A superb variant of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the S8+ is a brilliantly huge smartphone almost as big as the Galaxy Note 8. Being the next big thing with its amazing features and designs, a slightly higher pricing and better battery life is just what anyone looking for a giant smartphone of its type would want.

The older Galaxy S7 Edge with its 5.7 inch curved edges was very sleek and many of us loved it. Though this upgrade is way huger than that and we’re talking about a whooping 6.2 inch. Even it’s smaller variant is still a bit huger than the older S7 edge (Galaxy S8 is 5.8).

Wondering how huge that would be in your hands but Samsung did this one way better. Despite its huge screen, it’s still almost of the same size with the S7 Edge just somewhat taller but considering the elimination of the excess bezels on all areas of the device, it also fit well in small hands.

Also, the popular Oval-shaped home button is way long gone and it’s fellow siblings the Back And the Option buttons too. The home. Button is replaced with a pressure sensitive button which wakes the screen.

With the launch of three iPhone X, 8 and 8+, I’d say the competition is always on as this is a very great contender. Grabbing one means a very great upgrade from the initial and utilising such a well built device might mean alot to some.

It’s VR ready while it’s awesome camera capabilities are extremely powerful. It’s display is very nice and ultra clear.
Samsung being able to always keep up with the lead means a lot.

Although this isn’t the phone anyone can decide to get. Might be too expensive to some, might be too huge to others or even too small. But depending on whichever you’d prefer, Samsung’s somehow got you covered.

The back fingerprint scanner might not be in its idea place. I mean suddenly having to reach for the side of the camera of the phone might not be a very good idea but well, it’s still nothing to worry about. Although face recognition unlock isn’t doing very fine yet.

And Bixby is still very much a learner or should I say it’s a Beta assistant. So don’t expect so much from it.

(Hardware /Design)

Way larger than S8 but beautiful

Lots of improvements in the designs of the new S8 in general. The S8+ is just way larger than the normal version which is indeed a phone of choice for those that preferred it big.

As part of the redesign, the logo which is always at the forefront at the top of the device in older versions had been shifted to the back alone as a result of the spaces used to contain its large 6.2 inch screen which doesn’t take excessive spaces like iPhone 8 Plus for example with its 5.5 inch but still having some unnecessary bezels all around the screen especially at the top and bottom of it.

Infinity Display as many refer to it had enabled the phone to have a sleek design with a nearly bezel-less dimension making it technically responsible despite its bigger screen.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is an IP68 rated water and dust resistant gadget. This means even while been submerged into a pond of water for minutes, it’s still survived and comes clean.

The design is really attractive.

Still on the design, how Samsung was able to manage the real estate of the device in such a neat manner whereby nearly eliminating the top and bottom bezels is a very courageous move.

The adoption of the onscreen navigation keys isn’t new on Android phones and we’re happy to see it too on the Galaxy S8+.
Just like the way Apple had eliminated the home button and compressing it’s iPhone X’s 5.8 inch screen into a very moderate and easy to hold casing with elimination of bezels is well a sure thing to make the S8+ a total contender in 2017’s gadget war.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus measures 159.5 X 73.4 X 8.1mm and it’s weight is around 1 7 3 grams. Considering this dimension though, it makes the device to be a bit taller than even the Older Galaxy Note 7 but if you’re to place that beside the iPhone 7, then we’d be talking about just being 1 millimetre taller than the latter but not wider or as heavy as it is.

That is a thumb up to Samsung for such management for a device of 6.2 inch display.
After some try out to test the protection on the camera which is included to save the camera in case it falls off, well it was actually a real good thing.

Although I’m not usually as aggressive with smartphones but hitting it quite hard enough on the kitchen slab isn’t a bad way to test the energy of the protection anyway and the result was awesome.

Also, you wouldn’t have to worry about the bumpy rear camera anymore because Samsung had made this one way flatter.

Submerging the S8+ in a 1.5m underneath the water pond for around 30 minutes won’t hurt it an inch because of its capacity to resist both water and dust.

It has an IP68 rating which is a sort of certification about that claim.

Also, USB-C port is here to stay. The Galaxy S8 Plus boasts a port that’s useful not only for charging but also for file transfers which is a good replacement for the older MICRO USB Port which is sort of non-reversible.

The 3.5mm headphone jack is still right here for those that still prefer it the olden ways. Unlike iPhone switching to AirPod, You can still use traditional earphones with your S8+ without any hiccup.

Although there were rumors about Samsung planning to eliminate this for a USB-C audio but well, that could be in the next upgrade.

Right in the box is a high-end AKG-BRANDED earbuds which are all meant to enhance better audio quality.

Speaker still resides at the bottom of the device although it might be an accidental victim of being covered while using your phone in landscape mode for example if your watching videos or playing games.

You might be surprised why you’re not hearing anything anymore. I’d prefer this to have been somewhere else but well there is more to expect in the future.

Apple is a bit considerate in this aspect as it can be felt in the iPhone 7.

Iris scanner is a hit lagging even in the Note 8, there is still a bit of problem recognising your face depending on how you got your face registered.

While that won’t be a deal breaker, the fact that the typical fingerprint scanner is been sent back right above beside the camera might not be a good idea as it can be really problematic to some but not everyone though.

For example, those that have been using LG, Google or Motorola smartphone or even lower ends like Infinix, Tecno or Innjoo all know that the usual position is right at the back but this is sort of an old trend which doesn’t look as attractive as it seems.

Most of us expected that to have change and considering the fact that Samsung is a so-called trendsetter makes us wonder why the older trend is still being followed even in 2017 on all Samsung’s phones including the Note 8.

But that’s not a big deal anyway.

Bixby owns a button at the side of the phone while volume and power buttons are also present. All these aren’t bad for a beautiful phone of such.

But do note that this phone is quite huge. Damaging such beautiful display might not be a good thing even considering how much it costs.

A casing is recommended especially for those of you that wants to keep the phone neat. Just that you won’t get to see it’s beauty at a glance anymore because most casing would wrap the entire phone up.

Safety is more important anyway.

Displays

AMOLED display with an amazing 18.5;9 aspect ratio for a big 6.2 inch isn’t a bad idea for the Galaxy S8+. Being the best phone with an amazing display isn’t a make-up story. Considering it’s pack of pixels which enables a really crystal clear display and VR ready can be a point to back things up.
That’s definitely not all that’s happening here.
Its new 18.5:9 aspect ratio elongates the screen’s dimensions to give you more viewing space; you can train your eyes on two to three Facebook stories at a time in your newsfeed, instead of having to continuously scroll just to read portions of one.
Also, considering how Samsung was able to immerse the phone’s display making the impressive 88% screen-to-body ratio of Makes the Infinity Display bragging a reasonable one. Now compare this to iPhone 8 which sits at around 68% screen-to-body ratio or even the older Galaxy S 7 Edge.

Being AMOLED with a big display, 4K videos are supported. Also is the HDR support which offers a more brightened and vibrant display as we’ve seen on the older Note 7.

Although by defaulting video resolution TO FULL HD 1080P, you’re saving more powers for something better.

Though as of now, it’s resolution are really killing it with its sharp colors and more but never forget that even VOD providers only supports 4K TVs and not yet taking it down to mobile.

Since that’s not a thing to worry about considering many factors, Samsung still made the screen a really huge object of attraction and we love it.

(Software)

TouchWiz is now Samsung Experience.

As OF Galaxy S 7, the TouchWiz was a serious disaster which many complained about of some lags and many more but this is S8 and that means an upgrade to the older Version of the UI software.
Now it’s better looking with improved gestures which helps in menu shortcuts.

Oh and did I remember to tell you that “TouchWiz” had been renamed to “Samsung Experience” well, that’s a really good move which really did great in ditching the old lags and improving on the way new one that actually work out of the box with the big screen.
Ones you’re hooked, you can search your way out. It’s clean and robust. It corporates well with the Android Nougat 7.0 making the device much more robust and amazing. I really love that.
Also, you can swipe either up or down ways to start some functionalities such as triggering an internal search box and full app drawer.
In case you’re like me trying to keep your device’s traditional app drawer button hidden, this is for you.
Although long pressing single apps to show some pop outs which can be used to decide what action to take on them like uninstalling them etc as seen on third party applications like Go-launcher as an example, The new Samsung Experience now feature all these.
Also, you can visit the Samsung app store to gain access to multitude of themes, fonts and wallpapers all which are meant to beautify your smart screen. It’s a really good move.
Another good thing is the notification area which is way customizable and are easy to read. It’s coloring is nice and very simple.
Using Nougat also means alot apart from a beautiful interface. The notifications are now grouped together and split-screen isn’t doing bad at all considering the good big screen.

Hello Bixby

Bixby is supposed to be our good friend and help us perform such tasks like dialing a number, looking up a search on search engines, opening an application and many more. The young AI virtual assistant isn’t doing bad in its respect but just that it has some lags which makes me think it’s supposed to be labelled a beta application bit that doesn’t matter.
Though Bixby is made by Samsung, let’s not forget that Google Assistant too comes preloaded with the Android within the phone.

But in case of making Bixby easier to access, Samsung dedicated a whole big button on the side for this Robot so you can easily call on it anytime.
Technically that’s great as it’s easy to access. Just that there usually is some mismatch with the volume down which means you accidentally call on Bixby even if you don’t mean to.

It’s a really promising young Bot which is can be really put up against the likes of Apple’s Siri or even Google’s Assistant. It’s a great replacement for S-Voice in older versions of the smartphone.
Some things about Bixby are the Bixby Home, Bixby Vision, BIXBY Reminder.

1.) Bixby Home: Do you want to read online information such as news stories, local weather reports, schedules and activity all these are easily relayed out to you by the Bixby Home. It located at the leftmost menu.

2.) Bixby Reminders: This is like a basic reminders app that can also pull text from the web and other apps as part of the ‘Share’ button. You can add a time or a geolocation to the reminder.

3.) Bixby Vision: can do some identifications of object using the camera and bring up Pinterest images of the thing you already have, or locate stores where you can buy… the thing you already have. It may be helpful for reading up on a certain wine, but it’s really difficult to see the everyday usefulness of this feature right now.

Another thing I don’t find amusing is the fact that taking screenshots is going to take some learning curves to get used to the newer methods.

Unlike the older way whereby you just hold the Home button and then the power button but it’s power button and volume down (Just as it is in other Android Smartphone other than Samsung) While that won’t be a problem to those new TO Samsung, it will be strange to those using Samsung for a long time.

That’s where Bixby button gets in your way by confusing it to volume down button and that triggers Bixby everytime. And that can be really annoying.

Moreover, Google Assistant is onboard from the start, meaning Samsung now has competing voice assistants on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. And Google’s AI gets top billing; it’s activated by long-pressing on the home button – no need for Samsung’s invented Bixby button.
Bixby also finds some accent or words difficult and that can make you get mad at it. British words aren’t going to get into Bixby’s brain quickly but it gets Americans words way better. And like I said, Bixby is still coming up. So don’t expect too much yet.

Performances and Specifications

4 GB RAM is no joke that means a lot of speed. Storage is a whooping 64 GB which offers a lot of power that can be reasonable for the use of a Samsung GEAR VR headsets. Although variants in the Chinese market come bundled with a 6 GB of RAM but we’re not mad at all that puts doesn’t come with such because the present is way fast and powerful enough.
Now in the US, there is a speedy Qualcomm 835 and the other Samsung Exynox 8895 in the UK is even way speedier. This phone is a very fast one and that places it as a potential replacement or even a closer rival to the huger Galaxy Note 8 smartphone.

Older S7 edge draws more energy as a result of its 14nm chips but that’s not the case with the S8+ because of the reduction which is now 10nm chipsets but they are way fast and that makes the device way powerful.

Although the default Samsung’s Exynox chips are usually faster than those in the US variant with A Qualcomm chipset but the variation is that the latter have the US-essential CDMA capacity which will enable it to work seamlessly with carriers such as Verizon and Sprint.

The difference between these two variations isn’t a very significant one though with Qualcomm averaging a score of 6.000 multi-core score and the Exynox gets a higher 6,630.

That’s great news for anyone who wants to step into the future of mobile virtual reality with the new Samsung Gear VR , or simply avoid slowdown two to three years down the road.

The S8 and S8 Plus have fully capable chipsets to power’s VR next generation the 3D graphics, and everyone benefits from this smartphone powerhouse.

Also supported is the featured Bluetooth Dual Audio which can output better audio quality to two sets of headphones at the same time.

Although way expensive, it’s worth the take as it’s very good and sleeker than any other smartphone I’d ever touched this year.

Internal storage is 64 GB and it can be extended to as high as you’d like. Unlike the older S7 Edge with different storage variants in the number of 32GB, 64GB OR 128GB. MicroSD is back and probably here to stay unlike Apple’s iPhone 7, 8 & 8 Plus or Google Pixel XL which doesn’t have it.

Assuming memory is your thing then this is your choice of device.

Camera

‘A supercam for the big’ The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus features comes out of the box with no amazing 12MP camera which has lots of improvements and even shoot awesome pictures in low-lights and also videos has the OIS which makes things way better than the predecessor.
Are you a camper or an adventurer, or you are the type that needs the most awesome camera on a smartphone, well you got one. The S8+ has the most amazing camera you’d ever expect.
Breaking it down, the main camera features a 12MP sensor with a Dual Pixel autofocus, a really speedy f/1.7 aperture which captures large 1.4µm pixels.
Now because of its better chipsets, the Galaxy S8+ offers a better low-lights photos as a result of its multi-frame image processing.
Just as there is a HDR+ mode in the Google Pixel’s smartphone, the S8+ simply take the best of the three shots and utilises the other to reduce motion blur.
The front camera is a very suitable one which does more than just for taking selfies. It’s got a way bigger upgrade than the older version. The camera simply makes pictures way colorful and enhances your looks and there is even a beauty mode anyway. Assuming you use third party selfie applications, you are just gonna have a smooth selfie but even the default camera app is amazing without filter or any adjustment.
A sharper selfie is as a result of the upgrade from the older 5MP camera to this 8MP sensor with autofocus and facial recognition.

Also, switching from the front camera to the back is just a wipe away which is now way easier to access. Zooming in and out too can be done with a single finger by simply sliding left or right on the shutter button. Although you can still pinch-to-zoom assuming you’re taking pictures in your total convenience.

To access virtual masks, filters and enhancers which are there to make your pictures amazing, you just need to do a swipe to the left which brings up menus for this features. It’s as if Samsung is now even thinking of stealing Snapchat’s idea. LOl????.
One swipe to the right brings up all of the capture modes: Auto, Pro (manual), Panorama, Selective focus, Slow motion, Hyperlapse (timelapse) Food and Virtual Shot.

Other virtuality which aren’t included are Soortshot, Animated Gifs and Dual Camera (this mode shows the camera taker’s selfie while simultaneously taking pictures with the rear main camera) all which can be gotten from the Samsung App Store.

Another sweet thing is you can add any of these virtual modes to your device home screen as a shortcut. Samsung is really amazing when it comes to camera apps included on its smartphone.

You can record amazing videos even by holding the phone with your hands remember the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which does a lot in making images to still maintain its good looks even with few shakes.

While a Tripod is a very good thing to have for A YouTuber who wants to record a selfie video or anyone who want to record a sort of close-shot video, the video’s low-lights enhancement makes it a very good choice which shouldn’t be a thing of concern anymore as this upgrade is way better than the older.

Samsung has made the S8+ to be way amazing than we’d expect.

Battery

After the so much anticipated Galaxy Note 7 which ended up in disappointment, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus sort of stepped in although not entirely as a replacement to the Note Series but considering its huge battery capacity, the 3500 mAh is way strong enough to take you a day and half if you’re not a heavy user and with advanced battery saving properties, you can always extend your usage for a longer hours.

Another wow (though not a new thing) is the time it takes to recharge an emptied battery. Within just 1 hour 11 minutes you’re done. Thanks to its fast and wireless charging capacity with its included USB-C.

We’ve seen very huge batteries on phones like Asus Zenfone Max with nears as huge as 5000 mAh battery but the decent battery on the S8+ has the exact size or capacity as that in the older Note 7 but with 100 fewer milliamps than the Galaxy S 7 Edge.

The device features a 10nm chipset which doesn’t takes too much of your battery and Quad HD resolution is turned off by default just as the Note 8.

Running a 90-minute Full HD looped video from a 100%-charged battery, we found the phone to drain 11% on Quad HD, leaving us with 89% of juice.

Setting it to Full HD, the same video burned fewer pixels and drained 8%, with 92% battery remaining. See the difference. The higher screen resolution is a battery drainer sort of.

There is also a load of battery optimization software all which are there to make it easier to manage the longevity of your battery life.

Depending on how you use it as I’ve said earlier that will determine the detriment of the battery. Playing games, streaming video clips in the Internet or surfing the Web are all things you can do for as long as possible.

The battery is big enough to handle them all just the High Resolution might max out your battery too soon.

Full Specification