Samsung Galaxy S8+.Imperfect but the best [review]

A fost un an în care producătorii de telefoane mobile au adus câteva alternative interesante. Huawei P10 e un terminal simplu, dar cu o cameră foto foarte bună, pe când LG G6 are un ecran spectaculos. Apple va lansa în toamnă iPhone 8, iar ceilalți nu mai contează în zona premium. Samsung Galaxy S8+, căci am testat terminalul de 6,2 inci, e superb. E imperfect, fără îndoială, are niște stângăcii deranjante, dar nu pot să nu zic că am pus mâna pe cel mai bun telefon de pe piață. Dacă Samsung l-ar fi simplificat un pic, ar fi fost aproape de apogeu.

Design

Samsung excels in industrial design.This showed us from the first S6 Edge.S8 and S8+ are curved, standard screen phones.They are thinner than the previous years, and the finishes are quality.In front we have a huge screen by reporting to chassis, 6.2 -inch, which descends to the edges.It's a lot of screen, and this sensation is pleasant.And I am glad that the screen has no protection, because it highlights its appearance.Also, because the report is this, the phone does not seem big in hand.

On the back there is a glass housing.It is suitable for fingerprints, but not very exaggerated.The edges are from a very well finished silver metal and which seems quality.It also did not scratch, although I did not protect the phone in the test week.

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It's the most beautiful terminal on the market, from afar.I returned to the OnePlus 3T that I use every day and seemed to me a harsh banality.A rectangle without personality.My recommendation is not to buy the housing of S8 or S8+, even if it is a risky advice.It's too nice to ruin it with that.And the Samsung covers, the official ones, are even horrible.However, I admit it is slippery.I was very close to escaping the elevator house, between the door and the floor.

Screen

It's the most spectacular part of this phone.The screen has a size of 6.2 inches and a resolution 2960 x 1440 pixels, a kind of QHD.The resolution can be low in the energy saving module, the screen/chassis ratio is 84% and can be seen.I did not encounter applications because it would stretch too much on the screen, and in YouTube there is a dedicated button that you can extend the video all over the screen or keep it in the original image ratio.

Ce a făcut Samsung? A schimbat raportul ecranului, acum având unul 18,5:9, în sensul că e mult mai lung. Majoritatea aplicațiilor nu vor avea probleme, dar unele s-ar putea să întâlnească mici sincope.

Technical performances

Something about technical things.The processor in Romania and Europe is one produced by Samsung.It is called Exynos 8895 and has eight cores, four of which are cut at 2.3 GHz, and four nuclei at 1.7 GHz.It's a combination for battery saves.

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The model in Europe has only 64 GB of storage capacity, but can be expanded with a microSD card mounted near the SIM card.The card can also be 256 GB.RAM is 4 GB.Models in the United States and Asia have higher specifications, but not necessarily more important.The battery is 3,500 milliampes, but I go into details later, and cannot be removed.It's a reality of the premium phones we should accept - the battery is no longer removed.

Audio

Essential for those disappointed that Apple gave up the headphone jack, Samsung kept it.And that I enjoy enormously.The audio quality is very good, even without headphones, and what we receive in the package is a little more special, although it will not be appreciated by everyone.The headphones are AKG, but they are more for those who want to play sports.At least the shape is one of sports headphones.The thread is quality, textile, and you can use them to talk on the phone.In addition to headphones, in the package you receive an adapter from normal USB to USB Type C, if you want to use another charger, but also a USB adapter for USB C, for data transfer.

Operating system

Telefonul vine dotat cu Android 7.0 Nougat modificat de către Samsung, așa cum ne-a obișuit tradițional. Sistemul de operare păstrează din calitățile Android, dar are un design Samsung. În partea inferioară vei găsi cele trei butoane importante - Multitasking, Home și Înapoi, care sunt virtuale. Per total, majoritatea aplicațiilor create de Samsung arată bine, deși multe sunt total inutile. Însă, pot înțelege că e un telefon pe care să-l folosești instantaneu după ce-l scoți din cutie.

As you can see in the image below, taken from Marques Brownlee's YouTube channel, Samsung has a tradition to recreate any Google application.Although it is based on Android, Samsung has an autonomous attitude.You have two app stores, you have to make a samsung account, the calendar is modified, the camera is own (this is a good thing), the notes are changed or even Google Translate.Google applications work well, and Samsung charges your phone with its own applications.

Obviously, being an Edge phone, you can set your edge to have the most common contacts, favorite applications or last open.Everything is done with a right -handed swipe on the curved edges.I disabled this option, because I do not want to use the software qualities of the edges.Also, another application that Samsung put on my neck is Game Launcher.There all the games were saved, like in a folder.I didn't need it, but I kept it there, because I had nothing to do.

And, we reach the disturbing element of the operating system and the new Samsung - Bixby phones. What's Bixby? He's a smart assistant. Like Google Now. It activates from the physical button to the left of the phone. Bixby does exactly the same things in Romania as Google Now: it delivers personalized news, weather, alarms according to the location and the time of day, Reminder from the calendar and photos from the gallery. There is nothing spectacular in Bixby, apart from Samsung's. In the United States, Bixby can be used as a special feature in the camera. Open the camera, select Bixby, photograph a phone and get a link to the online stores where you can buy it. Nice to have, but completely useless in Romania. In fact, some functions presented at the launch event are useless here - Bixby, Samsung Pay or Samsung Connect. Last feature allows you to connect all Samsung smart devices. As the Romanian market is very small in this category, it is very useless.

Overall, Samsung offers a cleaner operating system than in other generations, but Bixby is an unnecessary addition.The problem is that that physical button can only be used only for Bixby, not for something else.Some smart boys have managed to find a detour and make him go to something else, but you have to read here and install other applications.

Security

Samsung boasts the security he puts in this phone.It is true that for business users, Samsung Knox, Samsung's security and encryption module is very good and even praised by specialists.But I will address the simpler things that are used everyday.Namely, the ways of securing and locking the terminal.

Samsung a introdus nenumărate opțiuni: parolă, model, amprentă, scanarea irisului sau recunoaștere facială. Dintre toate, cea mai nesigură este recunoașterea facială, care poate fi păcălită cu o simplă poză. Așa că renunțați la ea. Ce-mi place este că poți combina mai multe modalități de deblocare deodată. Eu am avut amprentă, PIN și recunoașterea irisului. Le voi lua pe rând.

The recognition of the iris I considered it problematic, but it works quite well. It intervenes when sliding on the screen. It appears at the bottom of the screen the possibility of entering the password, and at the top a shooting where to look with your eyes. The distance can be about 40 centimeters, further unable to recognize. The speed also depends on how well you focus your eyes, but in principle, it has moved in less than a second. I did the test with other people, to see if I didn't confuse their eyes, but this was not the case. For the normal user it may not be important, but Samsung added to S8 and S8+ the so-called Samsung Pass, which is an algorithm through which online commercial sites or even banks will be able to add authentication through Samsung Pass. Basically, if you have a phone like this and enter the website of a bank, you will be able to authenticate as if you unlock the phone, because your iris is unique. If banks will trust to use technology, then it means it's good enough. It surprised me by speed and usability.

Instead, if we talk about usability, the fingerprint sensor has disappointed me in many ways.I love the fingerprint sensor from the iPhone now, because it is the simplest way to unlock a phone, at the same time being very safe.Samsung decided to put the sensor on the back of the terminal.You can read here an article in which it is mentioned that the initial intention was to put the sensor on the phone screen, but due to the technical problems, the last-minute decision was made to be put in a simpler place, on the rear housing.

The sensor works well. When you get it. It is located near the camera and countless times I put my soy finger on the room, instead of the sensor. Also, the rectangular form did not help me much and I had to try it many times until I hit it. I also added the right hand and left hand for safety, but I felt the left sensor, unlike iPhone or OnePlus, phones that I constantly use. The usability is terrible. Any sensor on the back of the phone seems uninspired, because I often keep my phone on the desk, on a stand on the desk or in the car stand. If I want to unlock it slightly, so far at other phones I press the front button. The movement was natural, light and safe. So, with Samsung, I have to pick up the phone and press the fingerprint sensor. Or write a password. Or a model. Or to look at him. I am convinced that the South Koreans wanted more than that, because they used us with phones that are carefully built to details, but they could not. This is a point in the minus, if this thing matters to you.

Autonomy

The 6.2 -inch phone battery is 3,500 milliampes.I looked with concern these figures since I saw them on the stage of the launch event.Samsung says Exynos processor has been optimized for better consumption.Honestly, it depends on what expectations you have.If you want a high autonomy phone, ie two days, the Samsung Galaxy S8+ is not for you.

I used it as an ordinary user, but also very intense.I took it 100% from 8 o'clock in the morning and used WiFi, 4G, looking at YouTube or using Waze 30 minutes, in a road through the city.At the end of the day, at 23.00, I had 17% battery.I fell asleep, and after a 10-hour stand by, the phone reached 4%, at which point I put it to charge.We have practically 26 hours of use, including in stand by.Comparing with iPhone or OnePlus 3T, the phone is at a better level than iPhone and about the same with OnePlus.

Therefore, it is not a phone with prolonged autonomy, but one with normal autonomy.Rapid loading comes to save us from many torments.The jack is USB Type C, so try to have the charger with you always, because there are not many others who have such charger.From 4% to 100% it takes about 87 minutes.It is a faster load more cursive than other producers, such as OnePlus, which suddenly charges 70%, and then harder.Therefore, loading to 100% is constant in that hour and a half.

Camera

I knew last year that Samsung has among the best rooms on the market.This year the changes were not big.The 8 megapixel front camera has autofocus and should be better.I'm not saying it's not, it just disappointed me.In low light, let's say you are in a club or at night on the street, the results are disappointing and moved, with that autofocus.For a praised room, I was expecting more from her.Unfortunately, it's in the category you do your job.

Instead, on the back we have a 12 megapixel camera that remained about the same as last year, with small software changes.For example, the camera automatically takes 3 pictures and sticks them to reach the desired result.It is impressive in good light and low light, managing to take some artistic pictures.The clarity of the details is extraordinary, they are well seen on the phone screen and on a larger laptop screen.Attention to settings.There is a set of Beautify, which eliminates wrinkles and other characteristic points.In the standard, I saw it set to 2 of 5, which changes the pictures a little, but the recommendation is to put it at 0 to take the natural pictures.At night, the phone was impressive.He manages to get light from where you do not expect, and you can even have some artistic effects, without moving the whole image.

For those who would need something like this, although I think Samsung was wrong, the camera application has standard Snapchat filters for selfie.As additional functions you will have Pro mode, which allows the camera's manual setting, panorama, selective focus, slowing filming, accelerated shooting, food and virtual photography.The last two are interesting.The food mode is for those who want to post everything they eat or cook on Instagram or social networks, with small changes in color tone.Virtual photography mode is for creating a 3D effect around an object.Basically, in the end, you can rotate the image to see all the details of that object.

The conclusion, following the use of the camera, is that the best camera on the mobile phones you can find on the Samsung Galaxy S8+.Quickness, clarity, good performance in low light.I was impressive room and made me take more pictures.I usually are one of those who make few pictures with a mobile phone.

Click here to enter the photo album with images made with Samsung Galaxy S8

Quality/price ratio

The phones will be available at the end of April in all online and offline stores.Samsung Galaxy S8+ 64 GB and 4 GB storage, which I also tested, has a pre-order price of 3,900 lei, and Samsung Galaxy S8 has a price of 3,500 lei.They are expensive phones, but they fall into the premium category.So, you can wait a bit for them, you can buy them for the subscription or you can invest in them.Is it worth changing a S7 or S7 Edge?My opinion is that no, because the differences are not so considerable.Is it worth giving an iPhone 7 on an S8?If you have the courage to make the transition from iOS to Android, I will venture to say yes, that's the movement you have to do.

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy S8+ is probably the best phone you can buy from the market today.Obviously, he has his mistakes, Bixby is useless, and the autonomy is mediocre, but overall he offers a premium experience, the screen is spectacular, the camera is quality.Until the iPhone 8 appears, Samsung manages to bring a phone to the head to the Android category.

With all the imperfections, Samsung seems even more "likaable".We hope not to fire.