Earlier today, Samsung finally took the wraps of the Galaxy S8. Along with the Galaxy S8, came a larger variant, the Galaxy S8 Plus. Both of which are fairly similar in design, specs, and features, with the main differences being that the plus-sized model comes with a larger screen and a greater battery capacity. Following the announcement from Samsung, we were able to get a closer look at what will be two of the most popular smartphones of 2017.
It is clear from looking at the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus that while the design is an extension of what Samsung has been doing over the last year or two, it is still radically different. While the now-normal Galaxy Edges are in effect, the screen is an edge-to-edge screen which uses up nearly all of the front panel. This has inevitably had a knock-on effect on some of the other design points as well, as gone are all buttons and the fingerprint sensor. The latter now resigned to the rear panel. Besides the overwhelming screen, the only other notable aspects on the front panel is the front-facing camera and the inclusion of an iris scanner for advanced security functionality.
Moving to the back of the device(s) and this is where things are a little more normal and in-line with recent Samsung Galaxy S offerings. The back panel is once again primarily constructed from a mixture of glass and metal, with the former adopting the bulk of the design and the latter employed to accentuate in areas. The rear-facing camera is (relatively speaking) in the same position as on the Galaxy S7 Edge, although the LED flash has been moved to the other side of the camera and in its old location you will find the re-positioned fingerprint scanner. The rest of the back largely remains untouched with just the Samsung logo in play.
One notable addition to the Galaxy S8 line is the inclusion of a new hardware button which can be found on the left of the handset, located just below the volume buttons. This is the Galaxy S8’s dedicated assistant button, aka the Bixby button. While the Galaxy S8 and Bixby do make use of voice commands, this conveniently located button is designed for quick launch of Bixby and especially when the device is in a locked state.
The already-mentioned aspects aside, and the rest of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus do follow on nicely from last year’s Galaxy S models. In spite of the front of the smartphone appearing drastically different to previous Galaxy S models, this is still inevitably a ‘Samsung device’ and for those that do like the look and style of Samsung Galaxy smartphones, you will find this one to be probably the most-attractive smartphone to come from the Samsung stable so far. While the display does overwhelm the front panel, it does really add to the look of the device and with this being a Samsung display, it is not all just about size. You are getting an extremely rich and vivid display, as well as a very big one too. Of course, it is worth pointing out that if you are coming from last year’s Galaxy S7 (non-edge version), then you will have to adjust to the size of the display as the standard Galaxy S8 comes with a 5.8-inch display and that is the smaller of the two now-announced Galaxy S8 smartphones. Which is a considerable stepping up in size compared to the 5.1-inches that was on offer with the Galaxy S7. You can take a closer look at the Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus in our hands-on gallery below.
