Samsung Galaxy S8 introduced: hands-on video and all the flagship information - all info and articles

There were no easy months for Samsung, which had to cope with the imagery through the note 7. To this extent, the Galaxy S8 can also be described as a potential salvation provider for the South Korean company. In order to meet these expectations, the manufacturer has taken a deep trickle and prepared a few innovations. For example, an iris scanner on board, which already debuted on Note 7, but, as a matter of fact, was not long on the market. Equally interesting is the dual pixel camera, whose actual quality, however, remains to be seen.

Samsung Galaxy S8 with Borderless Design

But enough around the hot mash, because the highlight of the Galaxy S8 is and will remain, of course, the display - or what Samsung was with this "Infinity Display" was able. The Galaxy S8 appears almost seamlessly, which in contrast to the basic version of the S7 generation in edge design. Above and below, Samsung has succeeded in reducing the edge (Bezel) to a minimum, which gives the smartphone a modern basic optics.

That looks not only on pictures, but also in our Hands-On-Video extremely chic. Overall, the Galaxy S8 looks visually harmonious and is well in the hand. As Samsung has consistently pursued the road taken with the Galaxy S6, it presents the most accomplished form of this design language in the S8.

The chosen optics, however, also meant that there was no room on the front for a physical home button - a characteristic that distinguishes Samsung smartphones since the beginning of the Android era. While the fingerprint sensor, which had always been housed in it before, migrated to the backside, where it positioned itself directly next to the camera, which is happily only marginally deflected, the navigation buttons have been virtually implemented in the sense of Google.

Galaxy S8: Gigantic Display With Unusual Aspect Ratio

This leads to the presumably most striking "trick" that Samsung makes with the Galaxy S8: In order to give the virtual navigation buttons more space, the edgeless front to the best advantage and at the same time despite a nominal XXL display still handy to stay, the manufacturer has screwed at the side ratio of the display . Like the LG G6, the screen of the Galaxy S8 is protracted. From the 16: 9 usual in the smartphone industry have become 18.5: 9. This sounds unusual, but the result is coherent.

Although the Galaxy S8 has much more screen space, it is about as big as the Galaxy S7. At the height, the new generation has gained a few millimeters, in the width, which is more decisive for the one-hand operation, the Galaxy S8 turns out to be even narrower. Therefore, inch diagonals in times of the LG G6 and Galaxy S8 are also no longer reliable data for the effective screen size, which in turn excludes conclusions on the actual housing size.

Just to put it again: The Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S8 are about the same size. Well, the display of the S7 measures in the diagonal as well as a meager 5.1 inches and results in a handy device. However, the S8, whose diagonal per se is 5.8 inches, is similarly handy. With an aspect ratio of 16: 9, the already Phablet territory would be, but with 18,5: 9 it goes without problems as a mainstream smartphone. Of course, the effective area for the same diagonal is 18.5: 9 lower than at 16: 9.

In some apps, there will still be some display errors at the beginning, as everything has been designed for 16: 9. This is likely to happen quickly, however, if all developers react to the Galaxy S8. For videos, S8 users will have to live permanently with black edges, as these are optimized for 16: 9 by default. A somewhat enforced solution would be a zoom that cuts out external image elements. However, whether this is the case is questionable. The bottom line is that the user can enjoy more display space in everyday life without having to compromise the handling. Oh yes, the resolution is with 2.960 x 1.440 pixels once again quite high - everything else would have been a surprise.

Galaxy S8: Outside hui, inside hui

The inner values of the Galaxy S8 are at first glance not as impressive as the rimless exterior, but do not have to hide from the competition around the LG G6 and Huawei P10. As a processor, the Exynos 8895 from its own production, which clocks up to 2.3 GHz. The Octa core chip, manufactured in the energy-efficient 10-nm process, is also said to be the result of its US counterpart, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835, which drives the Galaxy S8 in the USA. 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of data storage. The technologies used, in particular LPDDR4 and UFS 2.1, are probably the best that is currently available in the 

This is similar to the camera, which triggers with 12 MP and is to be able to over-average pictures in the situation. In this case, so-called dual pixels, which accelerate the autofocus, as well as, on the other hand, an optical image stabilizer. In addition, the f1.7, which is comparatively large, can not be hurt, which makes it easy to clean and allows better recording under suboptimal lighting conditions. On the front, Samsung donated an 8-MP-sensor for the first time an autofocus. Again, the quality should be more than satisfactory.

The one or the other question mark could pose the battery, which with 3,000 mAh despite the added display area is the same as with the predecessor. Let's hope that the more efficient SoC and other measures can catch that. As usual by Samsung, the energy storage is cordless loadable - and even with the fast charging. Also on board is as mentioned at the beginning a fingerprint sensor, which faces the face of the new iris scanner at the front a little in the rear. Furthermore, the Galaxy S8 is IP68 waterproof and dustproof.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus: Comparison of Technical Data

Samsung Galaxy S8: Bixby tries to steal the show

With the software Samsung makes no half things and puts on a new Android 7 nougat, naturally together with its own user interface. The flagship feature of this is likely to be Bixby, the new language assistant of the group, which is to support all Samsung devices in the future. In the Galaxy S8, this is able to control a number of preinstalled apps by voice input and provides top-of-the-box features in the context of the respective open app. This sounds promising, but it does not really work out at all in the first hands-on test.

Samsung is using a more interesting approach with the iris scanner, which is to capture biometric unlocking not only the iris of the eye, but presumably in combination with the front camera, the face of the user grasp and recognize. Also interesting, if also subtle, is a feature of the virtual Homebuttons. This can always be reached by pressing the force-touch at the bottom of the screen, even when the display is off or full-screen playback of a video. This means that the screen can also be switched on without having to press the power button. As an accessory, Samsung offers a so-called DeX docking station, which allows the Galaxy S8 to be turned into a desktop computer. The station cools the unit actively to avoid overheating.

Galaxy S8: Price and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is now available for the price of 799 euros pre-order. It is however only on the 28th of April - that is, in about exactly one month - on the market. Available colors are Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Arctic Silver. Included are high-quality AKG headphones