Samsung tries to win back customers with Galaxy S8 smartphone

[Skorpionss]

where can I get one of those?

I don't think it's been released yet, apparently... only the regular XZ version was.

[Sesshou]

You do realise S8 has lower front surface area than S7 Edge, right? It's just the screen-to-body ratio that's considerably increased...
Then again you seem to be the Samsung equivalent of 'get new iPhone every year', so I guess checking specs isn't your style.

Maybe go actually read my post or is literacy not your style? I never said anything about the S7 Edge. The S8 is massively larger than my current S7.

And why wouldn't I upgrade my phone? I keep getting free upgrades on black friday. I realize that locks me into the carrier, but I have no intention of changing so whatever.

[Fencers]

It's crazy mentioning Huawei and xiaomi in these discussions. Shame nothing comparable from HTC, OnePlus, or Sony yet. I don't get to be as hands on as you do but I'm just as much an enthusiast.

I enjoyed the original One Plus a lot. It was a fine phone. Though I was less impressed with each One Plus offering since their initial flagship.

Also One Plus sorta lost their initial brand in that the skus drifted further away from the 'flagship specs at a decent price' hook. Then it became kinda not worth the hassle when offerings from Huawei, LG and Motorola slid into that space with stronger US presence.

I think Huawei's strategy of courting online reviewers and retailers rather than US carriers worked to strengthen the brand. Kinda like what Blu did for the budget space.

I am a big fan of the Blu phones too. We have five Blu phones and all have been wonderful!

[Breccia]

I'm mostly okay.

[dextersmith]

Newer with more fire power?

[Najja]

We're just average people not Dr Dre or DJ Tiesto.

And some of us can hear the difference, perhaps you don't which is great... for others though it's a noticeable and annoying downgrade in audio quality. If they can bring wireless quality up to that of wired then I have no problem with them ditching the jack, until that time however it should stay.

[Alopex]

Can I uninstall all the bloatware yet?

[Fencers]

And some of us can hear the difference, perhaps you don't which is great... for others though it's a noticeable and annoying downgrade in audio quality. If they can bring wireless quality up to that of wired then I have no problem with them ditching the jack, until that time however it should stay.

They have adapters for older styles of headphone and USB-C headphones as well.

Headphones sound functionally identical to the 3.5 jack with a USB adapter. Even with an amp or true IEMs. There is almost no way any human has such hearing they hear a difference while moving through the world with an adapter and a pair of IEMs via the USB-C port. The Moto Z and iPhone ones are near flawless and there is no way a human can hear significantly better without just having a non-portable amp or DAC with their mobile phone and correctly calibrated cans.

You have to be touching or messing with the contact to even hear hiss or distortion on the line.

[Super Kami Dende]

You say "tries to win back" but no one I know that uses a Samsung even cared enough to move to other Brands. Galaxy S6 is still superior to most models of phones out.

[dextersmith]

Who would buy a refurbished bomb when the new fireball is coming out?

[Remilia]

Which other smartphone has a 4k hdr display?

Xperia XZ Premium is the only one since you noted 4k UHD. S8 is not UHD. HDR sure, but not UHD.

Personally have a Sony Xperia X Performance atm and would probably pick up XZ Premium cause slow mo is fun.
I've always been more fond of the software / UI from Sony and HTC as opposed to Samsung's which is a very big important part of my decision. Played around with the phones in Taiwan to get a feel of all the phones first instead of just looking at purely numbers / specs.

[belfpala]

Bluetooth ruins sound quality.

That's why I used a cord to tie a record player to my phone.

[Remilia]

Who would buy a refurbished bomb when the new fireball is coming out?

Best part is still that they say they're going to only use their own factory now for their batteries then the factory goes up in flames.

[Eleccybubb]

It looks explosive! No really I hope this phone is a bang when it launches.

[Fastlane_hellscream]

I need a new phone, the battery in my Note Edge (2+ years old) is finally starting to die and i figure instead of just buying new battery I may as well get new phone. DEBATING the S8, but not 100% sure if i wanna stick with Samsung again after the S7 failures. What would be a good Android phone to get instead if S8 ends up being a bomb? (Metaphorically. Hopefully)

I just got a LG V20 and Friggin love the thing. Here's a link to a 3 minute run down of it's good features, etc:

https://www.cnet.com/products/lg-v20/preview/

It's really been a great phone for the last few months. Takes amazing pictures/videos.

[Iamanerd]

Am I missing something, doesn't the S8 still have a 3.5mm jack? Also people referring to 3.5mm as outdated tech clearly don't use portable amps powering IEMs, although there is no difference in sound quality from the usb-c to 3.5mm adapter and a 3.5mm jack. It comes down to the convenience.

[Remilia]

The problem with removing 3.5mm is that the tech replacing (bluetooth) is worse than what we have now. Adapters for 3.5mm removes versatility of the USB Type-C and it doesn't actually improve upon it, it just makes it more bulky.
It's fine if they want to replace it, it's just they're not replacing it with anything better.

Am I missing something, doesn't the S8 still have a 3.5mm jack? Also people referring to 3.5mm as outdated tech clearly don't use portable amps powering IEMs, although there is no difference in sound quality from the usb-c to 3.5mm adapter and a 3.5mm jack. It comes down to the convenience.

Still has it.

[Fencers]

Am I missing something, doesn't the S8 still have a 3.5mm jack?

The S8 does have a 3.5 jack. It has all the features of the S7 Edge plus the new stuff; Iris Scanner, soft keys, new hardware button, reduced bezel, etc.

People are just behaving silly like associating the Note 7 failure with the S7 and the hubub about USB-C. It's just silly reactions/statements.

- - - Updated - - -

The problem with removing 3.5mm is that the tech replacing (bluetooth) is worse than what we have now. Adapters for 3.5mm removes versatility of the USB Type-C and it doesn't actually improve upon it, it just makes it more bulky.
It's fine if they want to replace it, it's just they're not replacing it with anything better.

OIf the 3.5 jack was attached to your headphone cord anyway- would it be more cumbersome to use than a 3.5 jack?

I agree than an extra adapter is still an extra thing. But that thing is so slight as to be mostly trivial.

If one knew their phone had no 3.5 jack but wanted to still use their HD800s or AKxs, they could just snap the adapter on the end of their headphone jack. If you are carrying around a portable amp, is that deal breaker of universal significance? I can tell you with relative certainly it is isn't for most consumers. We focused grouped the fuck out of Motorola's recent phones.

Assuming you don't carry a pair of high headphones, an amp, spend extra cast as a Bluetooth headphones and just wanted to use regular old 'bundled' headphones or a pair of sub-$200 headphones; the line in the sand is a 0.2 ounce, 1 inch, $3.99 adapter to your $900 phone?

Why wouldn't one just keep the adapter at the end of their 'phones all the time in that case?

Consumers are not losing much at all. It is a largely trivial concern.

The real complaint should be that the manufactures don't do anything to benefit the loss the of a 3.5 jack. Not that a $ adapter at the end of one's Fostex's, FiFo Amp or $10 Skullcandy earbuds is is ruining the integrity of sound and/or reducing function in an impacting way.

When we ran focus groups in 6 markets, the only thing wanted to know was how much the adapter costs. When they found out it was less than $6, most of the rating forms went from 'Might or Might Not Buy" to 'Probably would buy" with a +70% increase to incidence.

It's a pointless concern.

[Remilia]

OIf the 3.5 jack was attached to your headphone cord anyway- would it be more cumbersome to use than a 3.5 jack?

I agree than an extra adapter is still an extra thing. But that thing is so slight as to be mostly trivial.

If one knew their phone had no 3.5 jack but wanted to still use their HD800s or AKxs, they could just snap the adapter on the end of their headphone jack. If you are carrying around a portable amp, is that deal breaker of universal significance? I can tell you with relative certainly it is isn't for most consumers. We focused grouped the fuck out of Motorola's recent phones.

Assuming you don't carry a pair of high headphones, an amp, spend extra cast as a Bluetooth headphones and just wanted to use regular old 'bundled' headphones or a pair of sub-$200 headphones; the line in the sand is a 0.2 ounce, 1 inch, $3.99 adapter to your $900 phone?

Why wouldn't one just keep the adapter at the end of their 'phones all the time in that case?

Consumers are not losing much at all. It is a largely trivial concern.

The real complaint should be that the manufactures don't do anything to benefit the loss the of a 3.5 jack. Not that a $ adapter at the end of one's Fostex's, FiFo Amp or $10 Skullcandy earbuds is is ruining the integrity of sound and/or reducing function in an impacting way.

When we ran focus groups in 6 markets, the only thing wanted to know was how much the adapter costs. When they found out it was less than $6, most of the rating forms went from 'Might or Might Not Buy" to 'Probably would buy" with a +70% increase to incidence.

It's a pointless concern.

Considering my car doesn't have BTH to begin with and only has an AUX/3.5mm port, yes it does concern me, and yes... I do use a car charger.

And... adding all those stuff and then saying because they exist makes it a non concern is disingenuous at best (probably not the right word but tired atm so whatever).
Also you really shouldn't have an adapter in your phone all the time, they'll break. I don't need another point of failure and I don't need another thing to keep track of when I travel.

Again, I said they're not improving upon it, they're not doing anything to help better the replacement of it, an adapter is not a solution and it limits functionality.

[johnworsham]

Samsung Galaxy S8. Lets wait for the reviews.