Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus Thread

[XavierMace]

It's all in the grip I guess, lol. I hold my phones with my index finger running up along the edge of the phone to the top of it.

 

[lopri]

http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=159

Watching this clip on this phone is a surreal experience. Try downloading the original but even the YouTube version is quite trippy.

Edit: As an aside, I kind of like "Video Enhancer" in the Settings > Advanced Features. It does boost contrast and color saturation, but it does not make thing look too gaudy. I especially like its effects on animations and game videos.

 

[pauldun170]

FYI: Spent a week with a i-Blason tempered glass screen protector on my S8+ UAG case.
Fit well and phone worked flawless with it.
Ordered after I noticed a faint scratch on my screen after spending the day at the beach to watch an airshow.

 

[XavierMace]

Anyone else had issues with the fingerprint reader stopping working? Rebooting the phone fixes it. I've had to do it twice so far.

 

[gorcorps]

Anyone else had issues with the fingerprint reader stopping working? Rebooting the phone fixes it. I've had to do it twice so far.

Yes, had a similar thing happen. Looking online it's a relatively common issue that's getting looked it. People think there's some sort of leak that causes one of the random samsung services to stop functioning after a while, but nobody can find something that triggers it. Some people have the iris scanner stop working, some the fingerprint, etc... reboot always fixes it

I've only had it happen the once since I've had the phone though, so it doesn't seem like an often recurring issue.

 

[pauldun170]

Anyone else had issues with the fingerprint reader stopping working? Rebooting the phone fixes it. I've had to do it twice so far.

I noticed some flakiness after the last update where it wouldn't recognize my index finger on my right hand right away. Using any other finger worked fine. Retina unlock worked fine. I only recall 3 instances.

 

[XavierMace]

The issue I'm talking about isn't an issue recognizing a specific print, the scanner isn't scanning at all. In other words it doesn't recognize anything's been placed on the scanner.

 

[jtvang125]

Just picked up the s8 last night from BB. They have a $200 off right now if you do the monthly installments. I think it's a $150 BB gc if you go with the unlocked paid fully upfront.

This is my first samsung and I'm liking it so far. But honestly I like the traditional aspect ratio of the G6 more. It looked very sharp in the platinum finish. But with the bad experience I had with my G3 I promised myself that will be my first and last LG phone.

I got a Shieldon case and the Armorsuit plastic screen protector. I got that case because there are little raised feet on the back so laying it down helps prevent scratching the hard plastic areas of the case. There's a raised top and bottom lip on the front to help protect the screen when it's placed face down too. It definitely adds some bulk and the phone looses its sleekness but with so much glass on this phone I feel one drop and it's going to shatter in pieces.

 

[tsupersonic]

I couldn't wait any longer. Got the S8+ last night, and what an excellent piece of hardware. I am handling it carefully before my case gets here

 

[you2]

Given the note 8 release in a couple of months surprise people wouldn't wait....

 

[dainthomas]

Given the note 8 release in a couple of months surprise people wouldn't wait....

I'm just annoyed they apparently didn't get the fingerprint scanner working under the screen. I'll probably get it anyway, but geez. Hoping they have some sweet preorder bundles to get people to come back to the Note.

 

[tsupersonic]

Given the note 8 release in a couple of months surprise people wouldn't wait....

Well I'd have to charge my 6P 2-3 times a day, which is just really annoying. That or I can't go out places without a portable battery charger because god forbid if you have more than 1-2h SOT on the 6P. That, and I started getting random shutdowns at <20-30%. Can't wait to get my refund from Amazon for the 6P. I will never buy another Huawei device in my life.

 

[Red Storm]

Given the note 8 release in a couple of months surprise people wouldn't wait....

It looks like the Note won't have the fingerprint sensor embedded in the display, which was one feature I was willing to wait for. If that's out, then I'm fine going with the S8+. Plus I returned my work issued iPhone so I needed to get a personal phone again.

 

[lopri]

Is there anything new on the screen protector front?

 

[IamDavid]

I tried to love this phone but can't get past the horrible, pathetic, crappy battery life. Unless I use the screen brightness at the lowest setting possible I can't get a full day in without charging. Totally unacceptable for any mid to premium level phone to be this bad. I tried disabling apps, unlinking my Bluetooth devices (Gear s3, Ford Sync, Headphones) and even exchanged my phone thinking it was a dud. Very frustrating. I miss my windows phones.... S8+ = trash.
I've now also lost all respect for the different review sites who publish totally garbage reviews related to battery life comparisons. CNET gave it a 9/10????

 

[gorcorps]

I tried to love this phone but can't get past the horrible, pathetic, crappy battery life. Unless I use the screen brightness at the lowest setting possible I can't get a full day in without charging. Totally unacceptable for any mid to premium level phone to be this bad. I tried disabling apps, unlinking my Bluetooth devices (Gear s3, Ford Sync, Headphones) and even exchanged my phone thinking it was a dud. Very frustrating. I miss my windows phones.... S8+ = trash.
I've now also lost all respect for the different review sites who publish totally garbage reviews related to battery life comparisons. CNET gave it a 9/10????

I don't know what to tell you, every single other person in here raves about the battery life. If you're comparing to windows phones then maybe you're just not used to how Android phones typically are, which in comparison to the S8+ are worse. So maybe android isn't for you, but unless you managed to have separate hardware issues there seems to be something with your expectations and results that don't match up to everyone else here AND the tech sites. IMO mobile battery life still isn't great in general, so I feel your frustration in that regard, however in comparison to the other phones I've used the S8 is an improvement on battery life. The biggest hit to battery life from my experience is with smart watches. Mine was an android wear device, but it would make a huge impact just with idle battery drain on the phone, so I got rid of the watch and made sure all of the watch related stuff was uninstalled. If you did that and didn't notice an impact, I'm pretty surprised (but again, mine was Android Wear and you had a samsung watch).

The remark about losing all respect for the review sites is laughable, and pretty arrogant. When everyone except you raves about the battery life, do you think we're all lying just to get a rise out of you? It wouldn't surprise me that the windows phones have better battery life. With how little they have to offer I would barely be using the thing... battery life would be awesome from that aspect alone.

 

[lupi]

My blackberry gets much better battery life than this too!

 

[pauldun170]

Is there anything new on the screen protector front?

Don't know if there is anything new but see my post above for tempered glass on the s8+.
Works well enough in my UAG case and 11 dollars on Amazon.

 

[pauldun170]

I tried to love this phone but can't get past the horrible, pathetic, crappy battery life. Unless I use the screen brightness at the lowest setting possible I can't get a full day in without charging. Totally unacceptable for any mid to premium level phone to be this bad. I tried disabling apps, unlinking my Bluetooth devices (Gear s3, Ford Sync, Headphones) and even exchanged my phone thinking it was a dud. Very frustrating. I miss my windows phones.... S8+ = trash.
I've now also lost all respect for the different review sites who publish totally garbage reviews related to battery life comparisons. CNET gave it a 9/10????

In comparison.
I usually get 48+ hours and the worst day I ever had with heavy usage was 19 hours.
Full resolution. Didn't disable anything or mess with settings. No facebook app and only use Bluetooth for fit bit sync.
The battery life on mine has been exceptional.

You should try a midrange phone with a huge battery like moto z play ou Huwai9.

 

[IamDavid]

I can't even image how anyone could get 2 days out of this phone unless its used very lightly each day. Maybe I got back to back bad phones, idk. My IPhone 6s+ would last nearly twice what I've seen with my s8+.

Recent Battery Usage: 5:50m
11Hr 51m remaining. (76%)
8% Android System
6% Android OS
4% Screen
2% Device Idle
6% is 6 apps, 1% each.

Very light usage day because its the weekend. Didn't even pick it up for 2+ hours of it. Not a single call or multimedia of any type. No connected devices. Like I said, trash. $850 phone with a battery life of under a day is sad.

 

[Raduque]

http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=159

Watching this clip on this phone is a surreal experience. Try downloading the original but even the YouTube version is quite trippy.

Edit: As an aside, I kind of like "Video Enhancer" in the Settings > Advanced Features. It does boost contrast and color saturation, but it does not make thing look too gaudy. I especially like its effects on animations and game videos.

I watched this on the S8 and G6, both of which have HDR displays, side by side. It looked to me that the S8 in the video had washed out faded color compared to the natural vibrant color of the G6. Display settings are default, and video enhancer is enabled on the S8.

 

[pauldun170]

I can't even image how anyone could get 2 days out of this phone unless its used very lightly each day. Maybe I got back to back bad phones, idk. My IPhone 6s+ would last nearly twice what I've seen with my s8+.

Recent Battery Usage: 5:50m
11Hr 51m remaining. (76%)
8% Android System
6% Android OS
4% Screen
2% Device Idle
6% is 6 apps, 1% each.

Very light usage day because its the weekend. Didn't even pick it up for 2+ hours of it. Not a single call or multimedia of any type. No connected devices. Like I said, trash. $850 phone with a battery life of under a day is sad.

Not even worth pondering since apples to apples usage scenario is unrealistic here. Your experience is different than others and you shouldn't have to do anything special for this phone. I don't think many will agree with you. I don't agree based on my experience with this phone. However it doesn't matter.

Trade yours in for a different phone. It's not worth the aggravation.

 

[Oyeve]

bah

 

[Red Storm]

Maybe he lives in an area with bad reception? That's all I can think of, cause the S8+ is the best battery performing phone I've ever used.

 

[dawheat]

Maybe he lives in an area with bad reception? That's all I can think of, cause the S8+ is the best battery performing phone I've ever used.

Your comment made me realize that the S8+ happens to get surprisingly good connectivity in low reception areas - better than my previous phones and even my wife's iPhone 7. In an old building in Manhattan as well as my parents in rural Delaware, I used to get very spotty download speeds and my wife's phone is still the same. But I'm getting usable data on the S8+ which is a pleasant surprise.

As for the guy having issues - it happens and he should get a different phone. But the truculent attitude and the inability to understand his experience is atypical with what the vast majority is getting is annoying.

Getting almost to 3 months in, almost exclusively on LTE, Gear S3 connected, Bluetooth headphones used a couple hours a day, all social apps and email syncing, and I continue to be impressed with the battery life on the S8+. Over the entire time I've had a cell phone (from the iPhone 3G and the dozen or so in between), I've always had to be conscious of battery life. This is the first phone that I haven't had to with one exception - traveling and forgetting my car charger and using the phone to navigate in the car for several hours in blazing bright sunshine. Still got me to nighttime though completely drained.