Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus smartphones. Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus - review of new products from the South Korean developer Battery life
The 2017 flagship inherited the main design features from its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. At the same time, much in his appearance changed beyond recognition. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and consider the updated version of the top device in more detail.
Huge screen
The first thing that attracts attention is the huge screen of the smartphone - with a diagonal of 6.2" it occupies about 84% of the area of the front panel, arching onto the side edges. But this does not make the gadget a giant, since the minimal frames around the display contribute to a comfortable grip of the smartphone in the hand. The screen is built using the well-proven proprietary SuperAMOLED technology, which is famous for its depth of black color and low power consumption when outputting black pixels, which made it possible to display the current date and time on the locked display.
Power reserve
Used as a hardware platform “hardware” has a significant reserve of power not only for the short term, but also for the long term. All existing games and applications will run on the smartphone with maximum graphics settings. The photographic component of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus deserves no less flattering words - the main camera module of the gadget deservedly puts it in the light of the best camera phone on the market. The selfie camera also produces very good results, and it is equipped with fast autofocus.
Endless benefits
The smartphone has so many strengths that it would take forever to list them. These include identification of the device owner by fingerprint and iris, complete dust and moisture protection of the case (compliance with the IP68 standard), support for fast and wireless charging, the presence of a USB Type-C connector and many other advantages. But the only serious disadvantage of the model is the inconvenient location of the fingerprint sensor, which has moved from the front panel to the back of the smartphone. When you feel it blindly, your finger tends to stain the camera’s “eye”, located side by side with the fingerprint scanner.
Get into your soul
Music lovers will be pleased to see that the device comes equipped with high-quality AKG headphones. Many will also like the built-in voice assistant Bixby, whose purpose is to facilitate the interaction of the smartphone user with applications and settings, as well as search for the necessary information by voice request. Finally, I would like to highlight the attractive appearance of the device - it is not without reason that the label of “style icon” stuck to it from the first days after its announcement.
Equipment: Phone, network charger with USB connector, USB cable, SIM card eject key, USB-Type-C adapter, micro USB-Type-C adapter, headset, three pairs of replaceable earbuds, warranty card, instructions , package
Product description
Harmony and grace of forms.
Updated interface.
Advanced dir...
The device works with Nano-SIM cards from all GSM operators.
A stunning, borderless screen with a truly immersive experience.
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus redefines the classic smartphone design. The limitless double-sided curved screen emphasizes the harmony of style and innovation...
The device works with Nano-SIM cards from all GSM operators.
A stunning, borderless screen with a truly immersive experience.
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus redefines the classic smartphone design. The limitless double-sided curved screen highlights the harmony of style and innovation.
Harmony and grace of forms.
The main design feature of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is the almost complete absence of side frames and the rounded edges of the screen. Thanks to its symmetrical design and ergonomics, it is comfortable to use even with one hand.
Updated interface.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is so easy to use that you can operate your smartphone even with one hand. You can switch between tasks with a simple movement. Thanks to the new colors of application icons, they will be much easier to find in the menu.
Improved "Always on screen" mode.
The improved Always On Screen (AOD) mode is now even easier and more convenient to use. New widgets have appeared, for example, a moving hand on a clock, and it has also become possible to open the necessary information with just a few touches.
Adjusting the screen size.
There is no part of the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus that is not accessible with one hand. Just turn on one-handed mode and make sure you can reach any part of the screen with your thumb. You can also scroll the desktop screen up or down to open the application menu and vice versa.
Perfection is in the details.
The style and innovation of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is reflected in every detail. The presence of virtual buttons, the absence of camera protrusions and minimalism in the arrangement of sensors create a solid and complete design.
Safety.
The iris scanner in the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus provides the highest level of convenience and security. The technology allows you to reliably protect personal data, as well as easily unlock your smartphone.
Camera.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus has a 12 MP main camera with Dual Pixel technology and F1.7 aperture, which allows you to take stunning pictures in any lighting conditions. No matter what you're photographing: the night sky or a party with friends, your photos will always be clear and bright. Take perfect selfies with the upgraded 8MP front camera with Face Detection and Intelligent Autofocus.
Ease of use.
Even more possibilities have appeared with the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The smartphone is equipped with protection from water and dust, as well as a powerful processor created using 10nm technology. With advanced audio technology, the new AKG headphones will take your songs to a whole new level. Expandable memory will allow you to save all your movies, music, photos. And with a new high-capacity battery, you no longer need to constantly worry about charging.
Incredibly powerful.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is equipped with the latest 10nm processor, ensuring smooth operation of the smartphone with the lowest power consumption. Enjoy challenging and graphically flawless games!
Intelligent assistant.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus makes your life easier. The Bixby intelligent assistant has appeared in your smartphone, which will answer any of your questions, and together with Bixby widgets and reminders, will help you solve almost any everyday tasks.
Ecosystem of compatible Phone+ devices
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is your guide to the ecosystem of Samsung devices and applications. Turn your smartphone screen into a full-fledged computer with Samsung DeX. Play games and watch immersive videos with the new Gear VR, or create your own movies with the new Gear 360 panoramic camera, and even control all your devices remotely using Samsung Connect.
The Samsung S8 and S8 Plus smartphones were recently released. Today we will look at the eldest of them. Frameless smartphones have officially become fashionable, and this is exactly what a 2017 flagship should be. But is everything so good with this smartphone? What do you get for paying $1,110 for it?
The appearance of the S8 Plus has some unobvious advantages. When, after using it, you take smartphones from other manufacturers into the rivers, they seem like rudimentary relics of the past. With their huge top and bottom bezels, they belong in the dustbin of history. The S8 Plus is great and is exactly what everyone wanted it to be. However, it was not without design flaws.
For example, the fingerprint scanner is located on the back near the camera and you won’t hit it the first or second time. And when you hit it, it won’t work, because it doesn’t work properly. There is no double tap unlocking, iris unlocking does not work and is even more annoying than the fingerprint scanner.
The only way to unlock your phone relatively quickly is with your face. This technology is difficult to deceive, it works relatively quickly, but it is still not convenient. Considering the outrageous cost of the smartphone, it’s a shame that unlocking can annoy the user.
The second very unpleasant point is the separate Bixby button on the left under the volume rocker. Firstly, Bixby is crap, and secondly, this button cannot be reassigned to something else. Thirdly, you constantly press it involuntarily, either when adjusting the volume, or simply in your pocket by accident. Imagine the situation: lying in your pocket, involuntary presses on this button constantly occur, this causes the screen to light up and Bixby starts.
Further, if you do not have a lock password, then the smartphone begins to live its own life. So on the very first day, he himself set the “Do not disturb” mode and I missed quite a few important calls. If a password is set, then the phone itself can call the emergency services, or it will simply heat up from the constantly working screen in your pocket.
This also negatively affects autonomy, because the screen is used, even seemingly at rest, and heating does not bring any comfort, especially in the summer.
Well, the last disadvantage of the design is the implementation without a frame screen. For example, the engineers of the Chinese frameless Nubia Z11 approached this competently and don’t press the edges, the smartphone does not react to it at all.
For the S8 Plus, a stubborn chimpanzee wrote the software, so the smartphone responds to touches to the edges. Therefore, in the browser, instead of scrolling, zooming is triggered. I won’t write anything about the slippery, easily soiled body, and so everything is clear.
Screen
Otherwise, the smartphone is very cool and can definitely be called the most beautiful smartphone on the market. It has an amazing 6.2-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1440 by 2960 pixels and a density of 529 ppi. It takes up about 84% of the top panel.
Protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 5, 3D Touch is supported only for the Home button. And since the screen supports Always On Display, you can display, for example, a clock or some kind of notifications, or even some kind of picture on the locked screen. And it doesn't require much battery. You can safely rate the screen a 10 on a scale of ten. The screen is flawless, even PenTile is not visible on it. Rightfully one of the best displays that my eyes have seen.
But even here there were some oddities, the aspect ratio was 2:1. Everyone says that more content fits on such a screen, but no, the same amount. Because no one is going to optimize the software resolution for this aspect ratio. You still get software black borders on the top and bottom.
In fact, only movies and built-in software can be placed on the entire screen. What is not stretched, for example, some games or videos can be stretched programmatically. There is a special button in the multitasking menu for this. The video is trimmed in height, but expanded in width. A strange measure, but at least it’s something.
I also don’t understand the logic by which brightness works. If you set the picture quality enhancement settings, the brightness will constantly jump. The menu was dark, you open the browser or Youtube, the brightness increases. This is annoying, and I immediately turned off this function in the settings, but the brightness still continues to jump. You set it to maximum, go into the shadows - everything is OK. When you go out into the sun, the brightness increases even more, the screen becomes bluer.
Another oddity of the screen is the resolution. The S8 Plus was designed for VR and everything connected with it, but by default only Full HD+ is set in the settings. That is, physically the pixels do not disappear from the matrix, but only Full HD images are rendered in hardware. This is necessary so that the smartphone does not heat up and does not consume a lot of battery power. But I can say that this affects the battery to a lesser extent, that in HD+ and in full 4k, the battery drains the same way, but there is a noticeable increase in performance and heating.
Setting the resolution to 4K and running Antutu, the result was just over 100,000 parrots. I let the phone cool down, rebooted, set the resolution to HD+ and ran the test again. In the second case, 150,000 parrots. If we talk about performance, then Antutu does not have a record. 150,000 will not be enough for a 2017 flagship.
But in fact, the performance is sufficient, because the Exynos 8895 Octs processor is responsible for the calculations in the Samsung S8 Plus. 8 cores in two clusters, 4 cores with maximum performance, with a clock frequency of up to 2.3 GHz (these are second-generation cores produced by Samsung itself) and 4 energy-efficient cores with a clock frequency of 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53.
The graphics part is handled by the Mali GPU – G71 MP20. Attention! It's twenty nuclear! The entire processor is built on a 10 nm process technology, its architecture consisting of different clusters of cores allows for fast calculations in areas such as artificial intelligence and deep machine learning. There is also a US version of the S8 Plus, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835.
Permanent memory 64 Gb, RAM - 4. Permanent memory can be expanded with a Micro SD card, a flash drive is inserted instead of a second SIM card. The smartphone has enough RAM. But we can’t say that there’s really a lot of it, it’s more like just a handful. The smartphone does not show the wonders of multitasking and, nevertheless, you can see tabs in the browser reloading.
The smartphone is not familiar with throttling; its productive hardware can work day and night without dropping frequencies. Epic Citadel at the beginning of the test on ultra graphics settings 59.8 fps, at the end 59.7 fps. There was no throttling at all. Low graphics settings also remained unchanged, at the beginning 59.1 fps and at the end also 59.1 fps. This is probably the best performance of any smartphone.
The heating in the stress test was in perfect order. The maximum temperature to which I managed to warm up the smartphone was 37 degrees. This is very little, considering how much power the device “stores under the hood”. It cannot be heated to unbearable temperatures, but it is always warm, depending on the usage scenario. Even when starting the calculator, you can feel a slight heating with your hands.
Battery lithium-ion, 3500 mAh with . Charges from zero to 100% in one hour and 40 minutes. Plus, wireless charging is supported. Holds the charge normally, neither good nor bad, just normal.
Battery stress test is 4K resolution, maximum screen brightness, maximum CPU performance, parallel installation and downloading of heavy games and Epic Citadel on ultra graphics settings. Result – 4 hours 5 minutes of screen operation.
The smartphone works from 9 am to 6 – 7 pm in active mode without games. If you play, the S8 Plus will last up to two hours maximum. Quite average, I expected more.
Gaming Performance
Gaming performance is royal. Thanks to a twenty-core video accelerator, the smartphone can handle absolutely all games at ultra graphics settings. He doesn’t really care about epic settings. Everything I play, the smartphone runs without any complaints, it doesn’t troll, there are no fps drops. This is definitely the best gaming device available today.
Thanks to the huge edge-to-edge screen, even mobile gaming experiences are taken to a whole new level. You can rest assured that the Galaxy S8 Plus is made for gaming.
Connection
The picture for networks is as follows: LTE is supported in bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 20 and 28, that is, as many as 10 FDD LTE bands. Two SIM cards are supported. You can insert two nano SIM cards into your smartphone; they work in dual standby mode. Wi-Fi standard 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 or 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0 LE. Navigation is carried out using GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS and Beidou satellites. There is no radio in the smartphone.
The sound from the speaker is excellent, the interlocutor hears me well, and I can hear the interlocutor too. But the signal reception of the smartphone is not the best. There are Wi-Fi breaks in the far corners of the house. The phone may randomly disconnect from the network for 2 - 3 seconds several times during the day. In general, this is some kind of strange crap, this shouldn’t happen. Perhaps this will be fixed with subsequent firmware.
Cameras
And now about the most interesting thing, about the camera. The iPhone 7 didn’t impress me with its camera; its photo capabilities are the same as any other Chinese phone over $350. In terms of video capabilities, the Iphone 7 is the best smartphone, but the Iphone 7 costs $700.
I really expected the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus to be the best camera phone, because it is the most expensive smartphone I have ever bought. It is almost twice as expensive as the seventh iPhone.
The main camera of the Galaxy S8 Plus is 12 megapixels, f1.7 aperture, 26mm focal length, phase detection autofocus with optical stabilization and LED flash. Sensor size is 1 by 2.5 inches, pixel size is 1.4 microns. The camera can record 4k video at 30 fps, Full HD 60 fps, or HD 120 fps.
The front camera is 8 megapixels, also has an aperture of 1.7, there is autofocus and the maximum resolution of the front camera is 144 p 30 fps. And in fact, the camera here is a reference one, perhaps the best camera I have used on a mobile phone.
The only thing that raises questions for me is the optical stabilization, which still makes the video look a bit like jelly. Not always, but there is such an effect. Otherwise, everything is more than cool, the quality of the photos is excellent. Even in the dark, very good pictures are obtained.
The manual camera settings are not the richest; for example, there is no Focus Peaking, as in the ZTE Nubia Z11, but this is probably unnecessary in a smartphone. If you find fault, you can say that the camera embellishes the colors, but for social networks you can use photos without filters.
Despite the fact that the matrix in the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus costs the same as in last year’s S7 and S7 Edge, and Samsung did not make a double camera module, as is fashionable these days. But so far the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is the best camera phone I've ever held in my hands.
Sound
But the sound in a smartphone is not an unambiguous thing, in headphones it is good, it sounds like any other flagship - good and clear, but not very loud. In order to enjoy the sound on the road, there are headphones - earplugs included. And not simple ones, but AKG. The sound from the stock headphones is fire. The bass is a little lacking, but the sound is clear and not muffled. In general, the AKG ears for a stock audio headset are very decent. 
But I can’t speak so flatteringly about the external speaker. I'm always haunted by some knocking sound that I don't like. Any song or vocal or just a podcast turns into a clatter. There is something similar in the seventh iPhone and probably this effect is somehow connected with the presence of moisture protection.
Plus, there is only one external speaker and you can easily close it with your finger while playing or watching a video. In general, the sound here is very strange.
Hardware features of S8 Plus
The S8 Plus, as befits a flagship A brand, is completely stuffed with hardware goodies. For example, for wireless data transfer, there is Bluetooth 5 low energy, which does not consume the battery at all and is very fast, as well as case protection according to the IP68 standard. S8 and S8 Plus can withstand immersion in water up to one and a half meters for 30 minutes. At the same time, there is not a single plug on the body, which is cool and convenient.
Software part of S8 Plus
Let's move on to the software review. The Grace UX shell is several heads higher in beauty and functionality than Touch With, which was terrible. Grace UX is all about minimalism, style and beauty. Although it is clear that the creators of the firmware did their best to restrain themselves, so as not to shove another useless gadget and a switch for it to turn it off.
Thus, there is an application and wallpaper store where you can download system software, icons and other lobuda. The built-in software is minimal, only the essentials, but there are still quite a lot of settings.
You can turn the application menu on or off, set the display to always on, and if you don’t need a clock, you can put a picture. There is multi-window functionality, two applications can be opened on one screen at once. But for some reason, not all applications lend themselves to this magic; you can’t separate Instagram like that. In general, the shell is comfortable, I really liked it, but there are some annoying moments in it.
Disadvantages of the shell
It turns out that I have a huge screen on which a lot of information fits, but to delete the application, you need to hold down the icon, after which a submenu will appear with tiny inscriptions. And I have to aim to very accurately click on the desired item. The same goes for screenshots and the notification shade. Those tiny captions in the submenus are very annoying. Perhaps the only thing that infuriates them more is the gallery icon.
Otherwise, the firmware is nice, but it would be ideal to install, for example, OxygenOS KA on OnePlus 3T and it would be an ideal smartphone. But this will not be a problem, since over time a lot of custom firmware will be released for this device. If desired, you can install anything on the Galaxy S8 Plus, from Miui and Lineage OS, to any exotic Cyanogen builds, this is Android!
Let's look at the pros and cons of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. I would consider the advantages:
- Design, appearance and assembly;
- Display;
- Memory capacity;
- Hardware and benchmark performance;
- Throttling level;
- Heating level;
- Power consumption and availability of fast and wireless charging;
- Gaming performance;
- Support for a large number of FDD-LTE bands;
- The best cameras;
- Good sound in headphones;
- Hardware features (NFC, face scanner, moisture protection);
- Software part and interface.
The cons I noted:
- Ergonomics and controls;
- Problems with screen brightness;
- Clunking sound from external speaker;
- Poor signal reception;
- Bixby;
- Fingerprint's scanner;
- Tiny controls in the firmware.
Of course, I liked the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus smartphone, it's great. But still, I'm a little sorry for the money I spent on it. The amount of 1110 dollars is a lot, and it seems to me that it is not entirely advisable to spend this entire amount on the purchase of one such smartphone. Because for its price you can find a lot of other options.
For example, you can buy instead. Yes, it doesn’t have as good a camera as the S8 Plus and the design doesn’t look as bombastic, but it definitely sounds better. You can also purchase a tablet for it, for example, a 9.7-inch tablet from Apple on IOS. Well, for a snack you can buy yourself an Xbox One S console.
All this taken together can be bought for the cost of the Galaxy S8 Plus alone, and with $15 in change you can buy, for example, ice cream. And there are plenty of other ways to spend $1,110.
Samsung has packed a crazy amount of features into the Galaxy S8 and S8+. It's nowhere near the insane level of software bloat we've seen on some Samsung devices, but there are plenty of options to explore. You could spend hours clicking through the menus, hoping to stumble across all the cool things this phone can do. Or you can read this guide to learn all about the best tips and tweaks to get the most out of your new Galaxy S8.
Watch the video review of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus:
Customize navigation buttons
Samsung has finally caught up with the times and moved to on-screen navigation buttons, meaning you can customize them to your liking. The default layout is similar to other Samsung phones, with a Back button on the right and an Overview button on the left. You can change it to the standard Android back-home-overview layout by selecting Settings > Display > Navigation Bar. Here you can also change the background color of the navigation bar. Remember, the Home button is pressure sensitive. It works with firm pressure even when the display is off. At the bottom of the navigation bar menu, you can change the level of pressure required to trigger the button.
Set up or turn off Hello Bixby
Samsung's smart assistant Bixby isn't very smart yet, so you probably won't use it. At the same time, when you press the physical Bixby button, a screen called “Hello Bixby” appears. You'll also find this screen to the left of the main Home screen panel. It's a bit like Google Now, but not as good. You can customize Hello Bixby to show information more useful to you—by default, it has things you don't want, like random Giphy animations and suggested themes in the Samsung store. Click the gear icon in the top right corner to edit cards and customize what they display. If you don't want to use Bixby on your home screen, you can enter edit mode by pressing and holding the spacebar, then turn off the switch above the Bixby panel.
Get rid of icon frames
The icons on the Samsung home screen are all squircles, and third-party apps you install will be enclosed in white squircle frames. It's consistent, but not very attractive. To get rid of icon frames, go to Settings > Display > Icons. Change it to "Icons Only" and you're done.
Reorganize applications
The default sort in the Galaxy S8's apps folder is "custom," which is a fancy way of saying "you'll never find anything." You should immediately change it to alphabetical order by opening the folder, clicking the menu button, and selecting Sort. Unlike previous versions of Samsung's Home screen, the apps folder will remain in alphabetical order even when you install new apps.
Faster unlocking via iris scanner
Samsung decided to put the Galaxy S8's fingerprint sensor in a really awkward spot on the back of the phone, so you'll want to familiarize yourself with the iris scanner. It works surprisingly well, and you can make it even more convenient to use with a few tweaks. You can add Iris Scan in Settings > Lock screen & security > Iris Scan. Make sure Iris unlock is turned on so you can unlock your phone by looking at it, then turn on Iris unlock when screen turns on. In this mode, you don't have to swipe the lock screen to enter iris scanning mode. Just wake up your phone by looking at it and it will immediately unlock.
Selecting display calibration mode
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ have several display calibration modes available in the settings. The default calibration is a responsive mode that includes custom color sliders to adjust colors to look the way you want. Some GS8 owners find the display too red, but you can change this using the sliders. There are also AMOLED Photo, AMOLED Cinema and Basic modes. Basic mode offers the most accurate colors of the sRGB specification, while Adaptive has a wider color gamut.
Changing the default volume level
When you press the volume key, the default action is to change the ringer volume. How often do you need to change it? Changing the media volume is more useful and you can set it to default. Just go to Settings > Sound & Vibration. There you will find "Default Volume Control". Tap it and select Media.
Set up Always-on display
Samsung's Always-on display feature allows you to see basic information about your phone without waking you up. This feature drains your battery a bit, so either turn it off or adjust it to make the battery drain more worthwhile. Always-on display appears in Settings > Lock screen & security > Always-on display. The display style can be changed to different clock, calendar, photo or minimal clock on the edge. On the other hand, Always-on display does not always have to be turned on. At the bottom of the settings screen is a toggle for "Always-on display". Disable it and you can set a schedule to turn it on and off.
Editing the Edge panel
There is no flat version of the Galaxy S8, so it's time to make friends with the Edge Screen. It's a small tab on the right edge of the screen that shows you various shortcuts and tools when shooting. You can customize what you see on the edge screen by tapping the gear icon at the bottom or going to Settings > Display > Edge Screen. The Edge screen can be turned off if you don't want to use it, but set up Edge Panels first. There are almost a dozen panels by default, including a handy clipboard manager and weather. Don't forget to click the menu button in the top right corner to rearrange the panels and edit the Edge Screen. You can make the panel larger, smaller, more transparent, or even change its location.
Improved multitasking with Snap Window
The Galaxy S8 runs Nougat, so it uses the standard Android multi-window system. However, Samsung has added a small bonus in the form of Snap Window. You'll find the Snap button right next to the split-screen button on the app cards in the multitasking interface. Tapping lets you define a section of your app that will remain at the top of the screen while you use the bottom section for another app. It is an ideal solution for streaming videos on Snap Window as it takes up less space and will continue playing even if it loses focus.
Turn the brightness to maximum
By default, you can access the screen brightness slider from the advanced quick settings, but with another change you can access it even easier. Open Quick Settings and tap the arrow next to the brightness slider. Then switch the Brightness slider to maximum and tap Done. The brightness slider now appears below the settings bar at the top of the notification shade.
Dual Audio via Bluetooth
The Galaxy S8 is the first phone with Bluetooth 5.0, and it comes with a pretty cool feature. The GS8 can stream audio to two different Bluetooth devices simultaneously, but the option is quite hidden. Select "Settings"; "Connections"; "Bluetooth"; "Menu"; "Double Sound" Once you enable this feature, you will be able to pair a second Bluetooth Audio device with your phone. Both will receive the same flow, but one may be slightly delayed.
Use Smart Select
Samsung makes a big deal out of Smart Select on Note devices, but this screen selection and cropping tool is also available on the Galaxy S8. You can access it using Edge Screen, so add the Smart Select panel first. Smart Select can be used to capture a square or circular portion of the screen rather than a full screenshot. These clippings can easily be scanned into OCR text. It is also possible to make a GIF animation or crop the screen in a floating window. It's not very convenient to use without a stylus, but you can get pretty close.
Turn on Download Accelerator
Download Booster is a feature that Samsung released a few years ago and then hid in the menu, never to be seen again. You might want to use it on the Galaxy S8. Download Booster links your LTE and WiFi connection, allowing you to download files larger than 30MB at faster speeds. It's on the menu Settings > Connections > Other connection settings > Download Booster.
Full screen application settings
The Galaxy S8 has virtually no bezels around the display, which comes with an unusual 18.5:9 aspect ratio. This means some apps and games will look strange, either with black bars or chunks of the interface. The phone tries to guess which setting is correct, but you can always switch between full and not full by opening the multitasking screen and pressing the button in the top right corner of the deck. In addition, there is a complete list of applications and their screen modes in the section Settings > Display > Full Screen Apps. Just visit this menu and install applications in one of the modes without opening them individually.
Setting Energy Saving Settings
There are several ways to save power on the Galaxy S8, all conveniently located inside the device management settings. You will find them in the section Settings > Device Maintenance > Battery. There are "Medium" and "Maximum" power saving modes, each of which can be changed using custom settings. Just select one of them and click the "Customize" link at the top. You can choose the screen resolution, brightness level, CPU limits, enable/disable background mode, etc. To activate the power saving mode, click the "Apply" button instead of the "Customize" button. Medium power saving mode can also be accessed from quick settings. There is also an advanced section accessible through the menu button in the top right corner. There you can configure the app's power monitor, increasing or decreasing the time before the app goes to sleep (other Android devices call this app in sleep mode).
Save data in Secure Folder
We all save important data on our phones, and Samsung offers a way to keep it all locked away. It's called Secure Folder and it only takes a few seconds to set up. Simply choose a new unlock method, decide whether you want fingerprints or a retinal scanner, and wait for the encrypted container to be created. Secure Folder can store files as well as copies of applications from your phone with completely separate data directories. Secure Folder even has a camera app, and yes, the photos it takes are saved in Secure Folder. This is an ideal place to store sensitive data that you don't want others to see.
Based on materials from Greenbot
Pros of the Galaxy S8 Plus
- Large 6.2-inch Infinity Display screen;
- High-performance processor and 64 GB of built-in flash memory;
- Bixby voice assistant.
Cons of the Galaxy S8 Plus
- Price;
- Size too large;
- There is no front fingerprint scanner.
The Galaxy S8 Plus is one of the largest smartphones on sale and has a 6.2-inch curved screen. With minimal bezels around the edges, it doesn't look larger than Galaxy Note devices. The internal specifications have been increased, the processor is capable of delivering desktop-level performance. The question is, are consumers willing to pay for such specs and use a giant phone every day?
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is a new Android smartphone that can't be missed on the store shelf thanks to its massive screen that's gracefully curved at the edges. If you thought that it was a device of the future, then the Galaxy S8 Plus came to us from the future, where giants rule the roost.
The smartphone has a Super AMOLED panel with a diagonal of 6.2 inches, while the almost complete absence of frames around the screen makes it almost the same size as that of. This is another Samsung trick with screens, the same ones used in the Galaxy S8 with a diagonal of 5.8 inches. Both smartphones received a digital assistant, faster processors and improved cameras.
At the same time, they cannot be called simply smartphones - this is Samsung’s response to the failure that befell the South Korean manufacturer with the Galaxy Note 7 devices. The new smartphones are designed to support Samsung’s shaky reputation.
To fall in love with the Galaxy S8 Plus, you have to come to terms with three things: pay a lot of money, get used to the large size of the device and trust Samsung again. The price of Galaxy S8 Plus in Russia is 59,990 rubles.
Design
- Minimal bezels, no front fingerprint scanner;
- The scanner has been moved to the back of the device;
- Protection against water and dust as standard.
This is another of the few smartphones so far that consist almost entirely of a single screen, like the one released in China at the end of last year. Samsung has taken the same design elements and brought them to the world level.
Of the two smartphones presented, the Galaxy S8 Plus is the largest, its 6.2-inch screen is housed inside a body measuring 159.5 x 13.4 x 8.1 mm, and it weighs 173 g.
The case is longer compared to Galaxy Note devices, so you have to try hard to reach the far edge of the smartphone with your fingers. The physical Home button has been removed from the front and is now replaced with an on-screen button. Its operation is reminiscent of the Apple 3D Touch function, only not on the entire screen, but in the lower part. On-screen buttons are popular on Android smartphones, but in this case, experienced Samsung smartphone users will see changes.
A fingerprint scanner is not included in the new Home button option; Perhaps in the near future the scanner will be integrated into the glass of the screen, but this has not happened yet. Now it is located on the back of the case, next to the camera. For this reason, you will probably have to wipe the camera regularly when you accidentally put your finger in it instead of the scanner.
Depending on whether you hold your smartphone in your right hand or in your left, you will have to remember the new location of the fingerprint scanner. It is not exactly in the center, like on almost all other Android smartphones.
This has one benefit: You can now swap the positions of the on-screen Back and Recent Apps buttons that flank the Home button at the bottom of the screen. By default, Samsung arranges them in the opposite order than other Android manufacturers.
Samsung has offered a number of different ways to unlock your smartphone. In addition to the fingerprint scanner and the usual PIN code, there is an iris scanner and facial recognition that allow you to activate your smartphone without touching it. Unfortunately, the reliability of facial recognition leaves much to be desired; there have already been reports of the possibility of deceiving it using a photograph. The removal of the Home button has led to the disappearance of one of the usual features of Samsung Galaxy smartphones - double-tapping it to launch the camera application. This is now done using the power button on the side of the case. This will also take some getting used to.
Fortunately, nothing has changed in terms of the presence and placement of the analog headphone jack. It remains with a single speaker, the latter located at the bottom of the case.
Samsung has finally brought a modern one to its flagship smartphones, which replaced microUSB. Now you can easily connect the cable in the dark and not be afraid of mixing up the sides of the connector.
The smartphone is available in five color options: black, grey, silver, gold and blue.
Screen
- Massive 6.2-inch Infinity Display;
- There is no 4K resolution for virtual reality devices.
Almost every year, Samsung wins the title of smartphone manufacturer with the world's best display, and the same thing happened this time. The screen has a resolution of 2960 x 1440 (529 ppi) and supports the Mobile HDR Premium standard, offering improved contrast similar to 4K HDR TVs.
Samsung introduced an unusual screen aspect ratio of 18.5:9, resulting in a longer screen. This is an advantage when multitasking. You can open two application windows at the same time and see more content in them, even if the on-screen keyboard is open at the same time.
Don't expect 4K resolution here. The maximum resolution is 2K, the default is Full HD, you can change the resolution in the settings. 4K resolution has so far only been available in a few smartphones; perhaps the same will happen in the Galaxy Note 8.
You won't see individual pixels on the screen unless you use the Samsung Gear VR device at a distance of 5 cm from your face. In this use case, 4K will become useful one day.
Operating system and voice assistant
- New Samsung digital assistant Bixby;
- There's also Google Assistant;
- and the Samsung Experience shell.
Bixby is a smart interface that runs across the entire operating system on the Galaxy S8 Plus. You can use it to control the entire interface. What can be done with a touch screen can be done with your voice. Where Siri and Google Assistant fail, Bixby should come to the rescue. However, when smartphone sales begin, the assistant will not be ready for use.
In addition to voice commands, Bixby can recognize objects using the camera. You can also set reminders and work with household devices. All these are just promises from Samsung that have to be tested in practice. What is known for sure is that the smartphone runs on the Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.
Replaced by Samsung Experience; the South Korean manufacturer had to change its name because the reputation of its shell was not the best. Now this is a thing of the past.
One of the interesting new features is the ability to search the contents of your smartphone directly from the home screen, as is done on iOS 10. You need to swipe down anywhere on the screen, a search bar and all installed applications will appear. This is much faster than opening the application list.
Galaxy S8+ Plus Specifications, Performance, Specifications
- New 8-core processor, fast and efficient;
- 4 GB of RAM instead of 6 GB;
- 64 GB flash memory and microSD.
Shrinking size means reducing power consumption, so moving smartphones to 10nm process technology is an important step to improve battery life, not just performance.
It will be possible to test the smartphone in benchmarks after the start of their sales. The ability to work with games on Gear VR devices seems promising as manufacturers look to expand mobile VR gaming in the future.
Samsung decided not to increase the amount of RAM and it is still 4 GB, while many Android smartphones already have 6 GB. But the minimum amount of flash memory has been increased. It starts at 64 GB, a microSD memory card can add another 256 GB. iPhones still do not have a memory card slot.
Galaxy S8 Plus camera
- Still the same 12 MP sensor;
- The rear camera is not dual;
- Front camera 8 MP with autofocus.
The main update remains behind the scenes, this is the processing of photos after shooting. The result will be improved low-light image quality.
In front there is a new camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels versus 5 megapixels a year ago. Autofocus has also appeared. Most smartphones have a fixed focus on the front camera; other flagships do not yet offer intelligent autofocus in the front.
Battery life of Galaxy S8+
- Battery 3500 mAh;
- Capacity is 100 mAh less compared to Galaxy S7 Edge;
- Energy efficient 10 nm processor.
This is no improvement over the Note 7 and is 100mAh less than the battery in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Thanks to the new processor, this shouldn't matter much. Its energy efficiency has increased, which means the battery life of the device should also increase. The device should be enough for a full day.
Fast charging has reached a new level, becoming 20% faster than previous models.
Conclusion
The decision to buy the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus must be quite an important one. For some, its screen size, power and price will be too much. The advantages of this smartphone for some will be disadvantages for others. If you are looking for the most fashionable smartphone of 2017, with a curved screen and such thin frames that the screen is called Infinity Display, then this is the device for you.
The 6.2-inch screen is unlike any other smartphone, offering a high pixel count and support for Mobile HDR Premium. The processor is made on a 10 nm process technology, corresponding to Moore's law. Samsung holds the lead in terms of design, now even Apple needs to catch up.
As for buyers, you need to take into account the price and the large size of the device whether this one is suitable for you or not. Samsung has a good chance of making the Note 7 debacle go away, and the Galaxy S8 Plus is a good way to do that.
