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Or at least, that's how things should work.
The big problem is that Bixby's voice-command functionality, while now available , was pretty erratic when we tested it. Sometimes Bixby will fail to understand your language at all, while other times, Bixby will get confused and try to open the wrong app or adjust incorrect settings. But every once in a while Bixby will get everything right and you won't even be able to tell that its voice commands are still a work in progress. Currently, simple commands have the best success rate. As of August 22, Samsung announced that the Bixby voice command feature is now available in more than countries and territories, though you'll still need to use either English or Korean to make it work.
Support for additional languages, as well as more third party apps, is in the works. Then there's Bixby Vision, which leverages the S8's camera along with object recognition to identify items in the world. We found this worked pretty well when we pointed the S8 at various household items, such as shampoos, snacks and aluminum foil.
It also works for books. After pointing the Galaxy S8's camera at any object, we could check prices online on Amazon. Say you're at the liquor store and want to know the rating of that wine or what food to pair it with. Bixby has also partnered with Vivino to identify that bottle and spit back information. However, at a wine store in New York, the feature was more miss than hit, as it seemed to have trouble with the bright lights. At home, however, Bixby identified three wines correctly, though we were greeted with a home server error. Bixby's other talents include the ability to set reminders and a Bixby Home tool with a card-based interface that shows you your schedule, what's trending on Facebook, the weather, news and other info.
All told, Bixby is a frustrating mix of success and failures, though there is a lot of potential should Samsung work out all the kinks. Thankfully, though, you can turn to the Google Assistant , which also comes preloaded on the S8. Running Android 7.
Finally, swiping in from the left provides access to Edge screen shortcuts, such as a customizable list of apps, a device maintenance screen for battery, choosing performance mode, etc. The ones at the top of our list include a one-handed mode that you can activate by tapping the home button three times to shrink the screen, as well as the ability to quickly launch the camera by pressing the power key twice.
At least on the T-Mobile S8 we tested, there was minimal bloatware. The dock can connect to a full-size monitor via its HDMI port, as well as a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth. It also has an Ethernet jack and a USB port. Out of the box, the Samsung Connect app will let you access and control various Samsung-branded smart home gear.
Samsung offers a slew of other accessories, including an LED View cover for always having the time in view, a wireless charging stand and more.
One concern about a phone with this much screen is how that extra real estate might impact battery life. They come with the less demanding x setting on by default. The iPhone 8 Plus hit , while the smaller iPhone 8 lasted LG G6 finished way behind, with a time of just On top of that, the S8 has battery smarts that let it learn about your usage patterns to help extend its longevity even further. But even with that shortcoming, the Galaxy S8 still beats the Android competition while surpassing the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in terms of design, display quality and features.
The iPhones are better, though, when it comes to sheer speed and their cameras.
Tom's Guide. Home Reviews. Editor's Choice. Against Bixby isn't a great assistant Fingerprint sensor is awkwardly placed Lacks dual cameras for optical zoom.
See our best phones list for all of our top picks. Design: It feels like the future The Galaxy S8 exemplifies a nearly bezel-free phone done right.
See all comments This would add a bit of adrenaline to the raving excitement people like you heap on it! Would you be as rabid in your praise now? You see, my good friend - consumer society, short-term factual memory, need to earn your daily bread I can sympathize with all this stuff. Come on, hurry and erase this comment too!
Otherwise people might read it and start thinking for themselves instead of gobbling up your review not so disinterested, I bet Hi doktorS, Thanks for the comment. We extensively covered the Note 7 recall and its impact. And while it's certainly possible something could happen with this phone, Samsung says they've instituted new safety policies to try to prevent fires or explosions.
We take safety very seriously, and will continue to do so. This article is an overview of the features and what we think of them, and also what we believe is missing, such as a dual-lens camera. We can't evaluate the safety of the device until we review it and it gets in shoppers' hands. Hi David, Good question. While there are some early rumors for the Galaxy Note 8, it's too early to say what features it might have or how good it might be.
That looks like it will continue to be a Note exclusive.
If we had to guess, the Note 8 will debut in the fall. Is the screen improved from the note 7?
However, the latest evolution of that line has been released, and Samsung hopes the Galaxy Note 8 will completely eclipse the shadows of its former self. Select positioning method If you select Phone only , your phone can find your exact position but it may take longer as there is no access to supplementary information from the mobile network or nearby Wi-Fi networks. Return to the home screen. Find " Location " Press the settings icon. The Edge lighting has also been improved with introductions to new lighting options.
Translate is no longer restricted to single words and can now do complete sentences. This is an obvious one, given that it would require a hardware upgrade in order for the S8 to gain an extra camera. With the second lens on the back of the Note 8, you can take photos that contain more depth-of-field information, which leads to a bokeh effect.
In other words, the subject of your photo is in focus while the background is blurry. And with the Note 8, you can actually adjust just how much bokeh is used, before or after the photo is snapped when using the Live Focus feature.
Another cool feature, Dual Capture, gives you the ability to zoom out on a photo captured with both rear cameras, showing the entire scene instead of just the original subject. Similar to Apple 's Digital Touch feature, Live Messages will let you draw or write a message, and then share it in animated form. Using the S-Pen you can draw on top of a photo or handwrite a message, and the Note 8 will record every pen stroke. The shared image is a standard animated GIF and should be playable regardless of the service used to send it.
Multiwindow apps are nothing new to Samsung devices, with the Korean company implementing the feature well before Google integrated it into Android Nougat. With the Note 8, Samsung is making it easier to repeatedly use two apps at the same time. The feature is called App Pair and is part of the Edge screen feature. Using App Pair, you pick two apps, say Calendar and Messages, as a shortcut. Then when you tap on the pair, both apps are opened in multiwindow mode.