Samsung launches Galaxy S8, S8+ smartphones

The new Samsung S8 on display for the press after a new conference in New York on March 29, 2017. PHOTO | TIMOTHY A. CLARY | AFP

What you need to know:

  • They both come without the home button.

Electronics giant Samsung on Wednesday unveiled Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones in New York.

The South Korean conglomerate hopes to rebound from its chaotic Note 7 recalls after users reported that batteries were exploding while charging.

The Galaxy S8+ spots a massive 6.2” quad HD+ Super Amoled screen with 529 PPI while the S8 has a 5.7” Quad HD+ super Amoled screen with 570 PPI.

They both come without the home button.

The two smartphones have an ‘infinity display’ - a bezel-less edge-to-edge display but on steroids.

Here are some of their specs in detail:

  • Performance

Both the S8 and the S8+ run on a 64 bit octacore Samsung exynos processor for the models shipping internationally according to the Verge.

The RAM and the ROM are pretty much conventional here, 4gigs of RAM (LPDDR4) and 64gigs of internal storage with an SD card slot for storage expansion up to 256gigs. The system runs the latest version of Android OS - Android 7.0 (Nougat)

The devices also have wireless charging, water and dust resistance with IP68 ratings, LTE support, USB type C, NFC, Iris scanner, Bluetooth 5.0 with capabilities of streaming to two devices, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac and a fingerprint scanner located at the back of the device next to the camera.

A 3000mAh battery powers the smaller galaxy S8 while its bigger brother is powered by a larger 3500mAh

  • Camera

Samsung devices generally have decent cameras with great colour production for crisp and clear images. Both versions of the device spot a Dual Pixel 12MP with an aperture of F1.7 and optical image stabilization at the rear while the front camera is a decent 8MP with AF which not common on most front smart phone cameras.

According to Samsung, you will be able to record 4K videos at 30 frames per second and take 9MP still photos during the recording which would make it very efficient.

Other features worth mentioning in the new galaxy S8 include Samsung’s virtual assistant called Bixby to compete with Apple's Siri.

An always on display feature which lets users choose a variety of clock designs and information to be displayed on the screen is also available on both versions. Upon launch, customers will be able to select from a variety of colours including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic Silver and Maple Gold.

Both handsets will be available from April 21.