A few days before the premiere, so there was no surprise. But nonetheless Samsung Galaxy The S8 and S8 + turned out to be surprisingly good on their own. These are the first devices from a Korean manufacturer that will cost more than an iPhone at launch.

Previously, prices were either equal or slightly lower. But now Samsung is very confident in its abilities. Galaxy has ceased to be just a powerful and beautiful smartphone, now almost the same ecosystem has developed around it as around the iPhone. Yes, Samsung doesn't have an iTunes store, but Google Music makes up for this shortcoming.

⇡ What's what?

As expected, Samsung introduced two flagship smartphone- Galaxy S8 5.8-inch and Galaxy S8 + 6.2-inch. And the size (and also the battery capacity) became the main difference between them. All other characteristics can now be given in the form of a table.

	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy S8 +
CPU		Samsung Exynos 8895: eight cores (4 × 2.35 GHz + 4 × ARM Cortex A53, 1.9 GHz), ARM Mali-G71 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 graphics core: eight cores (4 × Kryo, 2.35 GHz + 4 × Kryo, frequency 1.7 GHz), graphics core Adreno 540
Display	Super AMOLED, 5.9 inches, 1440 × 2960, 586 ppi	Super AMOLED, 6.2 inches, 1440 × 2960, 531 ppi
RAM, GB	4/6	4/6
Flash memory, GB	64/128 + microSD slot	64/128 + microSD slot
SIM card		Two nano-SIM, the second slot is combined with a slot for a memory card
Wireless Modules		Wi-Fi (802.11ac / b / g / n), Bluetooth 5.0, NFC
LTE		LTE Cat.16 (up to 600 Mbps): bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 38, 39, 40, 41
Camera		12 MP, f / 1.7, 26mm equivalent, phase detection autofocus, optical stabilizer
Front-camera	8 MP, autofocus	8 MP, autofocus
Fingerprint scanner	There is	There is
Connectors		3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C (USB 3.1)
Battery	11.4 Wh (3000 mAh, 3.8 V)	13.3 Wh (3500 mAh, 3.8 V)
Dimensions, mm	149 × 68 × 8	160 × 73 × 8.1
Weight, g	155	160
Operating system		Android 7.0 Nougat with Clean UI

⇡ What does it look like?

As good as past Galaxy Ss are, new flagship surpassed them. It is similar to the infamous and recently introduced at the same time. With previous Samsung devices, the novelty is related by the screen curved on the sides, and with the new LG - the complete absence of controls on the front panel and an unusual aspect ratio.

The space freed up by abandoning the buttons is now occupied by the screen, and changing the aspect ratio was the only way to make it as painless as possible. The 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 + seems even smaller than the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. However, unlike LG, Samsung did not reveal any details about how the interface will change. individual applications... But the ratio of the screen area to the front surface area was named - 84.4%.

The Home button, however, hasn't gone anywhere - it's located at the bottom of the screen, and pressing it activates a light kickback. Samsung claims that the engineers and designers had to work hard for this, but in my opinion, this is an ordinary on-screen button with tactile feedback.

The most controversial "innovation" was the fingerprint scanner, which has moved from the front to the rear. There are two subtleties here. Firstly, it is not located exactly in the middle, as is usually done, but slightly shifted to the right. And secondly, it dangerously adjoins the lens of the main camera, and although tactilely these elements are completely different - the index finger intuitively lies at the center point.

Both new smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 +, will be available in five colors: black, gold, light blue, rose silver and classic silver. In Russia, perhaps, not all of these shades will be represented, but only some of them. The prettiest, in my opinion, was blue, although silver looks very good. The design of the back panel resembles the Honor 8 - under protective glass there is a small, slightly embossed texture that creates whimsical highlights due to the moire effect. It still looks original.

⇡ What can it do?

As expected, the smartphone has a built-in iris scanner, and with a more modern sensor compared to Galaxy Note 7. At the same time, there was also a face recognition function. So now you can unlock the device in many ways - with your face, eyes, fingerprint, password, graphic key or a simple swipe across the screen.

But the smartphone did not have the ability to shoot video at 1000 frames per second. Rumors about this were published on the Web every now and then, but none of the four samples I worked with offered this opportunity. It definitely has a FullHD video recording function at 120fps, but nothing like the functions Sony Xperia XZ Premium was not included in the Korean flagship.

The display resolution can indeed be changed. By default, it is 2960 × 1440 pixels (WQHD +), but in the settings it can be reduced to 2220 × 1080 and 1480 × 720 pixels. I tried to play a little with the resolution and noticed that when it was reduced, the clarity of the picture was noticeably reduced, although the pixel density remained quite high.

The housing is protected against dust and moisture according to the IP68 standard. This means that the smartphone can easily transfer the dive to a depth of 1.5 meters. But the main thing is that it is still possible without visible security elements like plugs on USB port and minijack.

But the most interesting innovation was the new voice assistant Bixby. Rather, I would not even call him an assistant, this is new interface for everyday interaction with a smartphone. For example, you can look at the map, and then say the phrase: "Take a screenshot and send to Vasya." The smartphone will offer you to choose one of several people with this name in your address book, and then send him the screenshot taken with one touch. That is, switching between voice and touch controls is smooth.

They also say that Brixby is very context-sensitive (“write Vasya that I'm late due to traffic jams”) and uses a picture from the built-in camera. You can take a picture of a new pair of sneakers, and then Brixby will find them in popular online stores and offer to order immediately by paying through Samsung Pay... It is very cool, but it is not yet entirely clear how all this will work in Russian realities.

⇡ When and how much?

Sales of Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 + will start on April 21, but new flagships will arrive in Russia a week later, on April 28. The classic model will cost 54,990 rubles, and the S8 + - 59,990 rubles. Already now you can place a preliminary order and in this case, you will also receive a camera. Samsung Gear 360. AKG wired headphones will be supplied with any Galaxy S8 - this is a natural consequence of the recent purchase of Harman. Perhaps now all expensive devices from Samsung will be equipped with high-quality headphones.

The Galaxy S8 has many competitors, but against the background of any of them new Samsung looks very cool. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium can only beat the slow motion video recording capability. Apple iPhone 7 Plus with technical point loses a lot, but captivates with a comfortable operating system and dual camera with fashionable portrait mode. Well, LG G6 is limited only by external similarity.

With the new flagships, Samsung is giving you the option to change your phone's screen resolution so you can save battery power by avoiding the demanding WQHD at all times.

There are three screen settings available for Samsung - HD + (1480 x 730), FHD + (2220 x 1080), and WQHD + (2960 x 1440) - but your smartphone will default to Medium FHD.

You can easily change the screen resolution up or down, whichever is important to you.

You will be able to downgrade the resolution to the lowest HD + value to increase the time autonomous work your smartphone, or if you want smartphone panels that are especially useful for working with Gear VR, you can set the maximum resolution.

Which phones can I change the resolution on?

It is relative new function for Samsung devices It came with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. If you own a Samsung or, you will find the same feature available when you upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat.

Despite the exit Android updates 7, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus do not offer this feature.

How do I change the screen resolution?
In order to change the screen resolution on a Samsung smartphone, you will have to go to the Settings app and go to the Screen or Display section.

In this section, you will see the options available, including Brightness, Blue Filter, and Screen Resolution. You need the last one.
Here you can scroll through the available options to change the resolution. On the far left is the lowest HD resolution, while on the right is the WQHD option, which you must select if you want to see the most attractive picture on your phone screen.

The screenshots show Galaxy settings S8 - but the Galaxy S7 is similar.

Your options for the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus include HD + (1480 x 730), FHD + (2220 x 720), FHD (1920 x 1080), and WQHD (2560 x 1440), while the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge offer HD (1280 x 720), FHD (1920 x 1080) and WQHD (2560 x 1440).

When you decide which resolution you want to use, just click on the "Apply" button at the top of the page, and you will see the screen in the new resolution.

You can change the permission at any time if you want to return old settings later to get the most attractive picture or save battery power.

It looks like the new flagships will differ in a non-standard screen not only. This feature is also relevant for the Samsung Galaxy S8, which has already been confirmed by the next photo of the smartphone. It demonstrates all three possible option the permissions available to the user. Maximum - QHD + or 2960x1440 pixels, but HD + (1480x720) or FHD + (2220x1080) can also be selected to save energy.

This suggests that the aspect ratio of the display will be non-standard. Samsung, like LG, has decided to move away from the familiar 16: 9 widescreen type. The Galaxy S8 display will be more elongated, which looks to be the trend this year.

For comparison, the LG G6 has a display resolution of 2880x1440 pixels - this is an 18: 9 ratio, while the Galaxy S8 has a display resolution of 2960x1440 pixels. 18,5:9 ... This format has been repeatedly mentioned in insiders, but it was only now possible to confirm it.

Along with a snapshot of the display, a photo of the packaging got to the Web flagship Galaxy S8 Plus with 64GB of internal storage. The box is made in the traditional Samsung style. You cannot draw any special conclusions based on it. Everything is as usual.

Let's complement these insights with a fresh render from Evan Blass, who has finally demonstrated all three debuts. color options smartphone. It is purple, black and silver. Such images are no longer in doubt.

This part Samsung review Galaxy S8 + is dedicated to screen and battery tests. How successful is the Infinity Display in terms of color reproduction, brightness, readability in the sun? How long will the Samsung Galaxy S8 + last on a single charge under different modes of use?

Samsung Galaxy S8 +: screen

The Galaxy S8 + has a beautiful, resonant and memorable name Infinity Display. An endless display extends from edge to edge. The side bezels are missing, and the top and bottom are so small that they even had to remove the Samsung logo, which so annoyed many fans of the brand.

Passport data Galaxy screen S8 + you probably know, but according to the laws of the genre they need to be voiced. Diagonal 6.2 inches at QHD + resolution gives pixel density in the area 530 ppi... The panel is, of course, Super Amoled, which guarantees maximum black depth and excellent contrast.

We'll get to the tests later, for now let's say a few words about the resolution and aspect ratio of the Galaxy S8 + screen. The default resolution is not QHD + but 2220 x 1080 pixels, that is, FHD +. This permission is used for Android and all applications. You can manually set a lower resolution 1480 x 720... Whether it is necessary to do this is another question ... in battery tests, lowering the resolution did not extend the battery's life.

Galaxy S8 + aspect ratio (18.5: 9) is a topic for a separate discussion, therefore, within the framework of this article, we will voice the main points. It will not be difficult to adapt applications and games to the new resolution, there will be no problems here. But media content is more difficult to redo, like the photos that it takes Galaxy camera S8 +. When watching videos and photos, you cannot avoid the appearance of black bars.

The Galaxy S8 + screen does not support Dolby Vision, but does support the technology HDR10, which guarantees maximum saturation, realism and vividness of the image. According to display experts DisplayMate, Infinity Display can reproduce more colors (142%) than the standard sRGB color space can accommodate. The S8's screen received the highest A + rating from DisplayMate and is ideal for viewing HDR content.

The problem is that HDR content is scarce, and what is available is only available in UHD packages (on Netflix, for example) and requires 4K screen resolution, which the Galaxy S8 + cannot boast. However, the lack of HDR content is unlikely to become a weighty argument against the Korean flagship, so we will not focus on this.

At the sub-pixel level, the Galaxy S8 + uses a Diamond Pixel layout. Its peculiarity is that the elements responsible for displaying blue, red and green (sRGB) colors differ in size and shape. The largest sub-pixel is blue, followed by red, and green has smallest size... The shape is also different: the blue and red sub-pixels are made in the shape of a diamond, the green in the shape of an oval.

This layout allows you to achieve maximum image brightness and avoid artifacts when drawing small details, in particular, straight and diagonal lines. In terms of color reproduction, the Galaxy S8 + has an excellent display: an average color accuracy ratio of 3, a maximum of 5.6. DeltaE is less than that of direct competitors; despite the saturation of colors traditional for the Amoled matrix, it conveys colors better than the LCD panels installed in almost all flagships of spring 2017.

Samsung Galaxy S8 +: display tests

They said about good color rendition, and the brightness of the image is also in full order. When testing the Galaxy S8 + screen in DisplayMate labs, it was able to achieve a brightness of 1020 nits. GSMArena experts were able to squeeze a fantastic 870 nits out of the S8 + display. True, space brightness indicators are achieved only in specific conditions, in particular, when only a small white rectangle is highlighted on a black screen.

In real life, the screen brightness of the Galaxy S8 + will be lower: 442 nits v standard mode and 647 nits at automatic settings to the maximum. Since the Amoled matrix allows you to get, in fact, absolutely black, the contrast of the display is infinitely high level, which once again justifies its name - Infinity Display.

Galaxy S8 +: screen test at 100% brightness

	Black cd / m2	Brightness, cd / m2	Contrast
Galaxy S8 +	0.00	442	~
Galaxy S8 + (max auto)	0.00	647	~
Galaxy S7	0.00	391	~
Galaxy S7 (max auto)	0.00	563	~
Galaxy S7 edge	0.00	392	~
Galaxy S7 edge (max auto)	0.00	610	~
Lg g6	0.228	468	2053
LG G6 (max auto)	0.277	564	2036
HTC U Ultra	0.539	428	794
HTC U Ultra (max auto)	0.564	507	899
Xperia XZs	0.461	564	1223
Huawei P10 Plus	0.335	547	1633
Huawei P10	0.416	592	1423
iPhone 7 Plus	0.41	573	1398
iPhone 7 Plus (max auto)	0.50	681	1362

Readability Galaxy display S8 + in the sun, as predicted, is beyond praise. The best on the market at this moment! In terms of readability in the sun, the S8 + outpaced its predecessors and confidently came out on top in the current table of ranks. Next came the S6 + and S7 edge. Closest competitor Samsung The OnePlus 3T is 400 points behind, although it also has a Samsung Amoled display.

Sun Contrast Ratio

At the end of the conversation about the S8 + display (which, in fact, can be continued indefinitely), let's say that minimum brightness was 3.30 nits... In the evening and at night, the S8 + screen will not blind you, working with the phone is quite comfortable.

The Galaxy S8 + has four operating modes. Cinema Mode is tailored for films, Photo - for viewing and working with photos. There are also Basic and Adaptive modes. For daily work with the phone it is better to choose the latter. In adaptive mode, the Galaxy S8 + analyzes what is shown on the display and improves the picture based on it.

Samsung Galaxy S8 +: battery, battery life

Today it is customary to criticize phones for low battery life, and you can't say that criticism is not the case. Many smartphones, even astronomically expensive ones, barely make it into the evening. At active screen the battery is discharged in 7-9 hours. It is generally better to keep silent about games - it's good if the battery lasts for 3-4 hours. So, the Galaxy S8 + also outperformed the competition in this component - with the battery life it has a complete order, at least for a phone with a diagonal of 6.2 inches.

Galaxy S8 + battery tests showed that with the screen on 3500 mAh lasts 12-16 hours... When working on the Internet, the operating time is less (12 hours), which is explained by the additional load on the modem. When watching a video, the figure, frankly speaking, is impressive - not every smart with a diagonal of 5.0-5.2 inches can work for 16 hours. From big phones you don't expect such high autonomy anymore ...

Galaxy Smartphone S8 +: battery life

	Galaxy S8 + (Exynos 8895)
Battery capacity	3500 mAh
Fast charging	Quick Charge 2.0
Wireless charger	Supported
Autonomy rating	88 hours
Autonomy with AOD	58 hours
Calls	23:43
Internet	12:16
Video	16:03

Overall rating of autonomy at Always-On-Display disabled was 88 hours. This means that if you watch a video for 1 hour, communicate in 3G networks for 1 hour and surf the Internet for another 1 hour, the Galaxy S8 + battery will last more than three days. Of course, in real life, the battery life will be shorter, because dozens of applications running in background also consume battery.

When the Always-On-Display function is enabled, the autonomy rating is reduced to 55 hours, which, in principle, is normal. According to the developers, AOD consumes about 1% of the battery per hour, so the time reduction Galaxy work The S8 + on a single charge is an inevitable price to pay for the convenience this option provides.

By good tradition, the Samsung Galaxy S8 + supports wireless charging... The Exynos 8895 version of the smartphone supports QC 2.0 and adaptive fast charging(Adaptive Fast Charging). The Galaxy can be charged from zero to 100% in an hour and a half. Considering the battery capacity of the S8 +, it's not bad overall.

This is where we end this part big Galaxy review S8 +. If you find inaccuracies or errors in the material, please write in the comments, we will correct it.