Take a moment and think back to 2014. For me that was a great year of movie releases: Godzilla, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Big Hero 6 and many others. 2014 is also the year that Samsung released the Galaxy S5. That was the year Samsung launched its last plastic flagship smartphone. A real year of highs and lows.
At the time, many considered the fact that Samsung was still launching high-end plastic smartphones, in light of so many metal-and-glass devices out there rising to the top, was kind of ridiculous. Personally, I could understand some arguments for the plastic design decisions, but ultimately it was one of the reasons I stayed away from the devices.
The Galaxy S6 in 2015 changed things. It started Samsung off in a different direction.
It started Samsung off in the right direction, if you ask me. The Galaxy S7 followed in line with the Galaxy S6 before it, but it made some key refinements where it counted. Samsung mimicked Apple's refresh philosophy, with only moderate evolutionary changes from one year to the next.
But ultimately that got us to where we are now, with the Galaxy S8, and obviously Samsung used that time from the introduction of the Galaxy S6 to now very, very well. The Galaxy S8 is one thing to see in pictures on the internet, or in hands-on videos, but it's a device that needs to be seen in the wild, held in the hands, to really appreciate.
As I said before, the Galaxy S8's display is reason enough for me to consider picking it up, but honestly I was genuinely sold on the phone when I finally got to use it for a few minutes. Samsung will have to show me that its proprietary software won't get bogged down with time, but, at first blush, the Galaxy S8 might be the best looking phone I've ever seen. It feels like a flagship, high-end smartphone in the hand, too.
Samsung has significantly stepped up its hardware game, and this is a win for everyone involved -- even people who aren't fans of Samsung phones, because it means that other companies are going to start chasing them. We've already seen LG launch the G6, and it has reduced bezels, which is great, but I have no doubt that when next year arrives, the G7 (or whatever they call it) is going to look even better.
Apple is going to have to step up its game, too. Rumors have been swirling for quite some time that the iPhone 8 (or whatever they call it) will have an edge-to-edge display, too, similar to what we've seen in the Galaxy S8. But, it's going to have to be more than that. The iPhone 8 has to really be eye-catching to really stand out. Especially if Apple plans on launching the iPhone 7s with minimal changes to the iPhone 7.
Samsung has officially impressed me with the Galaxy S8, and I can't wait to spend more time with it. Are you sold on the Galaxy S8 at this point? Have you headed into a carrier retail store to check one out yet? Let me know!
