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

[mrk]

I've been using 1440p resolution for a bit and on 1080P my average battery life was around 27 hours. At 1440P I get less, maybe 24hrs maximum.

When i do use the phone for long periods it's usual;ly watching media or doing lots of scrolling, so lots of GPU work going on flicking between apps, transitions and so on, so the extra resolution to draw does drain more battery resulting in a lower screen on time.

Personally the text sharpness difference between 1080p and 1440p is small, so now I've just gone back to 1080p.

I don't use Bixby, so have disabled everything to do with it using AdHell's package disabler. Using remapping apps causes performance issues. None of them will solve that and any app the claims to have "no lag" is lying.

Speaking of Adhell... AdHell2 latest update now works on the Oreo beta, just make sure the KNOX key you activate with doesn't start KLM and it should be fine. I was lucky in that a theme app dev recently sent some users with theme issues developer keys which don't seem to have the usual 3 month expiry, so I'll stick that in forever

How do people find the curved screen on the S8+?

I'm looking for a new phone with a good camera (coming from a OP3), and these are coming up for around £600 now. But the curved screen is putting me off a little.

It more video playback via youtube i guess i'm most concerned with.

The S8/+ curved area is much better than the S7 edge. On the S7 I got used to using it a specific way so palm touches didn't activate the edge of the screen. the S8 has much better palm reject and touch sensitivity on the edge of the screen so this is no longer an issue.

 

[Nexus18]

Will drop back down to 1080P then for the better battery life!

Regarding adhell 2, it doesn't seem anywhere as good as android plus for samsung internet browser, it blocks ads but leaves the gaps where the ads would be:






And +1 to the curve screen, not had any issues (normal s8), still rather have a flat screen as I don't like the way the image gets distorted on the sides plus the tinting issue on white backgrounds.

 

[mrk]

Yeah Adhell isn't designed to hide blocked elements, it's a system wide ad blocker for apps. If you want elements hidden within your browser on websites, then a browser addon that does that is your only option.

AdHell and browser level add-on based ad blocking are two very different concepts. You can use both, one will block ads and hide the gap they used to occupy in the browser, the other will just remove ads in apps and youtube.

 

[Nexus18]

Yeah Adhell isn't designed to hide blocked elements, it's a system wide ad blocker for apps. If you want elements hidden within your browser on websites, then a browser addon that does that is your only option.

AdHell and browser level add-on based ad blocking are two very different concepts. You can use both, one will block ads and hide the gap they used to occupy in the browser, the other will just remove ads in apps and youtube.

Ah I see.

Will keep both installed then and stick with adblock plus for the browser.

This is definitely a big plus for galaxy phones now, adblock across the system without any need to root

 

[mrk]

Samsung phones have had quite a few benefits the past 18 months or so compared to any other Android.

How far along we've come from the old days where TW was rightfully loathed

 

[Nexus18]

Yup it has certainly improved over the years!

I still like the clean feel/appearance of google's apps but the internet browser is miles ahead of chrome, likewise with the calculator, gallery and of course the camera app. Not too bothered about the rest of their apps though i.e. calendar, phone/contacts (although the little features like hold phone to ear to start a phone call are neat), keyboard and messaging app.

The tweaks under the hood are nice though i.e. better auto brightness, text/dpi size, multi window, different calibrations for the screen and so on.

 

[Richy888]

Yup it has certainly improved over the years!

I still like the clean feel/appearance of google's apps but the internet browser is miles ahead of chrome, likewise with the calculator, gallery and of course the camera app. Not too bothered about the rest of their apps though i.e. calendar, phone/contacts (although the little features like hold phone to ear to start a phone call are neat), keyboard and messaging app.

The tweaks under the hood are nice though i.e. better auto brightness, text/dpi size, multi window, different calibrations for the screen and so on.

Are you using Googles phone/contact app? I prefer Googles app but never changed. I've never used the phone to ear to start a call. Know it's there but always go down the conventional route making a call.

 

[Nexus18]

Are you using Googles phone/contact app? I prefer Googles app but never changed. I've never used the phone to ear to start a call. Know it's there but always go down the conventional route making a call.

No, not yet anyway.....

You can't install the google phone app from the play store so you'll need to download and install a version from xda.

 

[jas72]

Guys which case for a school bag? was looking at the i-Blason Prime Series Dual Layer Holster

Also what's the best brand micro SD card and max size ?

And lol at this video it's great start at 2.50

https://dbrand.com/skins/how-to-apply/galaxy-s8

 

[Richy888]

No, not yet anyway.....

You can't install the google phone app from the play store so you'll need to download and install a version from xda.

OK. Thought about it but kind of got used to samsungs version.

 

[chaparral]

Also what's the best brand micro SD card and max size ?

I have always used the Sandisk Ultra SD cards

They sell a SanDisk Ultra 400GB microSDXC Memory Card ,but I have not tried this size myself

 

[kaktus]

I just got my phone back from Samsung Repair who replaced the mainboard to fix the blurry camera issue.

I did a factory reset to start fresh and now it boots into Italian as default language and it's got Vodafone bloatware installed. This is a factory unlocked S8.

I did a second factory reset and same thing. Default language pop up is italian and vodafone bloatware is installed. wtf is going on? It's the same phone serial number and IMEI so I don't think I got someone else's phone by accident. on the repair note it says 'Software reset and rebuilt'. Could they have loaded an italian s8 vodafone rom???

 

[matthab]

I just got my phone back from Samsung Repair who replaced the mainboard to fix the blurry camera issue.

I did a factory reset to start fresh and now it boots into Italian as default language and it's got Vodafone bloatware installed. This is a factory unlocked S8.

I did a second factory reset and same thing. Default language pop up is italian and vodafone bloatware is installed. wtf is going on? It's the same phone serial number and IMEI so I don't think I got someone else's phone by accident. on the repair note it says 'Software reset and rebuilt'. Could they have loaded an italian s8 vodafone rom???

Weird, did you buy a grey import maybe? (Amazon Italy for example). It maybe also possible that they installed a refurb board which was originally from Italy, might be worth taking it up with them?

If you dont want to faff, then just download this: https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8/SM-G955F/BTU/ and install using odin.

 

[Darryl_1983]

Is it still worth buying one of these outright, with all the rumours of samsung announcing new phones in Jan?

I've got a price match setup with John Lewis for £620 for the S8+.

Will be to replace a OnePlus 3, mainly for the camera upgrade, as i'd like to be able to take better pictures of my kids as they grow up. I've considered the Note 8, but at approx £200 more, I wouldn't get anymore out of the SPen, and from my understanding the second camera lens is more for picture affects rather than quality, so probably not a benefit as a point and shot camera (unless i'm mistaken). I don't think there is that much difference in them other than that.

 

[welshdragon]

Samsung phones have had quite a few benefits the past 18 months or so compared to any other Android.

How far along we've come from the old days where TW was rightfully loathed

I agree with this. The S8 is superb. Really diggin wireless charging now I have the fast charge stand.

Accidentally bought Orchid Grey which has really warmed on me. Wish I had gotten blue though.

Dbrand skin next.

Anyone running the oreo beta have issues with barclays or tescos banking apps?

 

[Nexus18]

Yup really loving the gs 8.

Miss stock android + fast updates but it is a nice change for now and imo, no other phone is as "complete" as the gs8 currently, all the other phones have compromises in one way or another, be it no wireless charging, no water proofing, huge bezels, silly price, ugly design and/or a crap camera and then throw the issues plaguing some of the devices on top of those compromises and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

 

[james.miller]

Yup it has certainly improved over the years!

I still like the clean feel/appearance of google's apps but the internet browser is miles ahead of chrome, likewise with the calculator, gallery and of course the camera app. Not too bothered about the rest of their apps though i.e. calendar, phone/contacts (although the little features like hold phone to ear to start a phone call are neat), keyboard and messaging app.

The tweaks under the hood are nice though i.e. better auto brightness, text/dpi size, multi window, different calibrations for the screen and so on.

I prefer google photos over the samsung gallery, especially with the facial recognition stuff.

Also yes, S8 is a really solid phone and you choose the right Dbrand skin too

 

[Nexus18]

I prefer google photos over the samsung gallery, especially with the facial recognition stuff.

Also yes, S8 is a really solid phone and you choose the right Dbrand skin too

I never use the facial recognition The editing features + preview video before playing it sway me towards samsung's gallery, just wish a built in dark mode was present! Will have to check out sub. at some point although I found it rather poor on my 5x oreo with a lot of stuff not being themed properly.



Dbrand still haven't shipped my skin despite ordering it on the 28th November!!!!

How long does it take to take get from USA to the UK once shipped?

 

[james.miller]

Mine was about 10 days i think.

Substratum will allow you to theme just about everything. I gave up with it though, every time an app updates the app will just crash loop until you disable the theme or substratum gets an update. It doesnt work well if you beta test a lot of apps

 

[Nexus18]

Mine was about 10 days i think.

Substratum will allow you to theme just about everything. I gave up with it though, every time an app updates the app will just crash loop until you disable the theme or substratum gets an update. It doesnt work well if you beta test a lot of apps

Urgh! I need a skin, the back of this gs8 is disgusting looking now!

Meh, cba with that faff! Besides, the only white areas I see now are settings menu (hardly ever in there anyway) and the gallery + phone app.