The Galaxy S8 delivers on expectations with a stunning Infinity Display, connected ecosystem of services and an interface built on artificial intelligence.
Samsung Electronics yesterday unveiled the Galaxy S8, a smartphone that it says pushes the boundaries of traditional smartphones with its seamless hardware design and a variety of new service offerings.
“The Samsung Galaxy S8 ushers in a new era of smartphone design and fantastic new services, opening up new ways to experience the world,” said DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “The Galaxy S8 is our testament to regaining your trust by redefining what’s possible in safety and marks a new milestone in Samsung’s smartphone legacy.”
In an acknowledgement of the reputational damage caused by the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 last year, Koh added: “We must be bold enough to stare into the unknown and humble enough to learn from our mistakes.”
The Galaxy S8 largely delivered on expectations, and was met by widespread enthusiasm. It builds on Samsung’s heritage of combining powerful aesthetic design with highly functional devices, but adds a few surprises. Available in 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+, the Infinity Display and bezel-less design form a smooth, continuous surface with no buttons or harsh angles. The result is a truly immersive viewing experience without distractions and makes multi-tasking more convenient. The Galaxy S8’s compact design enables comfortable one-handed operation and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and back for durability and a high-quality finish.
Samsung provided the following information:
In addition to the new design innovations, Samsung continues to deliver cutting-edge technology including an advanced camera, enhanced performance and more to the devices that users love, including:
- Premium Camera: The Galaxy S8 is equipped with an advanced 8MP F1.7 Smart autofocus front camera and 12MP F1.7 Dual Pixel rear camera for the best low-light, zoom and anti-blur photos with enhanced image processing.
- Powerful Performance: Packing powerful performance and connectivity, the Galaxy S8 features the industry’s first 10nm processor, enabling heightened speed and efficiency. It is also gigabit LTE and gigabit Wi-Fi ready with support for up to 1 Gbps so users can quickly download files, regardless of the file size.
- Robust Entertainment: As the world’s first mobile device certified by the UHD Alliance as MOBILE HDR PREMIUM, Galaxy S8 lets you see the same vibrant colors and contrasts that the filmmakers intended while watching your favorite shows. In addition, the Galaxy S8 offers next-level gaming experiences with vivid and superior graphic technology, as well as Game Pack, featuring top game titles, including select titles supported by the Vulkan API.
- Global Standard in Mobile Security: The Galaxy S8 is built on Samsung Knox, a defense-grade security platform. In addition, the Galaxy 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.
The Galaxy S8 will also come with the foundational Galaxy features that our customers have come to love, including:
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- MicroSD support up to 256GB
- Always-on display
- Fast and wireless charging capabilities
New Way to Interact with Your Phone
Bixby is an intelligent interface that will help users get more out of their phone. 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. At launch, Bixby’s Voice function will integrate with several Samsung native apps and features including Camera, Contacts, Gallery, Messages and Settings, with the plan to expand its capabilities to include more Samsung and third-party apps in the near future. Contextual awareness capabilities enable Bixby to offer personalized help based on what it continues to learn about the user’s interests, situation and location.
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.
Beyond the Phone Experiences
The Galaxy S8 offers a robust portfolio of products and services, elevating the Galaxy S8 experience for premiere mobile productivity and connectivity.
The Galaxy S8 unlocks the new Gear VR with Controller, powered by Oculus. Enabling convenient one-handed control and navigation, the controller provides better motion interaction when accessing interactive VR content. The Galaxy S8 will also connect to the new Gear 360 to create 4K 360-degree videos and photos.
Leveraging the processing power of the Galaxy S8 for enhanced productivity, Samsung DeX is a unique solution that transforms 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, making working from a smartphone faster and smarter.
In addition, as more IoT devices enter the market and the connected network becomes more complex, Samsung Connect simplifies smart device management. 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 also comes 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 includes personal coaching, social capabilities that redefine traditional health and fitness.
Users can leave their physical wallet behind with Samsung Pay, turning their Galaxy S8 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.
New high-performance earphones tuned by AKG by Harman, offering uncompromised audio for unbeatable sound quality, will come as an in-box accessory. These earphones will have a comfortable hybrid canal fit for better noise cancellation and will be made from anti-tangle metal-fabric material.
The Galaxy S8 will be available starting on 5 May 2017 and will be offered in a rich color palette including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Maple Gold with more colours to be launched later in the year.
