Literally last year:
https://www.xda-developers.com/with...delivers-embarrassing-real-world-performance/
Two months ago:
https://www.sammobile.com/2017/06/27/samsung-ui-fluidity-problem-needs-fixing
Samsung has tainted their own reputation. it's not my fault. The fact that people like you can't even recognize the significance or recency in their mistakes probably means your opinion of the matter is about as good as any other Samsung fannie with their head in the dirt.
Year and year again they release phones that are not worth the money they are asking, and every year mainstream reviewers gloss over the significant issues that lead to crap performance and an unenjoyable experience. Then there's updates: "
Oh it feels better" the fannie coo. And then another update addressing the same thing: But I thought it was fixed? The following year the issue is "
fixed" by releasing a new phone that's just not-as-bad, when in comparison, other manufacturers do wonders with less. And that's just performance: don't get me started on the features they offer that more often than not turn into entertaining gimmicks.
Absolutely
no way I'm playing that game. Not for a device I plan to use everyday, maybe even collective hours, and spend close to a grand on. They've burned that bridge for me, I didn't have to do anything.
I wouldn't buy the Note 8 (or the S8) because of Bixby (it would drive me crazy), really unnecessary app duplication (Google just makes better ones), the bad fingerprint sensor position and the non-removable crap such as Facebook.
But reading your post, I'd say you might be wrong. My father got a work S8 - his first real smartphone ever (coming from a Nokia) - and I spent quite some time with it setting it up and teaching him how to use it.
Aside from the reasons I enumerated up front, I thought it was a lovely device, and I'm sure the S8+ and the Note 8 are too.
First, performance. No issues whatsoever. They completely re-did their UI, it's very clean, and I didn't see the lag or stutters that were Samsung's hallmarks. Now in fairness I don't think this is
that important to begin with - and even my new iPad Pro 10.5 stutters and lags from time to time, but if this is important, I think Samsung has definitely moved in the right direction.
As a side-note, whoever says that iOS devices are butter-smooth is just selling manure and advertising it as chocolate. They aren't to begin with, and give Apple time to update the OS and they get full of lag and stutters. If in doubt I can just show you my old iPad Mini (retina version), which is anything but smooth.
Second, design. It's really beautiful. Particularly the S8 (the others are just the same thing but slightly bigger), I think it's just the prettiest phone you can buy. It's very slim, they got the screen curvature just right in my opinion, the materials and build quality seem top-notch.
Third, the screen. It's just awesome. From what I read, the Note 8 has the brightest OLED panel of all, so that's nailed.
Fourth, the camera. On the S8 it's very good. On the Note 8, based on everything I read, it's better.
So overall it's down to priorities. I can well understand not getting this phone based on a variety of factors, but performance I think is fine. It just remains to be seen if it will stay so.