The phones are now official!
Samsung’s problems with the Galaxy Note 7 are pretty well documented by now, but you know what they say: rough seas make for better sailors. Despite the intense and unrelenting pressure of their high-profile failure, Samsung’s two new phones look to be the best that the Korean company has ever made, and while the devices aren’t going to erase what happened with their previous flagship they’re certainly going to make our memory of it a little hazier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Ert5yjMV4
Samsung Galaxy S8 specifications
- Samsung Exynos 8895 octa-core processor/Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor
- ARM Mali-G71 MP20 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 5.8-inch WQHD Super AMOLED display, 2960 x 1440 resolution, dual curved edge
- 64GB expandable storage, via microSD
- 12-megapixel rear camera, f/1.7 aperture, Dual Pixel, OIS
- 8-megapixel front camera, f/1.7 aperture, AF
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- Fingerprint scanner, iris scanner, facial recognition, heartbeat sensor, IP68 certification, USB Type-C port, Bixby AI
- 3000mAh battery, fast charge
- Android 7.0 Nougat (TouchWiz UI)
Samsung Galaxy S8+ specifications
- Samsung Exynos 8895 octa-core processor/Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor
- ARM Mali-G71 MP20 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 6.2-inch WQHD Super AMOLED display, 2960 x 1440 resolution, dual curved edge
- 64GB expandable storage, via microSD
- 12-megapixel rear camera, f/1.7 aperture, Dual Pixel, OIS
- 8-megapixel front camera, f/1.7 aperture, AF
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- Fingerprint scanner, iris scanner, facial recognition, heartbeat sensor, IP68 certification, USB Type-C port, Bixby AI
- 3500mAh battery, fast charge
- Android 7.0 Nougat (TouchWiz UI)
And just like their domestic rival, the main selling point of both the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are their displays. Unlike the G6 though the displays on the S8 and S8+ don’t come at the cost of an extremely tall phone. The S8’s 5.8-inch display and the S8+’s 6.2-inch panel are edge-to-edge panels (dubbed the Infinity Display) that’s paired with ultra thin top and bottom bezels. The result? Phones that have bigger displays than the industry average despite being the size of a 5.1-inch and a 5.5-inch phone. Both phones are still IP68 rated.
Aside from the new panels, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have Samsung’s new virtual assistant, dubbed Bixby, baked in to combat the AI assistants of Google and Apple. The phones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor and Samsung’s own Exynos 8895, with PH customers receiving the Exynos variant when it drops in stores in May. Storage and RAM options are limited, with Samsung Philippines only offering the 4GB/64GB variant locally.
The rear camera stays the same at 12-megapixels, with an f/1.7 aperture with Samsung’s Dual Pixel tech, though the company has added a new multi-frame tech that takes images before, during and after a user presses the shutter button to improve the image quality. The front camera has been improved though, and now sports an 8-megapixel f/1.7 lens with autofocus tech, along with the ability to use animated stickers ala Snapchat.
Samsung’s also included a few new accessories with the S8 and S8+: the phones get better audio via AKG-branded headphones, and there’s a slew of new cases and accessories for the phone as well. There’s a new Gear VR model that has a controller now (ala Google’s DayDream) as well as a new Gear 360 (2017) model that can now take 4K video. The most interesting accessory here is the Dex, a dock that you can attach your phone to that transforms your device into a desktop workstation, kind of like Microsoft’s Continuum dock for their Lumia devices.
The Galaxy S8 is priced at Php 39,990, while the S8+ is priced at Php 45,990. Pre-orders start on April 17 and runs until the 29th, with the phones hitting the street come the first week of May. Samsung’s throwing in a freebie Bluetooth speaker valued at Php 5,099 if you pre-order.
