Samsung has recently released their flagship smartphone duo; the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Just like the previous 2 years into the smartphones come with almost identical internals but different form factors. This year around, there is no edge version of the smartphone, both smartphones come with curved edges. We are going to explore each feature of the smartphones to determine what version suits your needs best. For the past few years Samsung has really stepped up their design game and are bringing beautiful looking smartphones to the market. Even their midrange smartphones feature metallic designs and premium materials, so it is no surprise that the Galaxy S8 series is remarkably beautiful. Apart from a few minor design quirks, both the smartphones look remarkably stunning and will surely turn heads.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Size
As you might’ve guessed with the Plus in the name of the Galaxy S8 Plus, it is going to be a bigger smartphone than the standard Galaxy S8. The larger version of the device measures 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1mm while its smaller sibling comes at 148.9 x 68.1 x 8mm. Speaking in terms of the screen size the Galaxy S8 has a 5.8 inch display while the plus version comes at 6.2 inches. When it comes to weight, the standard version weighs 155 g and the bigger smartphone is 173 g heavy.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Design
The Galaxy S8 siblings have an almost identical design. Apart from the large size of the galaxy S8 plus, both the smartphones have the metal and glass design. Both on the front and back you’ll find gorilla glass that is a hosted by a metallic frame. The edge is a bit subtle this time around, unlike the Galaxy S7 edge that featured a very sharp decline.
Both the smartphones have remarkably slim bezels at the top and bottom of the displays. Samsung has opted to exclude a physical home button as well this time around and instead features on screen navigation buttons. The fingerprint sensor is moved to the back of the smartphone, much to our dismay. This is the only design quirk that is present on both smartphones and will probably annoy a lot of people. The location of the fingerprint sensor is odd because it is housed right next to the camera lens, and we don’t have clean fingers all the time, so it is inevitable that you’ll get smudges on the lens when you try to unlock the smartphone.
Both smartphones are also IP 68 water resistant. Samsung has also removed the micro USB charging port and has welcomed the future with USB type C. Thankfully there is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack available on both smartphones. Samsung also bundles free AKG earphones with each of the galaxy smartphones.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes at a 5.8 inch screen size while its bigger brother measures at 6.2 inches. Samsung has decided to change the aspect ratio to 18.5:9 this time around and it looks absolutely stunning. The taller aspect ratio of the smartphone allows the on screen buttons to be almost invisible during usage even when they are always on. The smartphones also come with Samsung’s AMOLED Infinity Displays. In all honesty, Samsung makes the best smartphone displays around and it is quite obvious on the Galaxy S8 series. The displays have a quad HD resolution which is 2960 x 1440 pixels. As the galaxy S8 is a small smartphone, it has a pixel density of 570 PPI while the bigger one comes at a slightly lower 529 PPI.
In addition to the smartphone display technology, is the inclusion of Mobile HDR Premium available on both smartphones. They are both certified by the ultra HD alliance for the technology. This means you’ll get vibrant colors and better contrast on your smartphone display and you can easily watch HDR compatible content on your smartphones.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Internals
Apart from their size difference, the internal hardware of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus is identical. Both will ship with either Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm SD835 chipsets inside. There will be 64 GB of storage, Four gigabytes of RAM as well as a microSD card slot. This means the performance of the smartphones will be top-notch and you will hopefully not face any slowdowns at all.
As the Galaxy S8 Plus comes at a bigger size, it makes sense to include a bigger battery on it as well. The standard S8 has a 3000 mAh battery, the S8 500 mAh more than that in its tank. Both smartphones will have fast charging as well as wireless charging. You also get Iris scanning capabilities on the smartphones as well as a fingerprint sensor mounted on the back of the smartphone.
Another unique feature of these smartphones is the pressure sensitive home button that is built into the screen itself. This means you can long press a specific area of the screen to activate the home button wherever you are.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Camera
The cameras and the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 plus are the same ones. This means you’ll be getting a 12 MP is the main shooter and an 8 MP front facing selfie camera. This time around you’ll get autofocus capabilities on the front facing camera as well. The 12 megapixel rear shooter has F/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilization and dual pixel autofocus. This means you’ll get excellent lowlight functionality as well as really fast focusing ability. Both the devices also integrate Bixby Vision, it is a search feature that uses the camera to scan objects and give information about them. Right now it’s not functioning really well, so we’ll have to wait for updates from Samsung for it to work perfectly.
There’s something called multi-frame image processing on the smartphones. This means that the camera will take 3 images and combine them to make a better one. No matter what smartphone you choose, rest assured you’ll be getting a stellar shooting experience.
Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8 Plus: Price
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is priced around the $720 mark in the United States. The bigger sibling is a little expensive coming at around $840. There are slight differences between the carriers, some are a little bit cheaper while the others are charging around $10 extra on both devices. Personally, I would go with the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus because of the bigger screen size as well as the larger battery but of course your personal preferences may not be in line with my own.
Conclusion
Both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 plus are amazing devices and look really stylish. So, whether you prefer a smaller form factor or want to watch movies on the bigger screen, Samsung has you covered on both fronts. If you already have a previous generation Galaxy smartphone, especially the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, I would recommend waiting for the Note smartphone to release later this year for a much more substantial upgrade. What are your thoughts about these flagship smartphones from Samsung? Are you still skeptical about the smartphones after the Samsung galaxy Note 7 debacle? Do share your thoughts in the comments below with us. Feature Image Credits
