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What the Samsung s8 will look like. How to distinguish the original Galaxy S8 from a fake? All ways! Turn lock screen notifications on or off

Powerful smartphone Samsung Galaxy S8 in a thin case made of metal and 3D glass with a large 5.8-inch Super AMOLED high-resolution screen 2960 x 1440 pixels curved on both sides and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The new product runs on the latest Android operating system, is equipped with a powerful processor, large built-in and RAM memory. Now your smartphone has the most reliable protection of personal information and data; technology that allows you to scan your iris will help you quickly unlock your phone while guaranteeing protection of information from unauthorized persons.

Basic characteristics of Samsung Galaxy S8: 2 SIM cards, support for 4G LTE networks, 5.8 inch screen resolution 2960 x 1440 pixels, Android 7.0 Nougat operating system, 8-core processor 2500 MHz, 3000 mAh battery with fast charging function, main camera 12 MP with Dual technology Pixel, 64 GB of internal memory, 4 GB of RAM and support for memory cards up to 256 GB.

Large RAM and the latest 10nm processor ensure high performance and optimal power consumption. A Samsung Galaxy 8 user has access to 64 GB of native memory, which can be expanded by installing a memory card of up to 256 GB into the phone. The Galaxy S8 will be sold in three color versions - Black, Gold and Orchid Gray. Now you can pre-order a smartphone, the price of the Galaxy S8 is 54,990 rubles, the price is indicated at the start of sales and may currently be lower.

The smartphone supports two SIM cards and works in 4G LTE Cat 16 networks, providing high-speed Internet on the phone. The main 12 MP camera of the Samsung Galaxy S8 with Dual Pixel technology allows you to take excellent pictures and shoot videos with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels; for selfies, there is a front 8 MP camera with intelligent autofocus and face recognition function. You can transfer data from your old phone to a new one with the OTG adapter that comes with your smartphone. The elegant case of the Galaxy S 8 is made of metal and glass and is protected from water and dust according to the IP68 standard.

  • For more detailed specifications and reviews of the Galaxy S8, see below.
  • If you know something about the pros and cons of Galaxy 8 or you have additional information or useful tips for your smartphone, then please share by adding your review below.
  • Thank you for your responsiveness, useful tips and information for your smartphone!!!

All technical characteristics of the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone.

  • Number of SIM cards: 2 SIM cards / alternating
  • SIM card type: Nano-SIM
  • Case material: metal and 3D glass
  • Water and dust protection: IP68 standard
  • Processor: 8-core 2.5 GHz / Samsung Exynos 8895
  • Video processor: Mali-G71 MP20
  • Operating system: Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Screen: diagonal 5.8 inches / Super AMOLED / resolution 2960 x 1440 pixels / Gorilla Glass 5
  • Battery: 3000 mAh capacity / non-removable / fast charging function / wireless charging support
  • Main camera: 12 MP/Dual Pixel technology/two-color LED flash/digital zoom/autofocus/face and smile detection
  • Front camera: 8 MP.
  • Video shooting: resolution 3840 x 2160 pixels
  • Built-in memory: 64 GB
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Memory card: MicroSD up to 256 GB
  • 3G support: yes
  • 4G LTE support: Cat 16
  • Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Wi-Fi Direct: Supports
  • Wi-Fi hotspot: supports
  • Bluetooth: version 5.0 LE
  • NFC: supports
  • USB: USB Type C
  • Navigation: GPS/ A-GPS/ GLONASS
  • Fingerprint scanner: yes
  • Iris scanner: yes
  • Sensors: accelerometer/proximity/light/compass/geomagnetic/barometer/heart rate/hall
  • Dimensions: (H.W.T) 149 x 68 x 8 mm
  • Weight: 155 grams

I am writing this material for people who really want to know an explanation of the characteristics of the Galaxy S8, how they work in practice, and my personal opinion about this or that point in the device. And for this, just a 10-minute video and beautiful pictures are not enough. Therefore, if you are just such a reader, then get ready to spend 10 minutes of your life reading. If not, then I have selected for you under this material 10-minute video reviews of top bloggers on YouTube, which will tell you clearly, quickly and superficially.

So, let's begin! Samsung Galaxy S8 (SM-G950F) at the start of sales costs 55,000 RUB in Russia, 25,000 UAH in Ukraine, 1,800 BYN in Belarus, 301,000 KZT in Kazakhstan. For fun, I converted all these prices into dollars and summarized them in the chart below:

In this section I will tell you all the characteristics: from the body to the cameras.

Design, elements on the case, materials and dimensions of the smartphone

The design of the flagship is not similar to any other device, but the Samsung style is noticeable. Everything is very smooth and in your hands it feels like a piece of glass polished to perfection. I can’t find fault with the joints of the elements; everything fits very well and without gaps. I have a black version, but in our market you can still find gold and amethyst.

By thickness The smartphone is 8 mm, nothing protrudes in the planes. The metal frame on the left and right ends is only 3.5 mm wide, to which the front and rear windows are rounded off. Samsung calls this "Edge design". Width The S8 is quite narrow - 68 mm, which is one and a half millimeters narrower than the Galaxy S7. Samsung smartphones have always been distinguished by their compact size in terms of body/display ratio. By height the device is 6.5 mm taller than its predecessor and is 149 mm. Weight is 155 g, and as for me this is the optimal indicator that you want to feel in your hand.

Even though the S8's screen diagonal is quite large, I still want to call it a compact smartphone that will be convenient for people with small hands. When I hold it in my hand, I think that this is exactly how it should be and I don’t understand why smartphones were different before.

Ok Steve! In terms of design, I want the Galaxy S8.

On the front there is a large display, with very narrow frames at the top and bottom (each almost 7 mm). There's nothing on the bottom bezel, and part of me says, "So if the area is empty, then remove it entirely in favor of an EVEN larger display!" But the normal part of me (I think it’s normal) understands that before this there were no such screen-to-body ratios, and the engineers tried very hard to create what we have in front.

Above the screen in the center there is a neat earpiece, to the left of which there are two sensors (light and proximity), infrared illumination for recognizing the iris of the eye even in pitch darkness, followed by an indicator light (lit in blue or red). To the right of the speaker are the front camera and a sensor for scanning the iris of the eye. The front camera is not used for iris scanning.

On the back panel we have a protective glass that is scratch-resistant and does not have an oleophobic coating. Just above the center is the Samsung logo, which is not shiny chrome, but has a modest gray color. Above the logo in the center there is a camera, to the left of which is a heart rate sensor and a single-LED flash. I can’t say that the flash stands out in terms of brightness and has a warm tint. To the right of the camera there is a fingerprint scanner, which is inconvenient for me and I don’t use it.

At the top end there is a hybrid tray for two Nano SIM cards, or one card and a memory card. The tray is made of flexible plastic, which is a little disappointing, although this is not so important. The metal frame at the upper and lower ends is wider than the side edges, since the adjacent glass there is not rounded. On top we also have a microphone for noise reduction and two plastic dividers for antennas, which are practically invisible.


At the bottom end there is a USB Tape-C connector, a headphone jack, an external speaker, a conversational microphone and two more dividers for antennas.

On the left side there is a volume rocker and a button that calls up the interface of the Bixby virtual assistant, but more on that later.

On the right side, the power/lock button is located alone in a convenient place.

Chipset

The heart of the flagship SM-G950F is the top-of-the-line 2017 chipset of its own production, Exynos 8895 (analogue). It has 8 cores, 4 of which are low-power for light tasks and energy saving - ARM Cortex-A53 with a maximum frequency of 1690 MHz. The remaining 4 cores are manufactured using Samsung's own Exynos M1 (Mongoose) architecture. It handles complex tasks at a maximum frequency of 2314 MHz.

The biggest feature of the processor is its 10-nanometer (nm) manufacturing technology. Manufacturers have stopped increasing gigahertz and power, and are striving for energy efficiency and compactness. So that you understand, 10 nm is almost half the size of the already small 14 nm top-end Snapdragon 821 chip. At the same time, performance has not gone by the wayside, and energy costs are several times less.

See the comparison of chipset sizes in the picture:

Diagram from Intel presentation

In terms of performance, this is not the most powerful smartphone. In AnTuTu it scores 173 thousand points and gives way to the iPhone 7 Plus. At maximum graphics settings in tanks, the frames per second of the Galaxy S8 does not reach 60. On average it shows 50 frames per second. But this is not critical, since the human eye can capture a maximum of 30 frames per second.

In summer, when the weather is very hot, the smartphone gets a little warm and holding it in your hands is very uncomfortable. Heating was noticed not only in games under maximum load, but this problem can be much more noticeable in other smartphones with a similar powerful chip.

Considering that the chipset is made using the finest technical process, I don’t understand the heating. However, I have not previously heard about heating problems from other users, and I am almost sure that this point concerns my device, which is not commercial (sent for review by the manufacturer). Plus, given that the processor and core architecture are new, over time all games and programs will be better optimized for this solution.

Memory

The device has 4 GB of RAM. This is quite enough for all tasks and I did not feel any shortcomings. The AIDA64 application shows an honest 3.5 GB of RAM. 64 GB of permanent memory, and no other versions found. 54 GB available for use. It is possible to expand the memory using a MicroSD card up to 256 GB, and the card slot is separate from the SIM card.

Memory speed is excellent and reaches 787 MB/s when reading and 195 MB/s when transferring. This is the fastest indicator currently in smartphones.

Autonomy

I’ll say right away that autonomy is not the strong point of the Samsung S8. The battery capacity is 3000 mAh, and it shows average survivability. But if you take into account the display resolution and its diagonal, then everything is pretty good.

After an hour of playing, the battery drained by 20%, meaning you can play for 5 hours without interruption at maximum resolution. Plays video over Wi-Fi – 7.5 hours. But working with a GPS navigator with a rarely active display will drain the battery in 20 hours. Still, the high resolution of the display makes itself felt (by the way, it can be lowered, which will have a positive effect on autonomy).

The Korean flagship is infected from 0 to 100% in 1 hour 15 minutes. The included charger charged the battery from 0 to 50% in 40 minutes. This means that there is fast charging, but the S8 does not focus on quickly recharging the charge in the first minutes.

If you are not a hardcore multimedia user, then the smartphone will last 2 days under gentle loads. Especially if you lower the display resolution.

Display

But the screen here is quite interesting. It has an unusual aspect ratio of 18.5:9 and is made using Super Amoled technology. The screen diagonal, with such compact dimensions, is 5.8 inches. Compactness is achieved thanks to the same narrow frames mentioned earlier. This means that it is more elongated in length, and all this is due to the reduction of the upper and lower frames. The maximum display resolution is WQHD (2950x1440), but it can be reduced in the settings to FullHD or even HD. Reducing the resolution will have a positive effect on autonomy.

It is noticeable only when compared point-blank.

It’s hard to find fault with the display – it’s large, clear, frameless and very bright (1000 nits). However, there is a minus: with a white color, the picture turns a little red at a direct viewing angle. This moment is visible only if you put another smartphone next to it.

The company is already sending out an update that will correct this shortcoming, but at the time of review, this update had not yet reached my sample.

The screen has an "Always on Display" function, when when the device is locked, the display shows the clock and date, notifications and battery percentage.

Sound

I'm not a music lover, but with the Samsung S8 I wanted to become one. The sound in the headphones is simply stunning. Perhaps I just hadn’t heard high-quality sound before, but I downloaded the track in flac format and, in comparison with the Galaxy A5, I realized that the S8 sounds like a god. Complete immersion in music. My A-5, compared to the 2017 flagship, sounds like a leprechaun drowned in a toilet.

The external speaker of the flagship also plays well, but there are no stereo speakers. The sound comes from one speaker at the bottom end, it is loud and moderately rich, like for a smartphone. The volume reaches 70.3 dB.

Perhaps the sound was influenced by collaboration with the top audio device manufacturer Harman/Kardon. AKG branded headphones are included. They can be purchased separately for $100. At the presentation, Samsung said that the S8 has a 32-bit digital-to-analog converter.

I listen to the Samsung Galaxy S8 through headphones and I can’t remember what disadvantages I talked about earlier... I don’t know how I’ll live without such sound now.

The device supports two Nano-SIM cards. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, supports dual-channel data transmission at 5000 MHz. Bluetooth also has a surprise, it . This means you can play your favorite tracks through Bluetooth headphones and go to the other side of the house or even go out into the yard without a signal source. The range is increased 4 times compared to Bluetooth 4.2. You can also connect two headsets at once (two speakers or two pairs of headphones). These are not all the advantages of the fifth version of Bluetooth, but to use it you need a headset that supports this format.

GPS navigation works flawlessly.

Software

The Samsung S8 runs on the latest Android 7 operating system at the time of release, of course. The Samsung Experience shell is installed on top; I currently have version 8.1. Everything works quickly, but with a certain proprietary animation, which is similar to the effect of minimizing windows in Windows. The main desktop displays the clock, weather, and Google search bar by default, but by default, you can pinch to install widgets, app icons, and add screens that you can swipe right to. By swiping from bottom to top or vice versa, the “app drawer” is called up. If you swipe your finger from the right edge to the left, the EDGE panel will be called up with the ability to quickly access selected applications, contacts and various opportunities to take screenshots.

The GPU processes the interface without slowdowns at maximum frame rates. No lags were noticed in third-party applications either.

Bixby

By swiping from left to right on the main screen, as well as a separate button on the end, you can open the Bixby interface, in which you can find cards that you can configure yourself. I have an alarm clock, Gallery for today, the number of steps taken, the weather and a summary of the latest news. At the moment, the assistant's capabilities are limited. Apart from the listed capabilities, the assistant can’t do anything else; it doesn’t react to voices in any way (neither Russian, nor English, nor even Korean). It is unknown when the Russian-speaking audience will be able to fully use Bixby.

However, the intentions of his work were noticed; a recommendation appeared in the notification shade to listen to music in good quality with a link to a recommended site (I had previously downloaded music on another site). I look forward to all the capabilities of Bixby's artificial intelligence and his destruction of the human race the moment he acquires it.

For now, Bixby only has a name.

Camera

The main camera on the Galaxy S8 takes 12 MP photos. The aperture is widened to F/1.7, which allows the sensor to capture more light in low light conditions. This is the widest aperture in a smartphone in my memory. There is phase detection autofocus and optical stabilization. If the smartphone cannot focus (which happens very rarely when taking photos), for example when shooting video in 4K resolution, then tapping on the display sensor can help the camera. Autofocus works using technology, it is very fast and in most cases trouble-free.

The matrix in the main camera is manufactured by ISOCELL, model S5K2L2. I assume that the American and Korean versions use a Sony sensor, model IMX333 (or another name IMX260 Pro). They say that there is no difference in the quality of pictures of the Samsung S8 with different matrices. In the S7 there was a situation where the Sony sensor took photographs in warmer tones. The size of the S5K2L2 is quite large - 1/2.5". The pixel is also not small - 1.4 microns.

I would like to note that despite all the indicators, the camera does not protrude from the body.

The main camera of the Galaxy S8 is practically no different from the Galaxy S7 in photography. In the video I think the S8 dominates.

Below is an example of shooting on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S7 in HDR modes. Last year's flagship did better.

For comparison, I’ll give another example of a photo taken under the same conditions on the Galaxy S8 and Xiaomi Note 4x to clearly show the quality of flagships and budget phones.

Below is a gorgeous shot with bokeh effect on the Galaxy S8. When taking photographs in good lighting, the smartphone focuses at lightning speed (I never tire of writing this).

Another macro shot:

Shooting in the blinding sun in automatic mode was not impressive. But there are many manual settings in the "Pro" mode: ISO adjustment, aperture effect, presets, manual focus, etc.

Night shot with and without flash. When using a flash, the algorithm works well, there are no highlights and in some cases it is difficult to tell that the photo was taken with a flash.

Selfie camera

The selfie camera, a first for smartphones, has autofocus. This is an 8 megapixel ISOCELL S5K3H1 matrix with an F/1.7 aperture. It takes excellent pictures for a selfie camera, nothing more to say.

Video shooting

Samsung shoots video in resolutions from VGA to 4K (UHD) resolution. When recording Full HD at 30 frames per second, video shooting in HDR mode is available. There is optical and electronic stabilization. I was amazed by the color reproduction, focusing and stabilization capabilities. You don’t need a lot of words here, you just have to see:

Youtube decided to cut the resolution down to 2k over time.

Peculiarities

Among the features of the smartphone is the ability to connect to a monitor using the DeX docking station. You can also connect a mouse and keyboard to it. The monitor displays Samsung's operating system based on Android, externally similar to Windows. Standard Microsoft applications and office solutions are designed for it. I was not able to use this gadget for a long time, but the reviews about it are not bad.

With DeX, you can open a browser, work in office applications, view and even edit photos. Applications open in full windows. Even Instagram and others are launching, but few applications have yet been adapted for this platform.

The second feature is the ability to unlock the device using the iris of the eye or face. They say that a face scanner can be fooled by a printed photo, but it’s not so simple and who would bother with this? If the options above do not always work quickly, especially if you are walking, then with the finger scanner everything happens at lightning speed, but it is not located in a very convenient place and does not recognize a wet finger.

The third feature I would like to note is the presence of a heartbeat scanner.

The fourth feature, which I did not mention earlier, is the presence of moisture and dust protection according to the IP68 standard.

Pros and cons of Samsung Galaxy S8

It's time to sum up all of the above.

pros

  • thin frames around the display;
  • clear, bright and elongated display, with the ability to adjust resolution;
  • convenient design and well-assembled body;
  • good cameras in all respects;
  • user-friendly interface;
  • support for the upcoming version of Bluetooth 5;
  • great sound in headphones;
  • loud external speaker;
  • notification indicator;
  • moisture and dust protection.

Minuses

  • staining the rear glass, which is prone to scratches;
  • the sharp edges of the USB connector rub your finger while playing;
  • Due to such a premium design, the smartphone can be fragile, you need to wear a case;
  • sometimes it gets quite hot under load (perhaps this is a problem with my sample or raw software, this should be fixed by updating and optimizing games for the new kernel);
  • All unlocking means are inconvenient.

My review of the Galaxy S8

The smartphone scored 5 points. Many people talk about it as the emperor of smartphones. Personally, the camera is important to me, and here it is very decent. Is it the best? This is questionable, and when compared with the Galaxy S7, they are very similar. Although the Galaxy S8's video recording is impressive.

And so the question hung in my head: is it worth buying a Galaxy S8 for the photo capabilities of the camera, if the Galaxy S7 has the same level for more affordable money? I would consider buying a Galaxy S8 for the excellent sound in the headphones and cool display, for the sake of video recording and good design. Although the design is secondary, and I would rather show off cool photographs than the cool design of a glass rectangle (as you can see, the WOW effect from the design gradually faded away for me, you get used to good things very quickly).

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Which will be released in our country at the end of April. The devices are equipped with a frameless display, a retinal scanner and a powerful hardware platform. Currently, the Galaxy S8 is the most advanced device not only in the Galaxy family, but also in the Android ecosystem as a whole, so many compare the new product with the iPhone 7.

The Galaxy S8 looks very progressive - one large screen. Nice, but probably not very practical. Since there are practically no side frames, when using the device, you can accidentally touch the touch screen with the edges of your palm. Many more owners of the Galaxy S7 Edge complained about false positives - and here this problem may become much more pressing.

Be that as it may, the Galaxy S8 turned out to be one of the most advanced mobile devices in terms of technical equipment. The BGR resource listed 10 features of the Galaxy S8 that are missing from Apple's flagship smartphones. Among them there are both quite useful in real life and unnecessary functions. More details about this later in the Digger.ru article.

"Infinity Display"

With the release of the flagship this year, Samsung decided to maintain the recognizable design of its smartphones, giving the Galaxy S8 an edge-to-edge display, while abandoning not only the Home key, but also the logo on the front panel. As a result, the Galaxy S8 has only small frames at the top and bottom for the earpiece and sensors. It’s unlikely that anyone would think of calling this decision revolutionary, but this move certainly improved the aesthetics of the smartphone and made Jonathan Ive nervous.

Curved edges

Design is a matter of taste. Some people like the look of the iPhone, others like the Samsung. But the Galaxy S8 model has a very original style. In particular, the proprietary curved edge display. The design of the iPhone has not changed for several years. The current flagship iPhone 7 is a thin and stylish smartphone with a look that is recognizable all over the world. Design flaws include relatively thick bezels around the screen and wide margins at the top and bottom, which means the 5.5-inch models lack good ergonomics. Thanks to its edge-to-edge display, the Galaxy S8 is smaller in size than the iPhone 7 Plus. By eliminating the bezels around the screen, Samsung was able to make the device sleeker than Apple smartphones.

PC mode

Samsung has endowed the new product with a special operating mode similar to Microsoft Continuum. In particular, a docking station was released along with the smartphone, which will allow you to turn the Galaxy S8 into a full-fledged computer. By connecting a monitor, keyboard and other peripherals to the dock, you can continue working with documents or a long chat. The accessory is called DeX.

Retinal scanner

One of the key innovations in the Galaxy S8 is the iris scanner, which allows you to unlock your mobile device just by looking at the center of the screen. The gadget is unlocked after recognizing the iris of the eye. Using this technology, you can also log into applications and make payments using the Samsung Pay service. Unlike a fingerprint scanner, the iris cannot be duplicated due to its unique pattern.

User identification by face

The Galaxy S8 has not only an iris scanner, but also a facial recognition system. These are two different functions. The iris scanner is a fairly reliable protection, but not very practical, since it takes more time to unlock and you need to move your eyes closer to the sensor. Face recognition is a more convenient and faster way to unlock your smartphone. As tests have shown, the system works flawlessly and very quickly, even if you hold the smartphone at arm's length. However, experiments have proven that this Galaxy S8 technology can be easily fooled. All you need to do is place a photo of the user in front of the camera. The device identifies the person and successfully unlocks the device.

AI voice assistant Bixby

With the new Galaxy S8, the manufacturer is doing something important - trying to create a new way to interact with a smartphone. And build your own ecosystem based on it. This method is called Bixby, and it is artificial intelligence. It's not as trivial as it seems - Samsung's assistant is different from Siri on the iPhone. If the latter is intended primarily to provide the user with information, then Bixby should become an additional layer between a person and a smartphone. It is controlled mainly by voice, however, unlike its competitors, it can “intervene” in the middle of a task. You can call him to the gallery and in three words ask him to send the photo you are looking at to someone on the contact list. The assistant will understand what we are talking about - he can recognize the context of what is happening on the screen (including in the camera lens), and therefore he does not need to further explain the task. This is convenient - if, of course, it works as stated.

Wireless charger

Samsung flagships support wireless charging using a special dual-channel technology. It is designed to charge the gadget’s battery much faster. Moreover, the Galaxy S8 supports not only the widespread Qi protocol, but other standards for wireless energy transfer. This way, the user does not have to worry about charger compatibility.

10nm processor

As last year, Samsung presented the flagships Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in two versions. The version for sale in China and the USA received a Snapdragon 835 processor, and for international deliveries - Exynos 8895. Both chips use an advanced 10nm process technology. Switching to a more advanced process technology provides higher productivity and energy efficiency. Apple is also working on 10nm processors, but we won't see them in iPhones until September.

Bluetooth 5.0

Samsung Galaxy S8 is the first smartphone in the industry to be equipped with Bluetooth 5.0. Rumors about this feature of the flagship appeared at the end of 2016, a week after the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the adoption of the specification. Bluetooth 5.0 is four times faster than Bluetooth 4.2 in range and twice as fast in speed.

Thanks to support for Bluetooth 5.0, the Samsung flagship will have the function of transmitting an audio stream simultaneously to two Bluetooth devices connected to it. In particular, users will be able to broadcast sound from their smartphone directly to both headphones and speakers. In this case, the sound volume on one peripheral device can be adjusted independently of the other.

Fast charging function

Among other things, the Samsung Galaxy S8 received support for fast charging technology. In the case of current smartphones, two dozen minutes spent at the power adapter provide up to 4 hours of battery life. The Galaxy S8 debuted even more advanced technology, providing 5 hours of device operation in 15 minutes connected to a power source.

Beat Apple

Samsung is in an advantageous position against Apple this year. She goes first - and the move, judging by the reaction of users, is quite strong. By introducing a bezel-less smartphone with an attractive design, Samsung is upping the ante.

Apple will have to try to make the iPhone look better than the new Galaxy, although there is no need to doubt the talent of the developers who year after year release the most beautiful devices in the industry. But if it happens that the new iPhone for the fourth year in a row differs from previous models only cosmetically, Samsung can celebrate victory. It is unlikely that the Galaxy S8 alone will dethrone the iPhone from its place as the world’s most popular smartphone, but it will be able to lure a certain part of buyers to Samsung’s camp.

The new ones are the most fashionable devices at the moment. More and more people are starting to become their owners and use them in everyday life, so it’s time to take a closer look at the interface of these smartphones and get the most out of their capabilities.

Smartphones have an updated user interface on top of the operating system. Improvements include a cleaner style and better organization of menus and settings. The new interface is also more flexible and customizable, focusing on what matters to most users. Sure, there are some fancy features left, but they're not flashy.

Below we will look at 25 options for improving the quality of work with the new Samsung flagships. These tips will help you get more pleasure from owning these expensive devices.

  1. Changing the position of the back buttons and application switcher

    Open Settings > Display > Navigation bar > Button layout and choose one of two options: Recent - Home - Back or Back - Home - Recent.

  2. Changing the size of the home screen grid and icons

    A long press on the home screen panel will open the settings, here you can change the grid size. There are 4x5, 4x6 and 5x5 options to choose from. You can also change the application grid on the screen between 4x6 and 5x6.

  3. How to turn on and off the apps button in settings

    Long press on the home screen panel will open the settings, Home Screen Settings > Apps Button. Here you can choose whether to show this button or not.

  4. Turn the Edge panel on or off and adjust its position

    Open Settings > Display > Edge Display > Edge Panels, press Turn on or Switch off. When the panels are turned on, you can swipe the small Edge mark on the side and open the settings by tapping the gear icon at the bottom. On the next screen, click on three buttons > Settings controls and choose whether the Edge panel will be on the left or right. You can adjust the panel size and transparency.

  5. Split screen for multitasking

    To split the screen between two applications, tap the button Recent at the top of every application. To the left of the X button for closing the window there is a button with two rectangles. Click on the rectangles to make this app enter split screen mode. The app will automatically appear at the top of the screen, with other recent apps at the bottom. You can select one of them or click on the More applications button if the program you need is not in the list. To exit split screen mode, tap on the line between two apps and drag it all the way up or down.

  6. Removing the application list

    Long press on the home screen and tap Home Screen Settings > Home Screen Arrangement. There are two options here: Home screen only or Home screen and Apps screen. Select the first option to remove the list of applications. As a result, all installed applications will be displayed on the home screen.

  7. Turn on the side screen backlight for incoming calls

    Activating the Edge panel is one of the most interesting features of Galaxy devices that have side screens. Although the screen curves are small and the effect is subtle, you can still turn it on. Open Settings > Display > Edge Display > Edge Lighting. Here you can press the switch to turn the feature on or off, or you can long press on the tab Edge Lighting and open advanced settings. Here you can set the side screen to activate when the main screen is turned on or off.

  8. How to take screenshot and long screenshot on Galaxy S8

  9. Enabling Power Saving Mode

    To extend battery life, you can activate the energy-saving mode. Open Settings > Device maintenance > Battery, select Average or Maximum. The maximum option is radical, it disables most applications and leaves the user with a black screen with several programs, resulting in the smartphone operating for several more hours when the charge level drops below 10%. In most cases, they use the middle option, when the brightness is reduced, the processor is limited, and functions like the Always On Display are disabled.

  10. Moving the shutter button up and down to zoom

    There are some interesting tips to make using the camera easier. For starters, the shutter button can be gestured up and down to zoom in and out of the image. The result is a smooth zoom experience that's more convenient than the traditional two-finger zoom option.

  11. Enabling shooting in RAW/DNG formats

    If you want the best possible light and shadow in your photos, save them in RAW format. To do this, open the camera application, click on the tab Image Size and enable the option below Save RAW and JPEG files.

  12. Enabling video stabilization

    To obtain high-quality videos, you need to use image stabilization. Open the camera app, tap on settings in the top right corner and select the tab Are common and parameter Video stabilization.

  13. Shopping with Bixby

    The Bixby digital assistant on the Galaxy S8 doesn't really work yet, but you can already use it to shop in stores using the camera. Open the camera app and point the lens at the selected product. If the assistant recognizes it, you will see dots flying across the screen, and if not, you can click on the eye icon at the bottom left. If the item is recognized, you can click on the store icon and see prices and links to the product.

  14. Filters and effects like Snapchat

    Open the camera app, switch to the front camera by tapping on the camera icon at the top left, at the bottom right you will see a small icon. Click on it and get tons of Snapchat-style filters and effects.

  15. Iris Scan Preview

    You can set various options to unlock your smartphone, including iris scanning. However, with default settings it looks quite strange. To make the scanning process more interesting, open Settings > Lock screen and security > Iris scanner > Preview screen and instead of your own eyes during the preview, you'll get Snapchat-style effects.

  16. Voice control of the camera

    This will be very useful when taking selfie photography. Open the camera app, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, and turn on voice control at the bottom of the list. To take photos you need to say Cheese or Smile.

  17. One-handed mode for large screens

    Newer smartphones have narrower screens, making them less difficult to use with one hand, but if you want a smaller screen, you can enable one-handed mode. Open Settings > Advanced Features > One-Handed Mode. When enabled, you can press the Home button three times to reduce the screen size.

  18. Activating Wi-Fi calling

    Open Settings > Communications > Advanced communication settings and activate the switch Wi-Fi calling.

  19. Launch Google Assistant

    Press and hold the Home button to launch Google Assistant. Since Samsung's digital assistant Bixby is not yet ready to work, you will have to be content with the option from Google to work with voice commands.

  20. Search on a smartphone

    On the Galaxy S8 you can search for apps and files. First, open the list of applications; at the top there is a search field. In it, type the name of the application or file, the title of the email, or any word that may be contained in the names of files or photos.

  21. Search in settings

    Did you know that you can also search in settings? Open Settings and tap the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner to search for the option you want.

  22. How to prevent new application icons from being added to the home screen

    Every time you install a new application, its icon appears on your home screen. The icon is also added to the application list, so it ends up in two places at once, which can be redundant. This behavior can be disabled. Open a store Play Store, click on the three-bar hamburger menu, select Settings and uncheck the box Add an icon to the home screen.

  23. Alphabetical order of applications

    A simple and useful feature. If you want the programs in the list of applications not to be arranged in the order in which they were installed on your smartphone, open it and click on the three dots in the upper right corner. Select here Sorting and click on alphabet order.

  24. Turn lock screen notifications on or off

    If you don’t want others to see the contents of notifications coming to your smartphone, you can hide them or turn them off completely. Add a fingerprint or other security mechanism to enable this feature. You will see a notification menu, in it select the Hide content option.

  25. Turn on silent mode with one click

    You can turn off the ringtone on your smartphone by simply unlocking the device, pressing the volume button once and the speaker icon in the upper left corner. As a result, notifications will arrive without sound, only with vibration.