Earlier today, Samsung (finally) unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. The company ticks all of the major boxes, of course, launching a high-end smartphone that has a sharp display, powerful processor, and a main camera that will probably be great to use. Samsung brought in plenty of features it first launched with the Galaxy Note 7, which should make plenty of people happy.
All-in-all, Samsung's event was more than fine. They did what they needed to do: Unveil a new experience, and do so well enough that it might sway more than a few potential buyers. Sure, it had some strange moments, but it's a Samsung event so we should probably expect those by now.
The Galaxy S8 lineup is probably going to do good things for Samsung, and that's great.
I'm just going to come out and say that the placement of the fingerprint sensor is bad, even if Samsung has installed plenty of other methods of accessing, and securing, the Galaxy S8 without requiring that fingerprint reader. It's too high up. It might not be the most uncomfortable spot, thanks to the overall design of the Galaxy S8, but placing it below the camera, near the middle, would be a lot better. Thanks, companies like LG and Google, for getting this right.
But, I can also say that the front of the phone is the biggest reason why I'm actually considering the Galaxy S8. Just like the Galaxy Note 7 last year, Samsung's focus on the display, from its resolution and features, has me genuinely considering a Samsung-branded smartphone again. I actually had a Galaxy Note 7 for about three days, before that first recall, and the changes that Samsung has implemented with its "Infinity Display" (I'm sure Dell is loving this) have me ready to get my hands on the Galaxy S8 immediately.
I can safely say that in my opinion Samsung has one of the most eye-catching devices on the market now, but it's also one of the best displays for watching content, too. While the Galaxy Note 7 was great in its own part, thanks to support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) content, it was actually missing the most important thing: content. Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Vudu hadn't rolled out support for mobile devices back when the Galaxy Note 7 launched, so while that phablet could technically show off shows and movies with HDR support, it wasn't able to because the providers hadn't opened up the gates just yet.
But Samsung confirmed today that it is working with Amazon "and others" to bring HDR-enabled content to the Galaxy S8. That's great news. (It's also good news for companies like LG, with its G6 that also supports HDR.)
Samsung has captured my attention with the Galaxy S8, so it's really going to come down to a head-to-head clash between it and the LG G6 before I make my decision to adopt one as my daily driver. Still, I'm really excited by the fact these two high-end smartphones exist, with the features that they do, and I can't wait to be impressed by both.
Now that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are official, are you confident one of these devices will be your next purchase? Let me know!