Samsung yesterday launched the much anticipated and highly leaked Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. We don’t have a unit in hand to give you a hands-on report, naturally, because it only ships next month. However, here’s a first look at why the larger Galaxy S8 Plus might not be the phablet you’re looking for.
It’s HUGE and it’s HEAVY
With the Galaxy S8, Samsung has managed to keep the footprint very close to the current Galaxy S7. At 155g, it’s only 3 grams heavier, and about 6.5mm larger, yet has an impressive 5.8-inch screen compared to the 5-inch screen on the Galaxy S7.
The Galaxy S8 Plus is a different beast. It’s massive, with a 6.2-inch display, but it’s also much heavier than the Galaxy S7 edge. 16 grams more might not seem like a lot, but when you’re holding the phone for long periods of time, every gram counts. Besides, the footprint is much larger as well, at nearly 9mm taller than the older edge model.
It’s hardly better than the Galaxy S8
The camera is possibly the most disappointing feature on the Galaxy S8 Plus. It actually uses the same 12MP rear camera module as the S7 edge, but has better image processing software. It’s very similar to what Google did with the Pixel, but they did it so well. The Galaxy S8 Plus delivers in a different way, with better screen resolution.
The HDR Infinity Display is simply amazing, but the battery – not so much. The battery is almost the same size as last year’s models, possibly even a bit smaller. Hopefully, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor’s reduced power consumption will help offset that to deliver longer battery life. That’s definitely something we want to learn more about.
If you want a bigger screen, the Galaxy S8 Plus might be perfect for you, but you better have big hands to use it or you’ll end up using it like a tablet most of the time.
There are several cool features like iris recognition for better biometric access, a dedicated button for Bixby, Samsung’s own smart virtual voice assistant, an improved 8MP selfie camera on the front, faster processing (10% on CPU; 21% on GPU) and support for Bluetooth 5 (world’s first phone that supports it, but you’ll need to buy compatible hardware).
In short, lots of innovation on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, but the size and weight of the phone might literally outweigh all the other benefits, and you could be better off just going for the S8 variant instead.
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