could live without Bixby, but they don’t really diminish anything by being included.

The only true negative is the awful fingerprint sensor, but I'm sure after a few months even that might become second nature.

OVERALL SCORE

SCORES IN DETAIL

• Battery Life8
• Calls & Sound7
• Camera9
• Design10
• Performance10
• Screen Quality10
• Software9
• Value7

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