Samsung has done it again – creating a smartphone with features that make people go oooh and ahhh. Two of them actually. But they didn’t start from scratch. The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones had their genesis in their two highly-acclaimed predecessors – the Galaxy S7 edge and the Galaxy S6 edge. Let’s take a look at the evolution of the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone!
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is famous for being the first smartphone to feature a display that curved at the two edges. But it also marked Samsung’s first foray into an all metal-and-glass design with a non-removable battery. It had an aluminium unibody chassis with Gorilla Glass 4 protection on both front and back aspects.
You may not recall it, but it was also the first Samsung smartphone to support wireless charging and Samsung Pay. Needless to say, the Galaxy S6 edge was very sexy, and impressed us greatly. The only things we didn’t like about it – the lack of a microSD slot, and the bottom location of the 3.5 mm audio port.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
The popularity of the Galaxy S6 edge ensured that Samsung would retain the curved edge display for the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. They also retained the magnificent Quad HD Super AMOLED display. Why fix something that’s not broken?
Samsung fixed the biggest gripe users had with the Galaxy S6 edge, restoring the microSD slot in the form of a Hybrid SIM tray. They also renewed their emphasis on the main camera by using a new 12 MP Dual Pixel camera with f/1.7 lens. It was arguably the best smartphone camera of 2016.
But what the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is probably best known for is its IP68 design. It is the first non-ruggerdised smartphone to be IP68 dust- and water-resistant all the time. That means you can immerse it in water without prior preparation, and it does not look like a brick!
What we didn’t really fancy – the limited internal storage (it had just 32 GB of storage initially), and the 5 MP front camera, which was so 2015.
The Samsung Galaxy S8
Samsung built upon their highly-successful Galaxy S7 edge to create the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It maintained the same curved screen and IP68 protection, albeit with a higher resolution WQHD+ display and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
The removal of the edge moniker suggests that Samsung has decided to only use the trademark curved AMOLED displays in their Galaxy S family going forward. Samsung also removed the Home button completely, creating an incredible Infinity Display.
Samsung maintained the same highly-acclaimed 12 MP Dual Pixel camera from the Galaxy S7 edge, but gave the front camera a new 8 MP sensor with autofocus capability. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ also boast the iris scanner that was first introduced with the Galaxy Note7.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones have a dedicated button that activates the new Bixby artificial intelligence assistant. They can also be connected to the Samsung DeX dock, which provides you with a desktop-like computing experience.
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The Evolution Of The Samsung Galaxy S8
To better illustrate the evolution of the Samsung Galaxy S8, we prepared this detailed specification comparison of the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, with their predecessors.
Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S8+ | Samsung Galaxy S8 | Samsung Galaxy S7 edge | Samsung Galaxy S6 edge |
---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 6.2" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (529 ppi) | 5.8" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (570 ppi) | 5.5" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (534 ppi) | 5.1" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (577 ppi) |
Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front & back panels) | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front & back panels) | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 (front & back panels) | |
Operating System (At Launch) | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 6.0 Marshmallow | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
System Platform | Samsung Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 | Samsung Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 | Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa or Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 | Samsung Exynos 7420 |
Memory | 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM | 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM | 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM | 3 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM |
Storage Options | 64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 256 GB | 64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 256 GB | 32 GB / 64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 200 GB | 32 GB / 64 GB / 128 GB internal flash storage No microSD slot |
Front Camera | 8 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens | 8 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens | 5 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens | 5 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens |
Rear Camera | 12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash | 12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash | 12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash | 16 MP Sony / Samsung sensor (1.1 µm) with f/1.9 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash |
Dual SIM capability | Hybrid dual SIM (dual active capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot | Hybrid dual SIM (dual active capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot | Hybrid dual SIM (dual standby capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot | None, single SIM only |
Connectivity | Network : LTE Cat. 16 (1 Gbps / 150 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 5.0 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 3.1, NFC, GPS | Network : LTE Cat. 16 (1 Gbps / 150 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 5.0 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 3.1, NFC, GPS | Network : LTE Cat. 8 (450 / 50 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 4.2 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 2.0, NFC, GPS | Network : LTE Cat. 6 (300 / 50 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 4.1 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 2.0, NFC, IR Remote, GPS |
Fingerprint Sensor | Yes, Rear Mounted | Yes, Rear Mounted | Yes, Home Button | Yes, Home Button |
Iris Scanner | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Other Sensors | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM |
Water & Dust Resistance | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 | None |
Battery | 3,500 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (WPC and PMA) | 3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (WPC and PMA) | 3,600 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (Qi and PMA) | 2,600 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired only) - wireless charging (Qi and PMA) |
Dimensions | 159.5 mm tall 73.4 mm wide 8.1 mm thick | 148.9 mm tall 68.1 mm wide 8.0 mm thick | 150.9 mm tall 72.6 mm wide 7.7 mm thick | 142.1 mm tall 70.1 mm wide 7.0 mm thick |
Weight | 173 g | 152 g | 157 g | 132 g |
Colour Options | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold | Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, Gold Platinum | White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Green Emerald |
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