Samsung Galaxy S8 And S8+ Hands-On Demo And First Look From Unpacked 2017
We spent the better part of this morning at Lincoln Center in New York City attending Samsung’s Unpacked 2017 event, where the company unveiled its brand-new Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones and a few new accessories. If you missed our early coverage of the event, you can check out the initial announcement here and the new Gear 360 Camera, cool DeX Dock, and Gear VR right here.
While at Unpacked 2017, however, we also got some hands-on time with both devices that we wanted to share with you. Take a look...
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are virtually identical, save for their screen sizes. The S8 features a 5.8” QHD+ screen, while the larger S8+ has a 6.2” screen. Other than the screen size though, all of the other features and design attributes are similar. The front of the devices is essentially a smooth sheet of glass, with a single cutout at the very top for the earpiece speaker. The front glass gently curves around either side so there are no bezels on the left or right – when you look at the devices straight on, they’re almost all screen.
The bezels at the top and bottom have also been reduced in size. The physical home button is gone in favor of a virtual button that resides behind the glass, and the cameras and sensors at the top are arranged in a tightly-packed, slim group. We should mention that, in addition to an improved front-mounted 8MP camera with face detection, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ also have iris and facial recognition sensors up top.
The fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back and resides next to the 12MP world-facing camera, flash, and heartrate monitor. The left side of the phone houses a volume rocker and new “Bixby” button, and the sleep/wake/power button is on the right. The top edge is mostly clean, save for a SIM/MicroSD tray and microphone port. And the bottom has a USB-C port, along with a 3.5mm audio jack, speaker grill, and another mic.
Inside the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ is Qualcomm’s powerful new Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. We got the chance to benchmark the Snapdragon 835 recently, and if its implementation in the Galaxy S8 is similar to the test vehicle, Samsung is going to have a potent performer in its line-up.
Although we have only spent a short time with the devices, it seems that Samsung has hit almost all of the right notes. The design of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is attractive, the screens are bright and crisp, and performance should be top notch. The devices also offer IP68 certified water and dust resistance, expandable storage, Cat16 LTE, and the latest WiFi and Bluetooth support.
Pre-orders start tomorrow and devices will be available on April 21.
While at Unpacked 2017, however, we also got some hands-on time with both devices that we wanted to share with you. Take a look...
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are virtually identical, save for their screen sizes. The S8 features a 5.8” QHD+ screen, while the larger S8+ has a 6.2” screen. Other than the screen size though, all of the other features and design attributes are similar. The front of the devices is essentially a smooth sheet of glass, with a single cutout at the very top for the earpiece speaker. The front glass gently curves around either side so there are no bezels on the left or right – when you look at the devices straight on, they’re almost all screen.
The bezels at the top and bottom have also been reduced in size. The physical home button is gone in favor of a virtual button that resides behind the glass, and the cameras and sensors at the top are arranged in a tightly-packed, slim group. We should mention that, in addition to an improved front-mounted 8MP camera with face detection, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ also have iris and facial recognition sensors up top.
The fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back and resides next to the 12MP world-facing camera, flash, and heartrate monitor. The left side of the phone houses a volume rocker and new “Bixby” button, and the sleep/wake/power button is on the right. The top edge is mostly clean, save for a SIM/MicroSD tray and microphone port. And the bottom has a USB-C port, along with a 3.5mm audio jack, speaker grill, and another mic.
Inside the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ is Qualcomm’s powerful new Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. We got the chance to benchmark the Snapdragon 835 recently, and if its implementation in the Galaxy S8 is similar to the test vehicle, Samsung is going to have a potent performer in its line-up.
Although we have only spent a short time with the devices, it seems that Samsung has hit almost all of the right notes. The design of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is attractive, the screens are bright and crisp, and performance should be top notch. The devices also offer IP68 certified water and dust resistance, expandable storage, Cat16 LTE, and the latest WiFi and Bluetooth support.
Pre-orders start tomorrow and devices will be available on April 21.
