Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ full details and UK price
The Galaxy S8 is now official! Samsung has finally taken the wrappers off their Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones today.
Samsung has made its latest flagships official at simultaneous launch events held in New York’s Lincoln Center and London’s Olympic Park.
Yes, we’ve seen leaks aplenty, but how close were they to the truth?
Well, now we have the real deal. Let’s have a look shall we?
Spoiler – there’s a headphone jack and SD card slot!
Samsung Galaxy S8
S8 outside
As expected, the S8 comes in two sizes with a curved edge-to-edge 5.8-inch or 6.2-inch QHD AMOLED display. It’s quite a long and thin aspect ratio too – at 18.5:9. Odd, but I just wonder how it will handle video, which is normally 16:9.
The always-on screen has a 2960 x 1440 resolution and a super-skinny bezel.
That bezel has forced the home button with fingerprint recognition to the rear of the device, alongside the camera.
The rear camera features a 12 megapixel f/1.7 lens, while an 8 megapixel f/1.7 camera with autofocus sits above the screen on the front.
The front snapper also packs iris scanning and facial recognition to make unlocking the phone and signing into websites easier.
On the right side of the handset is the power button. The left side houses volume controls and a separate button to activate Bixby, Samsung’s new virtual assistant.
Harman Kardon stereo speakers are visible on the bottom of the device, along with a USB-C port and a headphone jack.
All this whilst being water and dust resistant.
S8 inside
Under the hood is a Snapdragon 835 processor. This 10 nanometer chip is made in partnership by Qualcomm and Samsung. It sounds like that will only be available Stateside – we in the UK will most likely get Samsung’s octa-core Exynos chips in lieu of Qualcomm’s stuff.
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Paired with that is 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage with microSD support for up to 256GB.
The standard model has a 3,000mAh battery, while the Plus device gets 3,500mAh. Both models support fast wireless charging.
Software
The S8 runs Android 7.0 and has a Bluetooth dual audio feature that lets users stream audio to two separate headsets or speakers at the same time.
There’s also a multi-window feature that enables two apps to run on the screen simultaneously.
Another feature first is Samsung DeX. This enables you to connect the phone to an external display, keyboard, and mouse, in order to use the phone as a computer.
In addition
It looks like every S8 will come bundled with some AKG earbuds, which is nice.
Samsung Galaxy S8 prices and availability
The S8 and S8+ are due to go on sale on April 28th (April 20th for preorders) and will cost £689 and £779 respectively. There is, of course, many contract options to wade through too.
Both handsets are waterproof to IP68 standard and come in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, and Arctic Silver colorways.
It seems that the Samsung official shop is taking a hammering right now but here’s the link.
Vodafone
Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ are now available to pre-order at Vodafone UK (www.vodafone.co.uk).
Customers can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S8 for £47 per month (£30 upfront cost), which includes unlimited texts, unlimited minutes and 24GB of UK data (for the price of 6GB) as part of Vodafone’s Data Extravaganza – there’s also 2GB of inclusive roaming data.
Alternatively, customers can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S8+ for £52 per month (£50 upfront cost) with Vodafone’s Data Extravaganza. This includes unlimited texts, unlimited minutes, 24GB of UK data (for the price of 6GB) and 2GB of inclusive roaming data but customers must hurry, as both of these great offers end 11th April!
Furthermore, customers who pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+ before Wednesday 19th April, 2017 will receive their device on Thursday 20th April, 2017 – 8 days before launch!
