Samsung Canada had some good news for Canadians looking to purchase the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S8 Plus – they will be coming with a free set of AKG earphones if purchased through a carrier or retailer. According to Samsung, they are a $100 USD freebie that will allow the customer to enjoy the 32-bit DAC included in the design of the new Galaxy S8 series. Canadians have often been passed over when it came to free earphones, compared to buyers in the US. A prime example being the LG V20, as US buyers of the LG V20 received a pair of $200 Bang & Olufsen H3 earphones, but in Canada, there were none to be found. So this is likely to be good news for those who plan on purchasing one of the new Galaxy S8s in Canada. While the smartphones are expensive enough in Canada, the addition of the AKG earphones takes a little bite out of the price, while adding some fine sounds.
For background, these are headphones that come with a cord, which among other things, confirmed that Samsung was keeping the 3.5 mm jack in their new device(s). Samsung naturally turned to AKG since it has recently purchased its parent company, Harman. A move which now allows Samsung to include AKG-branded equipment with their smartphones, as they have now done with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. Likewise, Samsung’s purchase of Harman also influenced the Galaxy Tab S3’s speaker. With so many users watching more videos and movies on their mobile devices, it makes sense to have quality sound to go with the quality picture. Adding the quality earphones is a great marketing ploy by Samsung and one which is likely to further help boost initial sales.
The new Galaxy S8 comes with a larger 5.8-inch display while the Galaxy S8 Plus sports a large 6.2-inch display. Samsung calls this new 18.5:9 ratio screen their Infinity Display, and while it is Super AMOLED with dual-curved edges, there is something different about the way the display blends right into the glass back in an almost seamless fashion. Although the displays are larger, Samsung was able to fit then in a similar sized footprint to the Galaxy Note 7. With the Snapdragon 835 processor and the Adreno 540 GPU, Samsung seems to have a smartphone here that packs in the features.