Galaxy S8 Reviews: Full-Front Display Scores Top Marks, But Rear Fingerprint Scanner is Awkwardly Positioned

[DNichter]

I just read the Mossberg review. He tends to tell both sides of the story which I like. He said that all 3 biometric options on the phone (fingerprint, face, iris) were all horrible and none worked for him. I don't know how fans can be so high on a phone where these things just don't work. He also mentioned bad software and bloatware on the phone, one of the main reasons I won't go Android. Samsung fans are so blinded by a big bright screen that they just ignore the other issues.

 

[MH01]

Apple has an estimated 1billion devices out there. Of course there will be all sorts of stuff reported. Cars have been catching on fires for years and will continue to do so. No new news there. What makes news is a massive defect like the pinto.

True.

That's mostly American cars

 

[lazard]

I just read the Mossberg review. He tends to tell both sides of the story which I like. He said that all 3 biometric options on the phone (fingerprint, face, iris) were all horrible and none worked for him. I don't know how fans can be so high on a phone where these things just don't work. He also mentioned bad software and bloatware on the phone, one of the main reasons I won't go Android. Samsung fans are so blinded by a big bright screen that they just ignore the other issues.

ehh...like every product, you'll have good and bad reviews. Just read Vlad's review and he had no major issues with Touchwiz.

 

[The Game 161]

I just read the Mossberg review. He tends to tell both sides of the story which I like. He said that all 3 biometric options on the phone (fingerprint, face, iris) were all horrible and none worked for him. I don't know how fans can be so high on a phone where these things just don't work. He also mentioned bad software and bloatware on the phone, one of the main reasons I won't go Android. Samsung fans are so blinded by a big bright screen that they just ignore the other issues.

but they do work

one guy not sure who he is doesn't mean it doesn't work for others. I would trust professional you tubers more than whoever you are on about.

for most all 3 work just fine. I will have a hands on with it tomorrow when it arrives for my dad and see how well it does work

I think both apple and samsung fans can be blinded by their own bias. some of the comments from apple fans on this phone are rather embarrassing. Not enough are objective.

 

[mi7chy]

I just read the Mossberg review. He tends to tell both sides of the story which I like. He said that all 3 biometric options on the phone (fingerprint, face, iris) were all horrible and none worked for him. I don't know how fans can be so high on a phone where these things just don't work. He also mentioned bad software and bloatware on the phone, one of the main reasons I won't go Android. Samsung fans are so blinded by a big bright screen that they just ignore the other issues.

Mossberg's reviews cater to the segment of non-tech savvy seniors who still prefer rotary dial telephone and horse drawn carriage. Unless you fall into that category it doesn't apply to you.

 

[I7guy]

Mossberg's reviews cater to the segment of non-tech savvy seniors who still prefer rotary dial telephone and horse drawn carriage. Unless you fall into that category it doesn't apply to you.

In other words, he's spot on.

 

[madge28]

Samsung went too far with the size of the phone.
I have been using it for more than a day now (I am not even a press guy) and it is very awkward to use especially one-handedly. S8+ is just pure insanity. No phone needs to be that large, it is taller than Note 7 and other phablets and is very easy to drop.
And the glare and blur on edges is not good at all. YES, display is amazing, great detail, contrast, but I don't want edge display! I want flat....and they done goofed here.
Not everyone wants curved phones, Samsung.

Then why did you get the S8+ instead of the S8 if you think it's too large?? I for one am still waiting for a screen size larger than the S8+

 

[ks-man]

I have been using the S8+ since it was delivered at 2pm today. I'm coming from a Note 4. My last iPhone was an iPhone 4. My wife uses an iPhone 7+ and both kids have iPad minis.

The screen on the S8+ is ridiculous. Just absolutely incredible and all four of us think it is as good a screen as we've ever seen. The fingerprint scanner is awful. It is in such a bad spot that it is hard to use. I only use it to unlock LastPass and I take my time to look where it is before placing my finger. I'd never want to use to unlock. The strange thing for me though is that I've tried both the face recognition and iris scanner and they work flawlessly. I used the facial recognition for a few hours and then switched to iris scanning after that. I read so many people having issues with them working but I don't know, for me they are fast and easy. I wear contacts which Samsung says may interfere with the iris scanner but who knows, maybe it helps.

The size and aspect ratio does feel a little awkward coming from the Note 4 but nothing I feel like I won't get used to. I do have big hands and when I need to reach the top of the screen I just slide my hand up a little while reaching with my thumb. I think I did this before but I now have to slide my hand a little more due to the extra height.

My final comment is about Touchwiz and performance. This phone feels buttery smooth right now and is a pleasure to use. I know Samsung firsthand from my Note 2 and Note 4 and their performance on day 1 was not their performance towards the end of year two. My Note 4 has been terrible the last few months and I couldn't wait for this new phone. The S8+ on day 1 is far better than my Note 4 was but the real test will be how it performs in 6-12 months. I will say though that my wife hated her iPhone 5 at the end. It couldn't hold a charge for more than an hour of light usage and it stalled, stuttered, and crashed like crazy.

In summary, the screen on the S8+ is so good and that is what 90% of people will focus on as they should. Assuming of course they have the battery fire issue solved which I've definitely got my fingers crossed on.

 

[mi7chy]

The size and aspect ratio does feel a little awkward coming from the Note 4 but nothing I feel like I won't get used to. I do have big hands and when I need to reach the top of the screen I just slide my hand up a little while reaching with my thumb. I think I did this before but I now have to slide my hand a little more due to the extra height.

Do you use the one-handed helpers like toggling the shrink screen, snapping the home screen icons to lower left or right corner, swiping down fingerprint to drop down menu bar, etc.?

S8+ is super tempting but I'm trying to hold out for the Note 8.

 

[ErikGrim]

I would trust professional you tubers more than whoever you are on about.

The guy "he is on about" invented tech journalism. Sit down kid.

 

[LordVic]

I just read the Mossberg review. He tends to tell both sides of the story which I like. He said that all 3 biometric options on the phone (fingerprint, face, iris) were all horrible and none worked for him. I don't know how fans can be so high on a phone where these things just don't work. He also mentioned bad software and bloatware on the phone, one of the main reasons I won't go Android. Samsung fans are so blinded by a big bright screen that they just ignore the other issues.

Mossberg has NEVER been unbiased and tell both sides. He's firmly and solidly camp Apple. Has been since day one. The guy was personal freinds with Steve Jobs, invited over to his house and regularly saw devices/hardware before public.

He has become more critical of Apple lately, but nothing that man says doesn't have the intention of helping sell iPhones, and outside of APple community he still has huge amount of room to make up to gain respect.

the fact that while there are obviously glaring issues with the S8's placement of the fingerprint sensor, and that the iris scanner has been "slow". to claim "None of them would work for me" demonstrates outlyer behaviour as no other single reviewer has reported those same issues indicating that either something is wrong with Mossberg's biometrics preventing it from w orking, or he's being hyperbolic and overtly biased.

 

[Cosmosent]

Anybody know the MAX photo capture rate for the S8 ?

For comparison, the iPhone 7 Plus is good for capturing up-to 30 12 Mpx photos at "30 photos per second" ... AND, with OIS (+ some software secret sauce) with the wide angel lens, but NOT with the Telephoto lens.

Next time you see the Galaxy S8 TV commercial, notice the capture actions for the motorcycle scene ... appears to be alittle inconsistent ... hard to tell the precise timing, though.

 

[macintoshi]

Tried s8 plus at bestbuy recently....my gosh...the os is butter smooth, camera is insane....and water proof ip 68

I am a macbook pro 15 lover, waitin for the kabylake update. But on the phone side i do love samsung s8 plus and my next phone will surely be an s8 plus. Never will go to an iphone limited crap

 

[0388631]

I'd read that the iPhone 7 beats the S8+ in real world usage. True?

 

[The Game 161]

The guy "he is on about" invented tech journalism. Sit down kid.

So some old guy who is behind the times? Yeah great..would rather listen to the folks of today who review tech for a living thanks kid and have said nothing of the sort about what he is moaning about

 

[The Game 161]

I'd read that the iPhone 7 beats the S8+ in real world usage. True?

Maybe in benchmarks

Will be getting S8 plus to test today so will see for myself

 

[kis]

I'd read that the iPhone 7 beats the S8+ in real world usage. True?

Define "usage"? The 7 Plus is much faster than the S8+, at least on paper. And one thing has been a constant for Samsung: their phones sure don't get faster over time.

App loading time, multitasking, benchmarks - the iPhone runs circles around the S8+ in all of these categories. However, it's plenty fast and most people likely won't notice much of a difference or simply don't care.

 

[imicca]

https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/s8_size_2.jpg?quality=82&strip=all

Yeah that .8mm is really killing it...

Yes it does. Use the goddamn phone, then talk here.
As I said, I have been using both S8 (and S8+). The S8 feels bigger not because of the size and "oh look it is just 0.8mm taller", but how it feels when you are using it. There is big misunderstanding here. You change habits of using the phone like positioning in the hand and moving it up or down when needed.
Big screen, big usable screen makes you touch a lot of places whereas in the case of not small bezels on iPhone, you can rest your finger there or hold the phone without touching the display.

Also, android and touchWIZ still sucks at neglecting unintended touches like iOS does, and iOS does it perfectly. So even if next iPhone comes curved, I am going to have less hard time to use the screen.
But anyway, my main point was the big screen in a not too big body still makes it a big difficulty to use.
and
Samsung should have provided non-edge variant.
[doublepost=1492684986][/doublepost]

Then why did you get the S8+ instead of the S8 if you think it's too large?? I for one am still waiting for a screen size larger than the S8+

I got both. To try. As someone who uses iPhone 7 and Pixel, just wanted to try "smaller" S8 and S8+

 

[mi7chy]

App loading time, multitasking, benchmarks - the iPhone runs circles around the S8+ in all of these categories. However, it's plenty fast and most people likely won't notice much of a difference or simply don't care.

iOS doesn't multitask though. App placed in the background gets suspended then killed from memory after 3 minutes unless the app is written to fake it by suspending state to and from storage. For example, try putting any connected SSH client in the background on iOS and watch it get killed after 3 minutes. Also, iOS on iPhone doesn't do split screen multitasking.

Android Nougat is more like a desktop OS where it can have 4 or more active foreground apps plus a number of active background tasks with SSH session running indefinitely. Better than constantly switching back and forth.

I use both. iOS is more like an iPod while Android is more like a PC.

 

[DNichter]

but they do work

one guy not sure who he is doesn't mean it doesn't work for others. I would trust professional you tubers more than whoever you are on about.

for most all 3 work just fine. I will have a hands on with it tomorrow when it arrives for my dad and see how well it does work

I think both apple and samsung fans can be blinded by their own bias. some of the comments from apple fans on this phone are rather embarrassing. Not enough are objective.

Mossberg is very well known / respected in the industry. Hopefully they do work, but I'd think for someone of his stature, stating that he had trouble reliably using all 3 and had to resort to a numeric passcode, is a bit damning. Of course, you could be right, let's see how it goes. Let us know. My last point was more so that i don't see much innovation here, just a big screen.
[doublepost=1492687853][/doublepost]

Mossberg's reviews cater to the segment of non-tech savvy seniors who still prefer rotary dial telephone and horse drawn carriage. Unless you fall into that category it doesn't apply to you.

I'd hope not, but I would think someone who reviews electronic devices for a living would have an idea how to use a fingerprint scanner. I don't think he had any issues with the 7.
[doublepost=1492687932][/doublepost]

Mossberg has NEVER been unbiased and tell both sides. He's firmly and solidly camp Apple. Has been since day one. The guy was personal freinds with Steve Jobs, invited over to his house and regularly saw devices/hardware before public.

He has become more critical of Apple lately, but nothing that man says doesn't have the intention of helping sell iPhones, and outside of APple community he still has huge amount of room to make up to gain respect.

the fact that while there are obviously glaring issues with the S8's placement of the fingerprint sensor, and that the iris scanner has been "slow". to claim "None of them would work for me" demonstrates outlyer behaviour as no other single reviewer has reported those same issues indicating that either something is wrong with Mossberg's biometrics preventing it from w orking, or he's being hyperbolic and overtly biased.

I don't know, I have seen him criticize Apple on any blunders. If it didn't work for him, it didn't work. One person, one review, yes, but I don't think he would put that in his review if they worked perfectly for him.
[doublepost=1492688025][/doublepost]

ehh...like every product, you'll have good and bad reviews. Just read Vlad's review and he had no major issues with Touchwiz.

Fair point. It just seems like this is the same phone as the last one, just with a big screen. I don't see this as some huge triumph like many people are.

 

[ks-man]

Do you use the one-handed helpers like toggling the shrink screen, snapping the home screen icons to lower left or right corner, swiping down fingerprint to drop down menu bar, etc.?

S8+ is super tempting but I'm trying to hold out for the Note 8.

I don't use those helpers. I just get used to adjusting my grip very quickly to reach the very top or bottom. I lay my fingers across the back of the phone rather than gripping the far side. This allows me to easily slide the phone across my fingers and reach any part. I did this with my Note 4 also. I'm not sure if this is how others use big phones but I'm very used to it and never drop my phone when using it.

 

[The Game 161]

Mossberg is very well known / respected in the industry. Hopefully they do work, but I'd think for someone of his stature, stating that he had trouble reliably using all 3 and had to resort to a numeric passcode, is a bit damning. Of course, you could be right, let's see how it goes. Let us know. My last point was more so that i don't see much innovation here, just a big screen.
[doublepost=1492687853][/doublepost]

I'd hope not, but I would think someone who reviews electronic devices for a living would have an idea how to use a fingerprint scanner. I don't think he had any issues with the 7.
[doublepost=1492687932][/doublepost]

I don't know, I have seen him criticize Apple on any blunders. If it didn't work for him, it didn't work. One person, one review, yes, but I don't think he would put that in his review if they worked perfectly for him.
[doublepost=1492688025][/doublepost]

Fair point. It just seems like this is the same phone as the last one, just with a big screen. I don't see this as some huge triumph like many people are.

Each to their own I guess in terms of it not working for him but I've got the S8 plus in my hands now and iris scanner and facial recognition is lightening fast

Fingerprint scanner works but the placement is not ideal and it's a pain to use where it is

If it was in the middle that wouldn't be too bad but as it stands I would not use FP on this S8 plus. Iris scanning is what I would use

 

[DNichter]

Each to their own I guess in terms of it not working for him but I've got the S8 plus in my hands now and iris scanner and facial recognition is lightening fast

Fingerprint scanner works but the placement is not ideal and it's a pain to use where it is

If it was in the middle that wouldn't be too bad but as it stands I would not use FP on this S8 plus. Iris scanning is what I would use

It's good to know that the iris and facial scanning technology work well in case Apple has to resort to that. Still hoping for under the screen though. What are some of the other features of the new S8? Maybe I am naive and just missing it.

 

[The Game 161]

It's good to know that the iris and facial scanning technology work well in case Apple has to resort to that. Still hoping for under the screen though. What are some of the other features of the new S8? Maybe I am naive and just missing it.

Camera looks slightly improved from s7 bit not much. The size of this phone is amazing considering its a 6.2 inch display. Feels well smaller than my 7 plus

Bixby I think in time could become useful it has potential at least.

I do think a lot of the features on this will be on the new iPhone.

Touchwiz for me is much improved and speed wise 7 plus beat it easier when launching reddit but S8 plus slightly faster launching instagram for example

 

[DNichter]

Camera looks slightly improved from s7 bit not much. The size of this phone is amazing considering its a 6.2 inch display. Feels well smaller than my 7 plus

Bixby I think in time could become useful it has potential at least.

I do think a lot of the features on this will be on the new iPhone.

Touchwiz for me is much improved and speed wise doing app tasks its slightly faster than my 7 plus but it's pretty even

I may go play with one in store, but I could never see myself switching. I think the large screen in a small form factor is something I'll enjoy on the new iPhone.