Samsung Galaxy S8 - New Specs
March 29, 2017
Samsung Galaxy S8 Is Here, but Wait, It Doesn’t Have A Home Button
Samsung’s latest phone attempts to be better, cleaner, and sleeker than its competition. In its launch, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ boast larger screens than its predecessor, the S7, and S7 Edge. However, the phones themselves are smaller.
The New Specs
The biggest feature of the reveal (both literally and figuratively) is the S8’s screen. The S8 and S8+ have displays measuring 14.7 cm (5.8 in) and 15.7 cm (6.2 in) respectively.
This pushes the screens nearly to fill the entire device, and something on previous front faces had to go. Samsung removed the home button with an on-screen feature to access the phone. It also removed its own company logo, an idea that might ultimately pay off for a company fighting bad PR.
The screens themselves also boast an upgrade with high dynamic range (HDR) playback for a crisper video image. Given that the phones themselves are smaller than other versions, the company says users can still manage the phones with one hand.
The camera remains largely unchanged at 12MP. However, the S8 does come with a boosted 8MP front-camera and cleaner autofocus. Speaking of cameras, the phones come with an iris scanner rather than fingerprint IDs.
Retinal scanning (and facial recognition in general) has been a concept Apple toyed with and was rumored to include with the upcoming iPhone 8.
Meet Bixby, the Samsung Assistant
Between Siri, Alexa, and Google Home, the market for AI assistants is getting crowded. However, it didn’t stop Samsung from launching Bixby into the mix. The Siri-esque assistant is “context-aware,” according to developers. This means it predicts follow-up needs of a user based on current apps.
Bixby also comes with a location feature that identifies objects or landmarks. For example, if a user took a picture of a sneaker, Bixby would tell a user how much that sneaker costs and the nearest place one could purchase the shoes.
Currently, the only app that corresponds with Bixby upon launch is Google Play Music. Developers hope to expand the realm to include other apps. Also, Bixby can only recognize English and Korean voices — another feature Samsung wishes to grow.
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