The IT Nerd

Samsung just announced the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. This is more than just a phone launch for Samsung. It’s a reboot for the company following the exploding Note 7 debacle. They have to hit the S8 and S8+ out of the park or risk having their market share erode. Based on what I see, they have something that might do just that.

The S8 will come to the table with a big 5.8-inch display. If that’s not big enough, you get 6.2 inches on the S8+. One wonders how you will fit either phone in your pocket. Having said that, Both displays are also SuperAMOLED panels with QuadHD (2960×1440) with Samsung’s always-on display feature.

The CPU is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage on board. A microSD slot allows you to add additional storage. It runs Android 7.0 with the “Samsung Experience 8.0” layered on top. Plus you get the new Siri competitor Bixby. More info on Bixby can be found here. But it promises to be game changing for the company. Samsung is also first to market by having Bluetooth 5.0 on board. Plus you get a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor alongside the camera which is a 12MP sensor for the rear and 8MP camera on the front of the phone. There’s also facial recognition and an iris scanner for security purposes. Before you ask, yes there is a headphone jack. I guess they lacked courage. But it hasn’t affected the ability to be water resistant as it sports IP68 dust/water resistance. There’s also a docking station option called Dex which allows it to be connected to a monitor or TV effectively turning it into an Android-run PC.

Now onto the most anticipated part of the phone. The battery. There’s a 3,000 mAh battery in the S8 and a 3,500 mAh battery in the S8+, both with fast charging. To make sure that they don’t explode, the batteries were put through what Samsung describes as their toughest battery tests ever. Because they know that if even one of these phones explodes, it’s game over for them from a PR standpoint.

Samsung will be opening up pre-orders on March 30th and it will be available for sale on April 21st. Samsung isn’t confirming pricing for the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ at this point. Several colors including black, gray, and silver will be available.

So, will you be getting an S8 or S8+? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

UPDATE: Telus reached out to me to say that their customers can pre-order online starting today! Deliveries start as early as April 17. To sweeten the deal and get the most out of their new smartphones, Telus customers who pre-order the new Samsung S8 and S8+, will also receive the Samsung Gear VR with controller.

This entry was posted on March 29, 2017 at 11:45 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.