**** The Official Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ Thread ****

[richjs]

Hi all. Way behind the times I'm afraid, anyone have a good recommendation for a glass screen protector that's cheaper than the Dome? I cant really justify £40 at the moment but I can't stand the edges peeling off the plastic ones anymore.

I'm considering going without one but figured I'd ask first.

Cheers!

PS this is the first phone I've never felt the need to root/mod. Between Bxactions and swift installer it's perfect!

 

[hughtrimble]

Did anyone try the Galaxy S8 Active? I realise it was a US only release, but appears to have all the bands supported as the European released S8/+?

 

[MrRockliffe]

I've just got one of these at work, and don't ordinarily use cases on my phone, but wanted to with this as "it's not mine to break" - can anyone recommend a good one? I really like the look of the alcantara case but seems pricey.

 

[FlyingFish]

I've got one of these, great case, nice and slim, good feel, and tough enough for daily life. Had one on my last phone also.

http://amzn.eu/d/ipQIuge

Mick

 

[MrRockliffe]

I've got one of these, great case, nice and slim, good feel, and tough enough for daily life. Had one on my last phone also.

http://amzn.eu/d/ipQIuge

Mick

Thanks for the recommendation I'll take a look

 

[hughtrimble]

Any recommendations for a turbo charger for these? I'm seeing mixed reports on the fact that they're Quick Charge 2.0 devices, but can charge faster on QC 3 and even PD?

I've seen several Anker chargers that state they're suitable for these phones, but without stating whether they'll actually take advantage of the extra power output, suggesting they're merely compatible rather than actually using the charger to its full potential.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Any recommendations for a turbo charger for these? I'm seeing mixed reports on the fact that they're Quick Charge 2.0 devices, but can charge faster on QC 3 and even PD?

I've seen several Anker chargers that state they're suitable for these phones, but without stating whether they'll actually take advantage of the extra power output, suggesting they're merely compatible rather than actually using the charger to its full potential.

I'd go the safe route of getting a PD capable charger. At the very least it'll be as quick. Plus, it'll be fast charge compatible with numerous more devices as they begin to use USB C

 

[hughtrimble]

I'd go the safe route of getting a PD capable charger. At the very least it'll be as quick. Plus, it'll be fast charge compatible with numerous more devices as they begin to use USB C

Ah good stuff. Any recommendations for a specific charger?

 

[MrRockliffe]

Ah good stuff. Any recommendations for a specific charger?

Nothing in particular, but check out companies like Anker and Aukey, as I've found their stuff to be of high quality. From memory, Aukey do a 27W PD charger

 

[MrRockliffe]

I've been using the phone for a few days, and I can honestly say it suffers with the same performance issues every Samsung has ever done. Everything feels much slower compared to the Pixel 2XL I've been using. Here's a list of things I've noticed:

• App animations - they're often slower and/or incomplete
• I've had a few lockups - apps freezing, but not crashing
• Battery life seems noticeably worse, especially stand by. I can leave the phone for a day, and it'll go down 15%
• The screen is slightly better than the Pixel 2XL, but not to the point where I'd miss it. I would actually say colours are worse on the S8, a little over saturated. Similar to the Pixel 2XL, the screen exhibits a hue at an angle, however is red as opposed to blue. The lack of black crush is nice, as is the lack of smearing.
• Camera seems okay
• IT'S REALLY NICE HAVING A HEADPHONE JACK
• The build quality is very very good, about on par with the Lg G6. However, fits much more nicely into the hand.
• Finger print scanner is somehow worse than the Pixel 2XL. Constantly getting errors

Overall, decent phone, but glad it's a work phone and not a personal phone - I don't think I could put up with Samsung UI again

Also, got the Alcantara case - it's probably the nicest case I've used on a phone.

 

[Terrier_Jimlad]

Have you tried ditching TouchWiz and putting a different launcher on, like Nova?

 

[steve5424]

Have you tried ditching TouchWiz and putting a different launcher on, like Nova?

it's not called touchwiz anymore. Hasn't been for a long time.

 

[MrRockliffe]

it's not called touchwiz anymore. Hasn't been for a long time.

Just because they've called it something new, it doesn't mean it's any less crap

They've only rebranded it because of the stigma around it. Seems they change the name of it every year at the moment so people can't hate on (insert new UI name here)

Have you tried ditching TouchWiz and putting a different launcher on, like Nova?

It's the first thing I do Pixel just feels so butter smooth in comparison. I tried to take a photo of a plane going over yesterday, and the camera lagged so hard I only managed to take a blurry mess of a picture, while my GF with her Honor 9, who took her phone out after I did, took a great picture

 

[Kainz]

I've been using the phone for a few days, and I can honestly say it suffers with the same performance issues every Samsung has ever done. Everything feels much slower compared to the Pixel 2XL I've been using. Here's a list of things I've noticed:

• App animations - they're often slower and/or incomplete
• I've had a few lockups - apps freezing, but not crashing
• Battery life seems noticeably worse, especially stand by. I can leave the phone for a day, and it'll go down 15%
• The screen is slightly better than the Pixel 2XL, but not to the point where I'd miss it. I would actually say colours are worse on the S8, a little over saturated. Similar to the Pixel 2XL, the screen exhibits a hue at an angle, however is red as opposed to blue. The lack of black crush is nice, as is the lack of smearing.
• Camera seems okay
• IT'S REALLY NICE HAVING A HEADPHONE JACK
• The build quality is very very good, about on par with the Lg G6. However, fits much more nicely into the hand.
• Finger print scanner is somehow worse than the Pixel 2XL. Constantly getting errors

Overall, decent phone, but glad it's a work phone and not a personal phone - I don't think I could put up with Samsung UI again

Also, got the Alcantara case - it's probably the nicest case I've used on a phone.

This response is a bit rushed as I'm on my way out. I bought my S8+ in April and my last phone was a knackered Nexus 6P, which I've just recently setup for my mother so I can also add to this.

• Yes I agree on animations. Out of the box on my S8+ I immediately noticed janky animations whilst navigating the new UI. Replacing a launcher does bugger all - Samsung Experience is a huge layer baked into Android and consists of a ton of services etc that take up resources. This is how things are with Samsung devices, I can't see it changing. I have a ton of Samsung stuff disabled via AdHell3 but I still see the odd janky animation here and there. What matters for me is that the device is still stupidly fast when I need it.
• I've had no lockups but a few apps (Plex) crashing for some reason.
• Battery Life - 6hrs SoT. Excellent out of the box, right until the latest August update where myself and quite a few Reddit users have noticed a huge drop in battery life. Hoping the due September update, which brings 960fps videos (@480p) and Animojis or whatever they're called fixes this.
• Screen is beyond a Pixel XL2 imo. They shouldn't be mentioned side by side. Even my 6P's superb display looks tame - just be sure to set the S8+ to a colour setting other than Adaptive, which results in seriously rich colours.
• Camera is miles faster than my 6P but not better with the resulting shots imo. S8+ still produces excellent results on the whole though.
• Headphone Jack - yer godamn right.
• Build quality I'd agree on - curved display is a pain if you're a tempered glass user like me. The ONLY real alternative is the expensive Whitestone Dome.
• Fingerprint scanner - I think anyone would agree with you. The 6P or any Huawei phone's scanner is how it should be done. As a result I use iris unlock, which means I can't entirely disable Samsung's software as it is theirs.

I can't go back to a google device (I own a 6P and Pixel C) anymore. They're (imo) all test devices for google to play with and mess up at any time. Yes stock Android is nice, but it is also boring as hell. With no tweaks to play with it got stale very fast on both my google devices.

The hardware quality just isn't there on google devices and there are ALWAYS issues with Bluetooth or the display. I need a headphone jack, I would appreciate an sd card slot if at all possible and I need a decent screen. The Pixel 2 XL's panel when I viewed it earlier in the year was horrible and instantly pushed me towards the S8+. However I do agree that Samsung need to sort out their software - there is far too much of it and it hampers overall device responsiveness as it always has done in the past with samsung devices.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Battery Life - 6hrs SoT. Excellent out of the box, right until the latest August update where myself and quite a few Reddit users have noticed a huge drop in battery life. Hoping the due September update, which brings 960fps videos (@480p) and Animojis or whatever they're called fixes this.

I've got the standard S8, so only a 3000 mAh battery. The other day I was on my Pixel quite a bit, and had 63% left at the end of the day. I'd used the S8 to stream music to and from work and make a few calls, and was left with 65% at the end of the day :/ This morning, I took my phone off at 7AM and by the time I got to work at 8.30, it was on 92%. I find it can just drain really quickly

Screen is beyond a Pixel XL2 imo. They shouldn't be mentioned side by side. Even my 6P's superb display looks tame - just be sure to set the S8+ to a colour setting other than Adaptive, which results in seriously rich colours.

I honestly think the screen on the 2XL is really good. What I dislike about the S8 is that EVERYTHING is over saturated. Even things that shouldn't be. I've got a PB278Q at home which is fully calibrated, and the icons on the Pixel 2XL are much closer to that of the S8. But, I'm willing to let that all slide because when I watch a video in bed in the morning/evening, and brightness is on minimum, there's no black crush or smearing on the S8. All the contrast is still there. On the Pixel, it becomes a black mess. Content is either bright, or it's not visible.

In daylight conditions, I prefer the Pixel. Night? S8.

Build quality I'd agree on - curved display is a pain if you're a tempered glass user like me. The ONLY real alternative is the expensive Whitestone Dome.

I have kind of accepted that I'll never get a screen protector for either of the two phones. With the work phone, it doesn't matter so much, as I get to give the phone back

On the Pixel though... I dare not check it too closely (then again, when I actually unboxed the phone for the first time it was scratched, and had a hairline crack in it - hence why they're collecting in in a week or so).

I can't go back to a google device (I own a 6P and Pixel C) anymore. They're (imo) all test devices for google to play with and mess up at any time. Yes stock Android is nice, but it is also boring as hell. With no tweaks to play with it got stale very fast on both my google devices.

Stock Android is miles quicker than my S8, even with all the bloat disabled on it. In fact, I have considerably less apps on the S8 and tonnes on the Pixel, and yet everything I do on the Pixel is instantaneous and runs at 60 FPS.

S8? Well, it tries, I guess.

Here's a good example.

Pixel: Animation reveals the app. So as the app opens, the animation reveals the content inside it.
S8: The animation opens the app (if it decides to work), and then about 0.5-1 second after, the content appears. This is in basic apps like messages. Quicker once already open, but the device suffers with the same aggressive background app killing the Pixel does.

Ideal phone? OnePlus 6 with the camera from the Pixel 2(XL). All the benefits from the Samsung and Pixel then.

 

[james.miller]

The s8 isnt over-saturated unless you choose a colour profile that intentionally oversaturates - you have to choose the right mode for the colour space you are targetting; Basic mode for sRGB, photo for Adobe RGB, Cinema for DCI-P3 and dynamic for complete overkill.

 

[Kainz]

I honestly think the screen on the 2XL is really good. What I dislike about the S8 is that EVERYTHING is over saturated. Even things that shouldn't be. I've got a PB278Q at home which is fully calibrated, and the icons on the Pixel 2XL are much closer to that of the S8. But, I'm willing to let that all slide because when I watch a video in bed in the morning/evening, and brightness is on minimum, there's no black crush or smearing on the S8. All the contrast is still there. On the Pixel, it becomes a black mess. Content is either bright, or it's not visible.

In daylight conditions, I prefer the Pixel. Night? S8.

Sure you've got your Screen Mode set to something other then Adaptive? It sounds like you have.

Stock Android is miles quicker than my S8, even with all the bloat disabled on it. In fact, I have considerably less apps on the S8 and tonnes on the Pixel, and yet everything I do on the Pixel is instantaneous and runs at 60 FPS.
S8? Well, it tries, I guess.

Googles Android variant on the Pixels and the old Nexuses can't and won't ever be beaten. They themselves do the display driver optimisations amongst many other things. Recently when setting up my 6P for my mum I instantly noticed at how smooth the anims were on it. Swiping away notifications off the lockscreen, and navigating the settings app was a nice experience all over again. OnePlus comes very close but then they're dumping the headphone jack and copying Apple like everyone else i.e notch and raise ALL the prices.

AFAIK the only vendor doing things their own way is Samsung...

 

[MrRockliffe]

AFAIK the only vendor doing things their own way is Samsung...

Yep, but I just can't get over the UI

My first real smartphone was the Galaxy S2, which at the time was great. You didn't notice the slower UI because android wasn't really quick to begin with. I then had an Xperia Z, then a Z1. Next phone was a OnePlus One (managed to bag one in the 1st month of it being out, by entering a competition to be able to buy one ), and when that got Lollipop, I was blown away with how buttery smooth it was. I then went back to Samsung with the S6, and my god, it was like going back to the S2.

The same applies for me now :/

I really wish we could have another S4 Google Play edition, but with the S9. Or just an Android One version that isn't half baked.

A man can dream.

 

[Nexus18]

I've been using the phone for a few days, and I can honestly say it suffers with the same performance issues every Samsung has ever done. Everything feels much slower compared to the Pixel 2XL I've been using. Here's a list of things I've noticed:

• App animations - they're often slower and/or incomplete
• I've had a few lockups - apps freezing, but not crashing
• Battery life seems noticeably worse, especially stand by. I can leave the phone for a day, and it'll go down 15%
• The screen is slightly better than the Pixel 2XL, but not to the point where I'd miss it. I would actually say colours are worse on the S8, a little over saturated. Similar to the Pixel 2XL, the screen exhibits a hue at an angle, however is red as opposed to blue. The lack of black crush is nice, as is the lack of smearing.
• Camera seems okay
• IT'S REALLY NICE HAVING A HEADPHONE JACK
• The build quality is very very good, about on par with the Lg G6. However, fits much more nicely into the hand.
• Finger print scanner is somehow worse than the Pixel 2XL. Constantly getting errors

Overall, decent phone, but glad it's a work phone and not a personal phone - I don't think I could put up with Samsung UI again

Also, got the Alcantara case - it's probably the nicest case I've used on a phone.

- not noticed any serious issues, enable developer options and set 0.5x time speed and use nova
- no issues here with force closes, lockups etc. maybe factory reset or the apps you're using?
- battery is about the same for me with any phone i.e. get through a day with heavy usage and 2 days with light usage so pretty much charge every night
- enable basic, cinema or photo mode and you will have an incredibly accurate display
- not had any issues with finger print scanner although it certainly isn't as nice as as the google devices placement
- install swift, custom apps etc. etc. and you will hardly ever see/notice the samsung UI, this is android, customise it to your liking

 

[MrRockliffe]

- not noticed any serious issues, enable developer options and set 0.5x time speed and use nova
- no issues here with force closes, lockups etc. maybe factory reset or the apps you're using?
- battery is about the same for me with any phone i.e. get through a day with heavy usage and 2 days with light usage so pretty much charge every night
- enable basic, cinema or photo mode and you will have an incredibly accurate display
- not had any issues with finger print scanner although it certainly isn't as nice as as the google devices placement
- install swift, custom apps etc. etc. and you will hardly ever see/notice the samsung UI, this is android, customise it to your liking

I've done all of that, having owned an S7 Edge

Shortening the animations doesn't make the phone quicker, it just means the animations are shorter. You still get the delays when opening the apps

It's not the look of the UI I have an issue with. It's the consistency and the speed.

It just doesn't feel any different/quicker than a £300 device.

I'd hoped this had changed, as I really wanted the Note 9, but can't see myself getting one now, as I'll likely experience the same slow downs