So what would happen to the average iPhone user who upgraded to the Galaxy S8/+

[Kiezpirat80]

I think it's equal, it was not a big difference.
One more thing which annonyed me was to click a icon on evey single video to fit the full screen. I am watching so many videos the whole day, such a pain in the ass.
I hope Apple will solve this better with the upcoming iPhone 8.

 

[bopajuice]

Seems like we're are going back to the pot-kettle thing again. Because there is not objective best, there only is a subjective best. Some may feel "oled" is must-to-die-for-hardware-addition and others may feel the ecosystem integration and ease of doing certain tasks are where it's at. All subjective at best; which is what most rational people believe. It's the tit-for-tats that get in the way of this subjectivity.

Even personal preferences are subjective. If the Samsung has an OLED screen, it's just OK. If Apple has an OLED screen, it's the greatest thing that ever happened to a phone. And vice-versa of course.

 

[Nisaja]

I think it's equal, it was not a big difference.
One more thing which annonyed me was to click a icon on evey single video to fit the full screen. I am watching so many videos the whole day, such a pain in the ass.
I hope Apple will solve this better with the upcoming iPhone 8.

Oh that sucks. But how can the battery life be the same? I watched a video comparing the battery life of the S8 and the 7 Plus, and when the 7 Plus died, the S8 had around 40% remaining.

 

[Radon87000]

Even personal preferences are subjective. If the Samsung has an OLED screen, it's just OK. If Apple has an OLED screen, it's the greatest thing that ever happened to a phone. And vice-versa of course.

I can't wait to see his opinion once the OLED iPhone inevitably releases. Its going to be a magical experience.
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Oh that sucks. But how can the battery life be the same? I watched a video comparing the battery life of the S8 and the 7 Plus, and when the 7 Plus died, the S8 had around 40% remaining.

The battery life on my 7 Plus lasts 1.3 hours more than the S6 Edge so judging from the S8 battery tests the S8 will last longer

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

To get back to the actual topic rather than the tit for tat I will say if I was given an S8 I would give it a go. I haven't got the guts to enter into a contract with it in case I hate it. Things I would miss about the iPhone:

iMessage: I use whatsapp too but it's not as good. Group messaging on iMessage allows full resolution images and video without compressing. I quite often get media from friends and family this way plus I like the features of the new iMessage.

FaceTime: I use this predominantly even though I also use Skype for business. As a social communication I've found a lot of friends and family do not use Skype so much, plus I've found FaceTime to be more reliable in terms of keeping the connection.

iCloud Photo stream: we love this as a family and for the past 4 years have used it to upload private pictures of my daughters between close family. It's like a mini, personal social media where comments and likes can be shared for photos and video. This syncs across our iPhones, iPads and macs within the family and it's become a very important feature.

Find Friends: I have my wife, her parents and my parents added and this has been a handy tool for the past few years. We can see where each other are and it's stopped unnecessary texting. We also use it to share our location when meeting up with friends for weekends away.

Apple Watch comparability: love the AW and in my opinion it's the nicest smartwatch out there. It syncs flawlessly and the amount of accessories available make it a fun gadget.

So, just a few of my thoughts and reasons. We are all different and the fact is there are some very good phones out there, not just the iPhone. I just happen to enjoy iOS. If anybody wants to give me an S8 though I will happily put it through its paces in a very mild, average user sort of way.. Cheers

 

[Mildredop]

Well, having both iPhone 7+ and Samsung S8 in my hands right now, I will reply

Spot on. The hardware is beautiful to hold and look at. There is are two big issues for me, and they are deal-breakers as far as S8 is concerned.

The first is with the display accuracy. I'm a professional photographer. Yes, I understand the difference between the iP7/7+ displays and the AMOLED display on the S8, and I actually owned S7 before switching to iPhone a few months ago. But photos on the S8 are way more saturated vs. the iPhone 7 or 7+. It's like Samsung dialed the saturation slider up to 11! Putting the two screens side-by-side and viewing calibration photos and any photos of mine (http://andywillia.ms) convinced me that there's no way I can use the s8. iP7 and iP7+ screens are accurate and true. Period.

The second issue has to do with scrolling. If you scroll an app (like Twitter or NY Times) on the S8, the screen jitters like crazy when you are scrolling. You can see herky-jerkiness as your scrolling. Scroll the same apps on iP7 or iP7+ and it's smooth like butter. S8 is going back, and I'll keep my iP7+. By the way the same happens with Safari or Chrome on iP7+ vs Chrome on S8. The scrolling using the browsers on iPhone is buttery smooth.

What I really want is iPhone 7 size with iPhone 7+ camera, and no or little bezels (larger screen). So I guess I'll be happier come end of the year when Apple has a new iPhone

I agree about the saturation. Out of the box, all my Samsung phones have had the screen set to "vibrant". Turning that off rectifies it. I've not used the S8, but the photos from my S7 are actually slightly better than my partner's 7S (I'm also a professional photographer).

As for scrolling, my S7 doesn't jitter and I can't speak for the S8, but I find iPhone scrolling too slow. Scrolling down a long page can take many flicks of the thumb whereas on Android one forceful flick can sent the page scrolling at great speed.

 

[Steve686]

The "average" user would love the Samsung phone initially.

After a few months after the wow factor wore off and he had to deal with the jittery quirks, restarts, and laborious file system, he would return to iOS and vow to never leave Apple again...for the 3rd time.

Then when the S9 is released, he would repeat the cycle.

 

[IowaLynn]

My iPhone is 6S+ was 'not happy' with iOS 9. Gave it up for S7 and later Huawei. Huawei 960 kicks!

The 6S+ worked much better, fine, once 10.x+ was out. There is though some urban legend truth that iOS can get boring. And feAtures that are missing while Apple waits for them to mature.

Qualcomm has 7nm chip getting ready to ignate a Samsung S9.

 

[nathasnajperowa]

I'm android fan and my opinion is hideous - some iPhone iOS limitations are unacceptable and so huge bezels but... must admit there's no more efficient and flagship hardware beside ones iPhone offers. Only cow don't change their opinions so being human must admit android (for me) is much more user friendly but has no chance with iPhone hardware and software optimization. I wait for screen to body ratio improve and oled display and pity for me but new iPhone gonna sweep outta of the water everything realesed. Sad but true. I prepare myself to get used

 

[Yankee512]

hmmm this report and many others say otherwise.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

Qualcomm has 7nm chip getting ready to ignate a Samsung S9.

Did you mean "ignite"? I hope not, for Samsung's sake.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

On my end I just stated the functionalities per se. These are available for Android/S8 but not for Iphone. This is NOT subjective because these functionalities can be quantitatively defined. e.g availability of USB/otg, file system, wireless charging, notification lights, iris etc. You are the one who are disputing these REAL and quantifiable functionalities not found in iphone as not useful . That is entirely subjective as it is all just your own personal opinion/preference.

The functionality features part is not subjective I agree. There are features on the S8 and the iPhone that the other doesn't have. The subjective part is us and whether we prefer certain features on certain devices. There is no correct answer as to which is the better phone for the individual, only we can make our own decisions based on our preferences.

 

[DNichter]

An average iPhone user who decided to purchase an S8 would likely get frustrated with the inferior OS and decide that they probably should have just waited for the iPhone 8. The only advantage the S8 has is a screen.

 

[Phil A.]

MOD NOTE
I have deleted the worst of the back and forth bickering that was seriously derailing this thread.

Other posts may also have been deleted and there may be some bickering posts left if I've missed them. That does not mean it's OK to continue with it though and your co-operation in not derailing the thread again is appreciated!

 

[Yankee512]

Oh that sucks. But how can the battery life be the same? I watched a video comparing the battery life of the S8 and the 7 Plus, and when the 7 Plus died, the S8 had around 40% remaining.

That doesn't take into account the stand by time. No one uses their phone on constantly like that till it dies. We all know OLED uses less power, and that is all those videos prove. Actual usage, the IP7+ beats the S8+.

 

[mib1800]

That doesn't take into account the stand by time. No one uses their phone on constantly like that till it dies. We all know OLED uses less power, and that is all those videos prove. Actual usage, the IP7+ beats the S8+.

But if you are heavy user then s8+ would still beat the ip7+ considering it has 40% left when 7+ died.

Yes, iPhone is better at standby only because it stops everything whereas s8 is still doing things for you in the background (thus giving you a better overall experience)

 

[Nisaja]

I just went on Samsung's website to check their battery life specs. They haven't mentioned the standby times

 

[Geert76]

to answer OP's question:

You would discover after using an iPhone for years (like myself) that you now finally can do whatever suits you with YOUR phone.
You would discover that in all those years of owning an iPhone, that a company (Apple in this case) will have full control what you can, but most important, can not do with your iPhone.

So, to think that you as an owner of an iPhone are capable to make your own decisions when it comes to customazation is for the company Apple irrelevant.

Then after years you would discover you would buy the new Samsung S8 (like myself) and you all of the sudden discover that YOU are in charge of your OWN phone and make your own decisions with endless posibilties and customazation.

You would have feel relieved to finally be able to set up your phone to YOUR needs with hardly any boundaries.

 

[DNichter]

to answer OP's question:

You would discover after using an iPhone for years (like myself) that you now finally can do whatever suits you with YOUR phone.
You would discover that in all those years of owning an iPhone, that a company (Apple in this case) will have full control what you can, but most important, can not do with your iPhone.

So, to think that you as an owner of an iPhone are capable to make your own decisions when it comes to customazation is for the company Apple irrelevant.

Then after years you would discover you would buy the new Samsung S8 (like myself) and you all of the sudden discover that YOU are in charge of your OWN phone and make your own decisions with endless posibilties and customazation.

You would have feel relieved to finally be able to set up your phone to YOUR needs with hardly any boundaries.

Customization is something that always comes up as an advantage to Android. I can certainly respect that as sometimes I feel somewhat constrained by Apple's strict rules. Don't you think there is a potential trade off here though? Customization on Android is similar to jailbreaking or rooting in my eyes and typically results in a less than stable environment. Sure, you should have that choice, but I think Apple actually got this right by controlling such things. It creates a consistent experience from user to user and helps with longevity of the phone. Many people with Android phones have slow downs or issues in years 1-2.

 

[Geert76]

Customization is something that always comes up as an advantage to Android. I can certainly respect that as sometimes I feel somewhat constrained by Apple's strict rules. Don't you think there is a potential trade off here though? Customization on Android is similar to jailbreaking or rooting in my eyes and typically results in a less than stable environment. Sure, you should have that choice, but I think Apple actually got this right by controlling such things. It creates a consistent experience from user to user and helps with longevity of the phone. Many people with Android phones have slow downs or issues in years 1-2.

true.

But look at the difference between the S7 with 6.0 and the new S8 with 7.0. Massive difference in a very good way. Samsung came from very far, but they are almost there.

After about 3 weeks I can say that the experience/smoothness of my new S8 is about on par with my iPhone 7 (which is esting dust in the drawer atm).

Al lot of people are still referring Samsung/Android from the past. Again, Samsung did a excellent job with the S8(+) and it's OS on this new phone.
I have hardly to none lag.

It all comes to preference; one would like to have a 100% smooth (no lag) phone with no customzation what so ever and another one can live with 0,0001 seconds lag but full control of his/her phone.

Another reason offcourse that you will find hardly any lag in iOS is due to the fact you can't do anything with it. Everything is strict controlled by Apple (and so not the user/owner of the device) and with, in this case, a S8 you are in full controll and so its to be expected to have a little lag (0,00001 seconds) here and there (depending of who far you go with customazation)

 

[dreadnort]

4 Weeks with the Samsung Galaxy S8

Ok so I wanted to do an objective review of the Samsung Galaxy S8 after living with it for the past 4 weeks so here goes.

The phone itself is glorious and a joy to hold feeling very comfortable in the hand and regardless of what has been said about the placement of the touch sensor on the back I found it no more difficult to use than the front sensor on the iPhone in fact, the placement felt natural.

. I’ve not used the facial recognition as I simply never bothered to set it up.

One great thing about the latest version of android is trust places, devices which allows the device to be unlocked when either connected to Bluetooth or in a location, I used this at work and it was a simple case of pressing the home button and then swiping the screen.

Saying the screen is superb would be an understatement Setting the display to QHD and then viewing 4k videos was breath taking (the cure is where my issue lies more later)

The new lighter touch wiz UI is fast and responsive unlike the old generation clunky versions and android itself being massively configurable catering for almost every option to be configurable.

The battery well another major improvement here although touted as having the same sized output of the S7 I found the battery to last a good day and a half with normal use and when accidently changing the screen res to QHD and forgetting about it the battery still ran all day with no problem, charging wirelessly is a blessing and with the USB C adapter in the box charging from almost any source is easy.

The camera offers a lot of setting to make even they most inept photographer better.

Overall it’s a great Phone superb features many far better than the iPhone the OS is quick and configurable so you can get it exactly how you want it.

However, I have found a few niggles not issues small irritations for me. The curved screen although glorious I found that when trying to type the characters that curved sometimes did not accept my input until pressing hard. When typing one handed the bottom of the phone became a little uncomfortable. Also when doing some task in the OS it did require a few more steps to complete. The are other little niggles that I have found not so much issues with the phone but things that I’m used to.

After all that is said regarding this great device these few annoyances have lead me to one decision that I simply prefer the IPhone 7, with its 3-year old design ageing OS, it is still simply better as a whole not because the sum of its part. In my option if you put IOS on the Samsung galaxy S8 you would not be able to beat it

So After 4 Weeks I’m going back to the iPhone7 as IT JUST WORKS

 

[agaskew]

Customization is something that always comes up as an advantage to Android. I can certainly respect that as sometimes I feel somewhat constrained by Apple's strict rules. Don't you think there is a potential trade off here though? Customization on Android is similar to jailbreaking or rooting in my eyes and typically results in a less than stable environment. Sure, you should have that choice, but I think Apple actually got this right by controlling such things. It creates a consistent experience from user to user and helps with longevity of the phone. Many people with Android phones have slow downs or issues in years 1-2.

Customization of your phone, and rooting/jailbreaking, are not the same thing in the slightest. The fact is that Apple have designed and pretty much locked down their interface. If you like it...great. If you don't...hard luck.
Android and even Windows 10 mobile on the other hand are way more customizable, regardless of whether or not you like or want that capability. These customization capabilities are available right away in the vanilla OS, there's no unlocking or whatever required.

 

[DNichter]

true.

But look at the difference between the S7 with 6.0 and the new S8 with 7.0. Massive difference in a very good way. Samsung came from very far, but they are almost there.

After about 3 weeks I can say that the experience/smoothness of my new S8 is about on par with my iPhone 7 (which is esting dust in the drawer atm).

Al lot of people are still referring Samsung/Android from the past. Again, Samsung did a excellent job with the S8(+) and it's OS on this new phone.
I have hardly to none lag.

It all comes to preference; one would like to have a 100% smooth (no lag) phone with no customzation what so ever and another one can live with 0,0001 seconds lag but full control of his/her phone.

Another reason offcourse that you will find hardly any lag in iOS is due to the fact you can't do anything with it. Everything is strict controlled by Apple (and so not the user/owner of the device) and with, in this case, a S8 you are in full controll and so its to be expected to have a little lag (0,00001 seconds) here and there (depending of who far you go with customazation)

You're right, it's all preference. I had a different experience with the S8 when i used it though. Very laggy opening/closing apps and scrolling, apps crashing, and biometrics not working. I just attributed it to be more of the same. To say that you cannot do anything with iOS is quite far fetched though. iOS is a very capable OS and has the best apps available of any of them. Just because I can't change the colors of something or put redundant weather information on the home screen, does not limit what the device can do. Again, it all comes down to preference and I certainly respect people's choice of using Android. Even they see that Apple's approach is right though as they move towards a more closed system (it will happen eventually).
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Customization of your phone, and rooting/jailbreaking, are not the same thing in the slightest. The fact is that Apple have designed and pretty much locked down their interface. If you like it...great. If you don't...hard luck.
Android and even Windows 10 mobile on the other hand are way more customizable, regardless of whether or not you like or want that capability. These customization capabilities are available right away in the vanilla OS, there's no unlocking or whatever required.

Understandable. I guess I attributed the customization to the eventual slowdown of the Android device, which may be incorrect. I am not sure why this occurs then (background processes? bad apps? no security?). What are some of the customization options that have really improved your day to day usage of the phone? More so curious as to why many people see it as such an advantage.

 

[agaskew]

You're right, it's all preference. I had a different experience with the S8 when i used it though. Very laggy opening/closing apps and scrolling, apps crashing, and biometrics not working. I just attributed it to be more of the same. To say that you cannot do anything with iOS is quite far fetched though. iOS is a very capable OS and has the best apps available of any of them. Just because I can't change the colors of something or put redundant weather information on the home screen, does not limit what the device can do. Again, it all comes down to preference and I certainly respect people's choice of using Android. Even they see that Apple's approach is right though as they move towards a more closed system (it will happen eventually).
[doublepost=1494595557][/doublepost]

Understandable. I guess I attributed the customization to the eventual slowdown of the Android device, which may be incorrect. I am not sure why this occurs then (background processes? bad apps? no security?). What are some of the customization options that have really improved your day to day usage of the phone? More so curious as to why many people see it as such an advantage.

I never found Android slow downs to be more or less common than iOS slow downs. On any platform, a rogue app, bad update or failing hardware can cause you performance problems.

In terms of customization, what you have to get your head around with Android is that there is just so much choice and flexibility. For example, with iOS you've got Springboard, but with Android you can install any one of a long list of different launchers, until you find the one you like. Each different Android device manufacturer (Samsung, HTC, Google, Sony, Huawei, etc) puts their own skin/launcher/apps on their devices, again you can choose what to keep, what to change.

 

[DNichter]

I never found Android slow downs to be more or less common than iOS slow downs. On any platform, a rogue app, bad update or failing hardware can cause you performance problems.

In terms of customization, what you have to get your head around with Android is that there is just so much choice and flexibility. For example, with iOS you've got Springboard, but with Android you can install any one of a long list of different launchers, until you find the one you like. Each different Android device manufacturer (Samsung, HTC, Google, Sony, Huawei, etc) puts their own skin/launcher/apps on their devices, again you can choose what to keep, what to change.

I have just heard horror stories from a number of close friends and family members over the years. They have all since switched to iOS due to the issues. I figured these issues have since been resolved, but I was seeing the same thing with the S8. In regards to the customization, I guess I just don't really care for things like that. At one point, I jailbroke my phone and spent some time customizing, but I have since found that I appreciate stability and security more than just a different way of launching apps. To me, that sort of thing doesn't add any value to a platform or OS. Thanks for the info though.