Samsung Introduces Galaxy S8, S8 Plus with Bixby, Infinity Display and More

After numerous leaks and rumours, Samsung S8 and S8 Plus are finally out from the shadow of uncertainty. With these two smartphones, Samsung has also introduced a whole bunch of innovative features and apps.

Design and Display

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus look stunning like its predecessor. Available in 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 (Quad HD+, 2960x1440, 570ppi) and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ (158.1mm, Quad HD+, 2960x1440, 529ppi) both the smartphones come with Infinity Display and bezel-less design.

It comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both the front and back for durability and a high-quality finish.

Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 10 nm processor. Under the hood is 4GB RAM (LPDDR4) with 64GB (UFS 2.1) which can be expanded up to 256GB with MicroSD support. On the software front, the new Galaxy S8 phones will run on the latest version of Android Nougat.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are equipped with an 8MP shooter with F1.7 Smart autofocus front camera and 12MP F1.7 Dual Pixel rear camera.

Keeping device security in mind, both the smartphones are built on Samsung Knox, a defense-grade security platform. In addition, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will offer a wide selection of biometric technologies including a fingerprint scanner, iris scanner and facial recognition so users can select a secure biometric authentication method that works best for them. While the Galaxy S8 is powered by 3,000 mAh battery the S8 Plus has 3,500 mAh battery. 

On the connectivity front, both the smartphones have Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024QAM, Bluetooth v 5.0 (LE up to 2Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC and GPS.

With Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, Samsung has continued with few old Galaxy features that have made them quite popular amongst the consumers and some of these features are IP68 water and dust resistance, MicroSD support up to 256GB, Always-on display and Fast and wireless charging capabilities.

Bixby Digital assistant

With Bixby, Samsung has made S8 and S8 Plus more powerful and interactive which allows the users to get more out of their phone.

Users can also shop, search for images and get details about nearby places with Bixby’s image recognition technology. As the Bixby ecosystem grows, it will connect across devices, apps and services as a ubiquitous interface, and open up new experiences and scenarios to simplify life.

With the new Bixby button, you will be able to conveniently access Bixby and navigate through services and apps with simple voice, touch, vision and text commands. Bixby’s Voice function can integrate with several Samsung native apps and features including Camera, Contacts, Gallery, Messages and Settings. The company plans to expand its capabilities to include more Samsung and third-party apps in the near future. Contextual awareness capabilities enable Bixby to offer personalised help based on what it continues to learn about the user’s interests, situation and location.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will also connect to the new Gear 360 to create 4K 360-degree videos and 15MP photos.

Leveraging the processing power of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ for enhanced productivity, Samsung has added Samsung DeX which can transform your smartphone into a desktop by providing a secure desktop-like experience. With Samsung DeX, users can easily display and edit data from their phone.

Samsung has been active in the IoT domain from quite some time and with S8 and S8 Plus it has tried to bring all the connected devices under one roof through Samsung Connect. With Samsung Connect, users can easily activate IoT-enabled devices through a quick three-step configuration process and manage all connected devices through one integrated app.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus also come with the enhanced Samsung Health service, expanding one of Samsung’s most widely used services with 60 million monthly active users and 11 million daily active users worldwide. Samsung Health will be available in Korea and China for now and will later be expanded to the US and other countries.

Users can leave their physical wallet behind with Samsung Pay, turning their Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus into a digital wallet they can use almost anywhere they’d use a credit or debit card. With more than 870 worldwide banking partnerships, Samsung Pay has processed more than 240 million transactions to date.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be available starting on April 21 and will be offered in a rich colour palette including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold.

Samsung Electronics had reported a sharp fall in its quarterly earnings due to the disastrous recall and discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

The South Korean multinational conglomerate observed the world’s largest smartphone recall in September last year after their flagship smartphones caught fire. It was finally discontinued after the replacement phones also reported the same problem. The Galaxy Note 7, dubbed as the iPhone killer was killed in less than two months after its launch.