Samsung Galaxy S8 Pre-order deals and more

Fariha Khan
March 31, 2017
3,569

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ have been pretty impressive. Other than that we have got to know already, it is time to look into some small details that may seem small yet significant. Today is the pre-order day for the latest phone from Samsung, yes Galaxy S8. All major carriers as well as a number of retail outlets already have the devices up for order ahead of the April 21st launch. Most outlets have their own deals to suit your requirements.

Regardless of where you buy this device, Samsung will throw in its updated Gear VR headset with its controller costing $129. It is including the option to add $99 as well to the price to score a pair of headphones by AKG, as well as a 256GB microSD card.

It is also possible to avail the carrier deals. Most of them are offering up the same Gear VR bundle or $99 add-on. However, Sprint is one that is cutting $30 off the price with pre-orders.

Best Buy offers the best deal which offers most major carrier variants of the 2 devices but at a considerably low price. Those of you who wish to buy the standard Samsung Galaxy S8, Best Buy will cut the price by $50, getting the cost down to $699 on AT&T and Sprint, and $669 on Verizon. On the other hand, if you want to buy the Samsung Galaxy S8+, you get $100 discount - $715 on Verizon and $750 on AT&T and Sprint.

If you want to an unlocked Galaxy S8, there is good news for you. Samsung has confirmed that it will be offering an unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. As in case of the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7, these devices will compatible with GSM as well as CDMA networks. However, these units will be available after May 9th. If you are OK with investing the full price, waiting can be a good ideas as carrier unlocked phones are actually pretty cool.

Battery life is one of the major concerns when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. Both devices have decent battery sizes at 3,000 mAh and 3,500 mAh but that’s on devices with 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch displays. Normally, devices with displays that large have much bigger batteries. But as per Samsung’s own ideas, battery life won’t be much different from the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

Samsung’s new launcher on the Galaxy S8 line is like an odd version of Google’s Pixel launcher. It’s easy to use, clean, and offers a great way to hide the app drawer from simple sight.

T-Mobile is carrying the Galaxy S8. It is happy to declare that the device is one of the first that can achieve “gigabit-class” speeds on its network. The S8 peaks with speeds as high as 950mbps. But, the average users won’t be able to benefit from that. The phone touches these speeds in T-Mobile’s testing, but you will surely not get to see the same output even in the heart of T-Mobile coverage. It is great to see that the phone can enjoy such wonderful speeds, as we will see those in the real world ultimately.

Bixby, the new digital assistant is one of biggest accouncements by Samsung together with the Galaxy S8. This is still Android so most of the users will have to tap into “the power of Google” with Google Now and Google Assistant. The demo units didn’t have Google accounts running to test them out completely, we can confirm that - Google Assistant is available out of the box on the device. All you need to do is to long-press the home button and there you go.

The location of the sensor is perhaps one of the biggest issues of controversy on the Galaxy S8. There no problem regarding its placement on the back, but Samsung is luring the frustration of the users by placing the sensor so high and so close to the camera sensor.

The Galaxy S8’s camera app can recognize when there’s a smudge on the camera sensor from when you put your finger there by mistake and will tell you to clean it off. It will not appear always, but enough to where you’ll never forget to keep the lens clean. Additionally, it will only show after you’ve set up the fingerprint sensor.

The new device from Samsung is the first mass-produced phone having the Snapdragon 835. It’s o the first device with Bluetooth 5.0 as well. That is great for a number of factors. It offers improved range, better speed as well as wider device support. Support for streaming to two audio devices simultaneously is another feature that is included.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 also has special capabilities with video playback. The device has a 18.5:9 aspect ratio, and apps aren’t always going to play great with that. For example, YouTube has black bars on both side of the video. But, Samsung has a quick fix for that extending a button to adjust the size of the video to fit the display.