The Samsung
Galaxy S8 Vs The Rest of the World
The
much-awaited phone is being touted as the saviour for the brand’s image
By the time this column
is out, each of you will have reams of information about the all-new phone that
must play the role of being the saviour of the Samsung name and honour.
Everything about the S8 was leaked a few weeks back and some of it turned out
to be true. Finally in a very ‘glitter and glam’ event, the much awaited and
anticipated phone turned from theory to reality. I’m not going to waste too
much time going into details of the phone. Instead, I’m going to compare it to
all the competition.
In a
nutshell
Here’s the shortest
possible review of the S8.
Stunning design, almost
zero bezel around the screen, absolutely brilliant curvy HDR display with an
unusual 2960 x 1440 resolution and aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Too much screen in
front forced the fingerprint scanner to be placed at the back – a bad placement
decision as the fingerprint scanner is right next to the camera (you’ll keep
rubbing your finger on the camera lens). Gorilla Glass 5 in front and back and
rather large amount of security systems including Iris, face, finger, pattern
and password. Strangely, no major upgrade in camera optics from the S7 has been
done. They’ve gone and called their all new personal voice assistant Bixby (why
Samsung, why?). A cool add-on is the Dex dock that converts your phone into a
full desktop system. And, the battery has almost zero chances of exploding as
Samsung played safe and went with just 3000mAh.
Vs the
iPhone 7
S8’s beats the iPhone 7
on design, display, bezel-less front screen and in-hand feel. The iPhone’s
design and looks feel truly antiquated in front of the S8’s very modern lines.
Also better IP ratings for the S8 means it’s more robust in terms of water and
dust resistance. In optics, the iPhone has dual cameras but the S8 has the
better F stop aperture rating at 1.7 and an autofocus front camera. Bixby wins
the war on strangely-named voice assistants, but Siri has never won any
accolades for being a great name either. Dex is definitely a huge move forward
for desktop level apps. Plus, the S8 has a 3.5mm headphone jack and the iPhone
doesn’t. So, right now, the S8 is ahead of the iPhone 7.
Vs the
Google Pixel
The Pixel loses in design
to the S8 massively, and comes nowhere near in terms of display and screen but
plays up well in optics, battery and overall performance. Pixel spirals down
due to no MicroSD slot which the S8 does have. Pixel does strive ahead as it’s
a pure play Android Nougat OS and will get updates way faster than the S8.
Battery life on the Pixel is also way better. Bixby and Bixby Vision seem to be
streets ahead of Google Assistant in terms of features, but they need to be
tested to see if they deliver. So, as of now, the S8 beats the Pixel hands down
too.
Vs the
One Plus 3T
Kudos to One Plus that a
phone at almost half the price of the big guys is constantly featured in all
top of the line shootouts. And the 3T does do a great job to take on the S8. In
design, screen, IP ratings and overall performance, S8 is ahead. 3T brings it
back with 6GB RAM, very good optics and better battery. But One Plus needs to
bringout the One Plus 4 to really take on the might of the S8
.
Vs the
LG G6
The G6 is the only phone
that comes close to the S8 in terms of bezel, thin border, great screen and
aspect ratio. It has a dual camera at the back and expandable memory too. But
in terms of performance and design, it can’t hold a torch to the S8. If LG
(finally) learns how to market their phones, G6 could be a contender.
Vs the
iPhone 8/X/10/edition
Well, just a poor
comparison to do as this becomes a comparison of a real phone versus one that
is purely being built inside people’s mind. Also, the real war will be between
the then released Note 8 and the new iPhone. One little wager I’m willing to
take though. The new iPhone won’t have a home button and won’t have a ‘anywhere
onscreen fingerprint scanner’. Thus the only place for the FPS will be
unfortunately at the back too!
The S8 has got great
momentum out of the start gates, has people very excited and has pushed all the
right buttons to sell it in huge numbers.
Time for the rest of the
world to catch up.
HTBR9APR17
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