Samsung Galaxy S8 With Everything You Needed To Know, All In One Place

This is a look back at the details of the Phone and takes you to a time gone by.
The release of a Galaxy S Phone is always a significant event. With good reason. Samsung’s premium flagship practically defines our expectations for high-end, high-price Android phones for the year to come. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ delivered a wide range of features, top-tier hardware, a great camera, bleeding-edge design. This, with Samsung’s marketing muscle, makes them the most popular premium Android phones. From hands-on impressions to reviews, tips, and how-tos, we collated all our Galaxy S8 coverage in one place. Make this article your hub. You need to know about Samsung’s powerful superphones. This article gives users an overview of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Specs

Size

Galaxy S8: 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm, 155 g
With Galaxy S8+: 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173 g
Galaxy S8 Active: 151.9 x 74.9 x 9.9 mm, 208.1 g

Display

Galaxy S8: 5.8-inch Super AMOLED, 2960 x 1440, 570 ppi
Galaxy S8+: 6.2-inch Super AMOLED, 2960 x 1440, 529 ppi
And Galaxy S8 Active: 5.8-inch Super AMOLED, 2560 x 1440, 506 ppi

Screen aspect ratio 18.5:9
S8/S8+ screen-to-body ratio 83.6%
S8 Active screen-to-body ratio: 81.5%

System on Chip

U.S. market has 10nm Snapdragon 835
Other markets have 10nm Exynos 8895 Octa
Up to 2.35GHz (Snapdragon) or 2.3GHz (Exynos)
4GB RAM
Adreno 540 G (Snapdragon 540 model)
Mali G-71 M0 (Exynos model)

Storage

64GB UFS 2.1 storage
microSD card support

Connectivity Networking

LTE Cat.16
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz),VHT 80 MU-MIMO, 1024 QAM
Bluetooth 5
USB Type-C
NFC
Location (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou)

Battery

Galaxy S8: 3,000 mAh
Galaxy S8+: 3,500 mAh
And Galaxy S8 Active: 4,000 mAh

Camera

Rear camera: 12 megapixels, dual pixel autofocus, f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilization, 1.4 micron pixels, 1/2.55-inch sensor size
Front camera: 8 megapixel, autofocus, f/1.7 aperture, 1.22 micron pixels, 1/3.6-inch sensor size
4K video at 30fps, 1080p up to 60fps, 720p up to 240fps

Other features

Galaxy S8/S8+/Active
Fingerprint sensor
Iris scanner
32-bit DAC
Miracast up to 1080p at 30fps
I8 water dust resistance
Fast wireless charging
NFC
Samsung Pay with MST support
Bixby AI assistant
Always-on display
Edge panels lighting

Galaxy S8 Active
Shatter-resistant display
Military-grade materials
Metal frame bumpers
Textured back plate
Bixby Activity Zone

Prices Release Date

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ were released on Apr. 21, 2017. The prices are shown from 2017. Depending on the model you could be looking for may have changed.

Prices started at around $720 for the Galaxy S8, and $850 for the Galaxy S8+, depending on your carrier. Carriers tend to run their own promotions, many of which tie you to that carrier for a couple years.

Samsung has also released an unlocked, carrier-free version that can be purchased through Best Buy or Samsung.com. This phone came without carrier apps that got updated from Samsung, not your carrier. It’s $725 for the Galaxy S8 and $825 for the S8+.

The Galaxy S8 Active was released on Aug. 8, 2017, exclusively through AT&T. It costs $850, or $28.34 a month for 30 months.

Reviews

Outside of their physical size and battery capacity, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ were identical. These were the most acceptable premium-tier phones you could buy at the release. Here’s a read with a lot to say about the Samsung S8.

Review of the Samsung Galaxy S8

DeX

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ support was a new feature called Samsung DeX, short for Desktop Experience. Placed in the DeX docking station. You could hook up a keyboard, mouse, HDMI monitor or TV, and ethernet. To use your phone in a new desktop computing environment.

samsung 3 — DeX let you connect your phone to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and use it like a desktop computer.

Tips And Tricks

Samsung’s software in the Galaxy S8 provided a ton of features and many options. You could tune how the home screen worked and customize Bixby. Change the order of the navigation buttons, enable or disable the edge display, and optimize for better battery life. And get rid of the app drawer, and much more.

Cases

If you need a case for your $800 phone? Yes, it was covered in glass and cost a small fortune. We tried some cases and covers, from barely there to big and rugged ones.

Gear VR And Other Accessories

The Galaxy S8 launched with a version of the Gear VR. It was nearly identical to past variations. With support for USB-C to support the new phones and micro-USB to support older phones. It included a motion-sensitive controller, increasing the immersion of VR titles.

samsung 5 — Gear VR now included a motion-sensitive controller for better immersion easier interaction.

It was not exclusive to the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S7, and Note 5 supported the motion controller. You can buy it separately if you already have a Gear VR.

FAQ

What were the differences between the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+?

The Galaxy S8 had a 5.8-inch display, and the S8+ had a 6.2-inch display. The Galaxy S8 has a 3,000 mAh battery, and the S8+ has a 3,500 mAh battery. Outside of those two differences, the phones were identical.

Did the various carrier versions differ?

Here in the U.S., all four carriers carry the S8 and S8+. Prices are roughly comparable; each carrier offers its own promotions and deals with its own special caveats. Fully purchased and unlocked. The phones could support the frequency to work correctly on any other U.S. carrier. The Verizon version did have one noticeable difference. The Bixby AI assistant could not deliver shopping suggestions using the Bixby Vision feature. Each carrier adhered to its own software update. And bundled sets of apps that can’t be deleted.

Is the battery going to blow up?

Rechargeable batteries are volatile. Nobody can 100% guarantee your battery will be safe. After the Note7 debacle, the subject bore special attention. Samsung instituted a new 8-point battery test for all its devices. And now the time has gone and declared a success. Everyone was in full panic mode with the Note7. There hadn’t been a peep about battery failures for the Galaxy S8 or S8+. With millions of sales and a whole world looking to create drama headlines about Samsung’s exploding phones. The Galaxy S8’s battery appeared to be safe as any other phone. With all the attention paid to battery safety by Samsung these days, probably more.

What’s up with that Bixby feature?

Bixby is Samsung’s AI assistant. It wasn’t ready for the spotlight at launch. Some of Bixby’s pieces were available for early adopters of the S8, including Bixby Home’s personalized interface. The spotty image recognition in Bixby Vision and the all-important voice component were missing. Samsung has added Bixby Voice to all phones; there’s quite a lot it can do. You can read all about how to set up and use Bixby Voice.

Did the Galaxy S8 support USB-C charging?

You can charge the phone using any regular USB-C charger. The phone uses fast charging technology. You won’t get fast charging with USB-C chargers like the chargers that come with the Pixel. Charging is best with the included charger.

How about wireless charging?

The phones support both major wireless charging standards, usually by the Qi brand name. It endorsed fast charging as standard on Samsung’s wireless charging accessories. It charges the phone twice as fast as a regular charge.

What colors did they come in?

In the U.S., we got black, silver, and grey. Samsung calls these Midnight Black, Arctic Silver Orchid Gray. There were 10 colors.

Did the phones support Daydream?

Yes! Daydream Virtual Reality wasn’t available. It has added the S8 to its list of Daydream-ready phones and begun rolling out the Daydream update to all Galaxy S8 phones. Any update will depend on the carrier. The Daydream View headset costs $79 through the Google Store and requires the Daydream app, available for free on the Play Store.

What about AKG headphones?

In 2016, Samsung bought the Harmon group for about $8 billion. One of Harmon’s brands is AKG, a name well-known for quality headphones. Samsung made good use of the acquisition by packing a pair of AKG dual-driver earbuds in every Galaxy S8 box. Samsung says they’re a $99 value. We found that to be a reasonable approximation of their value. They’re not the best earbuds. And they were miles beyond what you usually get in the box with a new phone.