Samsung has announced that they will be releasing the Galaxy S8 next month. Pre-orders begin tomorrow (March 30). Along with that announcement we are being provided with all the juicy details that we’ve been waiting for. But wait… the information that we’ve seen leaked over the last few weeks (or longer) might have been, in fact, accurate. A big part of this announcement by Samsung is to try to put the Note, and its incredible safety issues, in the distant past. And to show that Samsung is a player in the phone market. Now, you might be thinking that they have been already, but until this update, I’m not sure that they have been. Later in this article I will compare the S8 with the iPhone 7 and you can judge for yourself.
First though. Let’s look at the specs:
- Galaxy S8 has a 5.8″ screen. The Galaxy S8 + has a screen size of 6.2″
- It comes in a variety of colours, including: Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic Silver and Maple Gold
- Both have a camera with an 8 times digital zoom as well as many different “modes”
- Both have the ability to record video in 4K
- The Galaxy S8 has a battery life of anywhere between 11 and 67 hours, depending on what you’re doing. Where as the S8+ lasts a bit longer ranging from 13 to 78 hours, again depending on what you are doing.
- Wireless charging capabilities
- An iris sensor (among a few others) and;
- Bixby – which I will get into more detail later on in this article.
Sounds pretty cool, right? A very comprehensive phone that you will see compares quite nicely with the iPhone 7. But first, let’s talk about Bixby. There is some competition on the market for virtual personal assistants. Like Siri, Alexa or Google’s Assistant. So of course it makes sense that Samsung would want a version of their own. Not only giving them a competitive edge with the other phone providers, but introducing us to some pretty neat features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Ert5yjMV4
What am I referring to? Bixby actually gives you the ability to take a picture of something and either use that in your search or you can use it to order that “thing” online. So if you see an amazing Kate Spade bag that you just have to have, snap a pic and you should be able to buy it. Now whether or not this will connect you to any website to purchase, remains to be seen, but it does connect you to some online retail options. Making it easier to find something that you just can’t live with out.
With the way technology is moving, this is definitely a plus for the Galaxy. And it puts them in line from a competition perspective with Apple and Google. All good things. More choices on the market means that we might see lower prices. Well… I might be getting ahead of myself in that case, but regardless it bodes well for Samsung.
I promised that I would compare this to the iPhone 7. So how does it stack up? For one, it comes in some similarly boring colours to the iPhone. Well, I don’t necessarily think they’re all that boring, but they certainly aren’t that unique. But does that even really matter? A lot of people use phone cases to make their phone match their personal style. So the colour will just get covered up. So maybe “boring” is the way to go? Along with that Galaxy offers the following in comparison with the iPhone 7:
- It has a bigger screen.
- It comes with an headphone jack. This may be extremely inciting to some people who are upset that Apple has done away with it.
- It has a better display resolution
- And better operating capabilities
- They both have a comparable camera
- The Galaxy S8’s are heavier, and lastly
- The Galaxy S8’s are slightly more expensive.
With the Not debacle, is this enough to make consumers forget? It seems that it might be. That is, if the safety side of things is what they say. The future of this product remains to be seen but at the moment they have a horse in the race at least.
With the anticipated release of the iPhone 8 this fall, will the Galaxy S8 have a big enough impact to lure consumers away from Apple? Apple may have the advantage here as they can use this product’s release to their advantage. But based on an article in Mac Rumours, the rumoured iPhone 8 seems oddly comparable to the Galaxy S8. I guess my next question is will this give Apple the advantage to futher improve upon the rumoured update?
Apple aside, the Galaxy S8 looks good. I do love my Apple products but this is definitely an improvement over the Note for obvious safety reasons. But also in design and functionality.