Forgive us if we’ve been extra critical of the Galaxy S8 and S8+
It’s something I’ve meant to write about for a few days, and I finally got around to penning down my thoughts on why we here at SamMobile might be more skeptical and critical of the new Galaxy S8 and S8+, and of Samsung devices in general. Well, to be honest, the reason is simple: We’re a Samsung fan site, and spend a majority of our time with Samsung devices. Many Samsung fans likely upgrade to a new Galaxy phone every two years (or sooner, depending on how much they like to change their phones), but here at SamMobile, most of us use almost every new Samsung flagship before the next one comes out.
I started my journey with the Galaxy Note 3 and fell so much in love with the device that I decided I would only use Galaxy Note devices in the future. But that was until the Galaxy Note 4, which I felt was so poorly optimized that it put me off Samsung devices. People told us we were wrong and that there was nothing wrong with the performance on Samsung’s phones, but the company itself admitted it had fallen behind and made software optimization a priority with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.
I bought the S6 edge the day it became available here in India, and I followed it up with both the S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 as my primary devices. Finally, it was the the Galaxy S7 edge last year, which I think was the most perfect Samsung device in terms of features, pricing, and the overall experience. The Galaxy Note 7 was even better, but I, unfortunately, couldn’t use it as its launch in India was cancelled before it could hit retail shelves. Last week, I placed an order for the Galaxy S8+.
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Like me, my colleagues here at SamMobile live in Samsung’s galaxy of smartphones, and that’s pretty much the reason why we have been so critical of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ ever since they were announced. Mind you, we’ve only spoken out against issues that other tech experts agree on. One is the subpar battery life of the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8, and the other is the awkward position of the fingerprint sensor.
Let’s face it: The poor battery life on the S8 means many will go for the S8+ (its larger screen will also attract consumers), and the fingerprint sensor’s placement is especially problematic on the larger model. The fingerprint sensor’s hard-to-reach nature becomes even more of an issue when you consider that the iris and facial scanner cannot always be accurate, and there is no way to make the phone fall back to either iris or facial recognition when one or the other fails.
But that’s a discussion for another article. For now, I’d just like to say that our criticism stems from the fact that we are more involved with Samsung devices than pretty much any other site out there. We thought Samsung could only go forward with its flagship devices after the Note 7, but it seems in the race to outsmart its competition with that Infinity Display, the Korean giant has ignored a few aspects that mar the otherwise excellent experience offered by the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
All I can say is that if our criticism of the S8 and S8+ have put you off, we here at SamMobile apologize. But as a fan site, we can’t help but point things out as they are, and hope Samsung takes some of the feedback and incorporates it into device development, just like it does with consumer feedback. We’re working on lots of content surrounding Samsung’s new flagships, and we’ll try to keep the negativity to a minimum.
No promises though: Being some of the most active and consistent users of Samsung devices, we stand to be a lot more disappointed with the missteps that the company takes with its smartphones. I know we fall way behind on positive content, so we’ll also try to be more energetic on that front going forward.
