Finally, the day of the most awaited launching event of this season is here. Samsung just officially unveiled their latest flagship smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The Samsung Unpacked event was live on the company’s homepage and YouTube channel starting 11:00 A.M EDT. The South Korean company needed to make it up to its customers for the fiasco that was called Galaxy Note 7. It sure seems they managed to do this. The new handsets are not only gorgeous, but they are also quite powerful. As we all expected, Samsung certainly went out of its way to deliver an astonishing pair of devices.
Both devices have an innovative design. These are the first handsets from the Galaxy series that lack a physical home button. Instead, Samsung went for a cleaner, simpler design, with slim bezels. This way, it managed to deliver a slightly bigger screen, squeezed into a smaller body. The curved display and the rounded edges come together in creating the most beautiful Samsung Galaxy devices yet. The design change will certainly impress Samsung fans. Although we did enjoy the signature Samsung design, we must admit we got quite tired of it after a few years. A fresh look is definitely welcome.
Another change compared to the previous model intervenes in the security section. This time around, Samsung went all the way and equipped its flagship handsets not only with a fingerprint sensor, but also with an iris scanner, and the new devices also feature facial recognition. Practically, it’s almost impossible to gain access to someone’s Samsung Galaxy S8 if they don’t want you to. In order to further protect your email accounts, bank statements, and other accounts, there is the Samsung pass feature. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus also offer the possibility to secure photos, documents, and other content by placing them into a Secure Folder. Besides the fact that this folder is protected, users can also choose to hide it whenever the device is unlocked.
Besides the security features and the “infinity display”, as DJ Koh named it, the new smartphones also impress with a camera that is able to deliver great quality images even in low light conditions, and the new services offered by the handsets. The main feature is definitely Bixby, Samsung’s new AI assistant. Besides the fact that the assistant is able to launch a function the user’s requests, it can also schedule notifications and reminders, and it analyses behavior in order to provide accurately suggested information, apps, and functions.
The AI assistant is able to understand context. Thanks to this feature, users can seamlessly move between accessing Bixby by voice or touch. The new personal assistant is also able to recognize different objects and then find them on the internet. If you see something you like you only have to point your camera towards it. Bixby will tell you where you can find the object and how much it will cost you.
The 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 is the smaller of the two handsets. The S8 Plus features a 6.2-inch curved display. In order to deliver the infinity display, Samsung engineers needed to downsize the interior components of the smartphones. This way, they could ditch the bezels present on the previous models. Naturally, both handsets feature Super AMOLED screens with realistic colors and amazingly sharp images. Even though the physical home button disappeared, a capacitive home button is still there. It is just under the always on infinity display of the handsets.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus’s cameras feature a dual pixel sensor, just like their predecessors. The new camera features multi-frame processing. This way, users will get more frames, in order to reduce noise. The result is a perfectly clear picture. The selfie camera of the S8 is now an 8MP one with autofocus. The front-facing camera also offers users the possibility to choose from various shooting modes and optimized filters in order to create various scenes. Selfies never looked better than now. The new smartphones are waterproof and dustproof.
When it comes down to power, the Samsung Galaxy S8 impresses with a 10 nm processor. This is 10% faster than previous processors. Besides the fact that it is faster, the new processor also allows users to save energy. This way, the smartphone will last longer on a single charge. Speaking of charging, the new Samsung flagships feature fast charging, so pumping some juice into these little babies will be as easy as it gets. This feature will definitely prove to be useful, given the fact that the new models come with extremely interesting features, such as Samsung Pass and Samsung Health.
The Samsung Connect app is able to create a connection between all the smart devices in your office or home. The company’s ultimate goal is to improve Bixby to such an extent, that it will be able to connect all these devices and allow users to access them with their voice.
Even though the stars of the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event were the new flagship smartphones, the company didn’t stop at launching only two new products. The company also unveiled the brand new version of the Samsung Gear VR headset with a motion-sensing Bluetooth controller. Thanks to this feature, users will be able to easily interact with the immersive content they watch on the headset. This summer, users of the Gear VR will also be able to watch live streams from major events with their virtual reality gadgets. The new Gear 360 was also unveiled in all its glory. The new camera is more portable and it shoots in 4K. 360 live streaming will also be in the cards with the new Gear 360. As for the availability of the 360 camera, we only know that it will soon launch globally.
Another accessory to launch at the Samsung Galaxy Unboxed event was the DeX. This gadget allows users to connect their smartphone to their computer. This will definitely turn working on a smartphone a lot simpler than before. Users can benefit from their computer’s keyboard and mouse while controlling their smartphones. We have to admit, this is quite a great feature. In order to seamlessly use this gadget, Samsung managed to change the Android OS so that now it is compatible with computers too. Otherwise, it would have been quite hard to perfectly show what is on the Galaxy S8’s display on a computer screen.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 will be available starting April 21. Every handset will come with a pair of earbuds from AKG. These will also be available separately, of course. The starting price for the Galaxy S8 will be $720. The Galaxy S8 Plus will cost a little more, with a $840 price tag.