Is it worth it to get a samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a good smartphone to not buy. Samsung products are masterpieces for many years

The South Korean electronics manufacturer represented by Samsung is actively stepping on the heels of Apple on all fronts, including the payment system, smart watches, smartphones and tablets. In the US market, the Galaxy S7 is even, which is quite surprising, because the "apple" corporation should know better what the Americans need, because this is its home market.

Many users may get the impression that Samsung products are top-end and best solutions, not only in terms of technical equipment, but also software, especially since in Russia there are branded stores of the South Korean company in almost every shopping center, and Apple never acquired even one single retail Apple Store in the Russian market.

In fact, this is far from the case and it is impossible to consider Samsung smartphones, tablets or start-watches as the best among analogues on Android (TizenOS). We have tried to collect five main reasons why it is better not to buy smartphones and tablets under the Samsung brand.

Reason 1: Samsung smartphones and tablets tend to fall in price quickly. At the start of sales, a top-end phone can cost about 59,000 rubles, and after six months, its purchase will cost 35,000 rubles. In comparison, the iPhone usually never drops in price before the release of a new generation, and if it does, then the difference between the old and the new price is no more than 5,000 rubles.

Reason 2: How to recognize a Samsung smartphone in a crowd? Yes, it's very simple, because the South Korean manufacturer does not hesitate to put his logo on both sides. Above the screen of any phone from this company will always be its logo, exactly like on the back cover. To be honest, putting your logo on the front side of a smartphone in 2016 is at least stupid, because the buyer is unlikely to forget who the manufacturer of his phone is. Not everyone can stand seeing the same logo every day.

Reason 5: Despite the fact that Samsung positions itself as the leader in the Android smartphone market, the company does not bother to release new firmware for phones already on the market in a timely manner. What is worth alone, which was updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow in fact for five months after the release of this firmware for Nexus devices. It often happens that Samsung smartphones are not updated to the new firmware at all, as the company simply does not care about them.

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are smarter and faster than their predecessors, and their cameras have also improved. However, this still does not mean that these smartphones are a good choice for you. Starting from March 16, the devices will go on sale (early mailing of pre-orders began on March 9), and we have collected the main advantages and disadvantages of flagships in this material to make it easier for you to decide

We note right away that selfie moji (aka AR Emoji) are not mentioned in this material, since this function, as they say, is not for everyone. Samsung has already commented that their development is not related to Animoji, and this we tend to believe. Whether you like them or not is a matter of taste.

FOR: The first smartphone with variable aperture

At the presentation of the flagships, a lot of attention was paid to their cameras - and the feature here, of course, was the variable aperture - Samsung called this technology Dual Aperture. This allows the aperture to be opened to f/1.5 or f/2.4, depending on the lighting conditions. Without going into too much detail, let's just say that f/1.5 captures 28% more light than f/2.4. As a result, you can shoot in low light (like in a restaurant) without using a flash and still get reasonably bright shots. In addition, the camera has a dedicated memory for noise reduction, which also works to improve photos taken in low light.

PROS: Improved slow-mo

Yes, yes, again about the camera. Everything looks better in slow-mo, and the new Galaxy S9 can shoot 1080p video at 960 fps for amazing results. Any, even the simplest action becomes super-dramatic and cinematic when shooting like this, and that's cool. Another plus is that the Galaxy S9 is able to start shooting not according to the usual timer, but when the motion sensor is triggered.

FOR: The fastest Android smartphone

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, the new Galaxy is the fastest Android smartphone yet. In particular, in the Geekbench benchmark, which takes into account the overall performance of mobile devices, the Galaxy S9 + scored 8,295 points. In comparison, the Google Pixel 2 XL scored 6,282, while Samsung's other flagship, the Galaxy Note 8, scored 6,564.

The S9+ also excels in video processing tests. In particular, the smartphone was used to transcode video in 4K. It took the device 32 seconds to process a 2-minute video, which is 30 seconds faster than the Pixel 2 XL, and a minute and a half (!) Faster than the Galaxy S8. At the same time, Apple managed to get around the novelty with difficulty: it took 42 seconds for the iPhone X to complete the same task. And this is considering that the company from Cupertino has not yet shown its 2018 flagship.

PRO: Augmented reality makes everything better

Bixby Vision has become smarter than ever, and this gives the user a number of new options. For example, now you can point the camera at a sign in a foreign language and see its translation (54 languages ​​are available). There is also a virtual make-up function: it allows you to see how lipstick of a certain shade or other cosmetic product will look on your (and not only) face. You can use it both from the front and from the main camera. Unfortunately, for now, the function of recognizing dishes and ingredients works only once and definitely needs to be improved - but it was announced as experimental.

PROS: Thinner bezels, brighter screen

Infinity Display on the Galaxy S8 already looked almost borderless, but in the Galaxy S9, the Koreans managed to reduce the bezels even more. Thanks to this, the smartphone has become a little more convenient to use with one hand, but let's be honest: the difference is not so noticeable, and people with small hands should still wait or pay attention to. In general, find a great model in 2018 - but let's be honest, this is not the case with the Galaxy S9. It is also worth noting that the Super AMOLED display is even brighter than it was on the Galaxy S8, and there were no problems with saturation in the previous generation.

FOR: Stereo speakers

If you thought the audio on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was too quiet, then you are definitely not alone in this opinion. Luckily, Samsung has listened to the feedback from users and added the long-awaited stereo speakers to the Galaxy S9 - moreover, developed in conjunction with AKG. They are about 1.4 times louder than the speaker in the S8, and support Dolby Atmos - this technology creates surround sound (of course, if the source audio file allows it).

PROS: Amazingly fast LTE

In testing, it turned out that the LTE in the Galaxy S9 is almost twice as fast as in the iPhone X. The application from Speedtest.net was used for the measurement, both devices used SIM cards with the same settings from the same operator (T-Mobile). In particular, the Galaxy S9 averaged download speeds of 71.6 Mbps and uploads of 10.1 Mbps. For comparison, the iPhone X, these figures were 48.8 Mbps and 7.7 Mbps, respectively. The Galaxy also performed better at downloading short videos and posting photos online.

PROS: Excellent price-performance ratio

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are significantly cheaper than the iPhone X, given that the latter was released back in November last year and actually belongs to the previous generation of flagships. In particular, the Galaxy S9 in Russia costs 59,990 rubles, for the Galaxy S9 + you will have to pay 69,990 rubles, and the iPhone X in a minimal modification still costs from 79,990 rubles to 91,990 rubles for versions with 64 and 256 GB of storage, respectively.

FOR: 3.5 jack in place

Although in 2018 there are fewer and fewer manufacturers who continue to produce smartphones with a headphone jack (and have already gone over to the camp of the enemy), lovers of wired headphones can breathe freely: in the new “galaxies” the coveted connector is in place. It is difficult to say whether the Koreans will abandon it in the S10 (or whatever it is called), but in the coming year, Samsung lovers will not have to switch to Bluetooth or buy adapters.

PROS: Convenient scanner location

While the camera is undoubtedly an innovative and important improvement in the new flagships, and the speakers are better and louder, you might not want to pay for this if you already have last year's flagship in your hands. Most of the S9's features are more flashy gimmicks than real important and necessary improvements.

If you compare the Galaxy S8 and S9, and do not pay attention to the camera, it will be difficult to point out the differences. Both devices have a glass back and aluminum sides, and the size and resolution of the display are also identical. Yes, the Galaxy S9 is undeniably a great smartphone, but it's possible that you should take a closer look at the Galaxy S8.

CONS: 2018 trends didn't make it to S9

As the first major flagship of 2018, the Galaxy S9 has one major drawback: it doesn't respond to this year's trends. We will likely see a number of innovations over the course of the year that will become the norm for every flagship. We already have an idea about some of them. In particular, Qualcomm last year announced when Snapdragon smartphones will receive support for in-display fingerprint scanners. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S9 came out a little early and didn't have time to pick up this technology, which is sure to dominate the top smartphones of the year. Samsung also continues to hint at the release of a foldable smartphone (presumably called the Galaxy X). If this really happens, most likely, the Galaxy S9 will quickly be forgotten. In other words, history may repeat itself with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X.

CONS: Intelligent Scan is not secure enough

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ can be unlocked using the new Intelligent Scan system, which combines face and iris scanning. It works quite accurately, but you need to keep your smartphone at eye level, which is not always convenient. Face ID, by comparison, works from almost any angle. Also, Intelligent Scan isn't yet secure enough to be able to confirm purchases with Samsung Pay, so you won't be able to opt out of using the fingerprint scanner anyway.

CONS: Samsung delays release of updates

Almost a year has passed since the release of Android 8 Oreo, and the Galaxy S8 update to this version only began last month. To access the new features that Google is adding to its firmware, Galaxy users have to wait too long. Yes, security updates arrive quite often, but the gap between the release of a new version of Android on the Pixel and on the top Galaxy is too big. There is a good chance that the Galaxy S9 will suffer the same fate and get Android P only next year, although its announcement should take place in May.

A smartphone today is an indispensable gadget for any modern person who wants to keep up with the times, regularly be in touch with society, and respond quickly to any news and events. This small device allows you to spend your free and working time more productively, interestingly and richly. Music, movies and videos, correspondence with interesting personalities, reading books and online magazines, using office software - this is only a small part of the opportunities that each person has on his smartphone. That is why the choice of a new device is such an important and responsible task for us, which should be approached with attention and accuracy.

The market offers a lot of interesting smartphones for every taste, both the simplest inexpensive devices for novice users, and serious devices stuffed with advanced technologies and features. It is enough to visit any online gadget store, as this site will provide us with a huge selection of interesting devices of various price ranges. Many manufacturers are trying to make their way to a wide range of consumers, but so far not everyone has succeeded. A serious brand that has completed this task is Samsung, whose smartphone will be discussed.

Samsung products are masterpieces for many years

Samsung has been delighting customers with excellent smartphones for almost a decade, which always, at all times, incorporate the best trends in the mobile market. Suffice it to recall even the first devices of the Galaxy line, which were constantly on the lips of gadget lovers and were in eternal competition for absolute leadership with iPhones from Apple. Since then, people have become accustomed to the idea that Samsung is a quality that deserves respect.

Years have passed, but the situation around the legendary Galaxy line has not changed at all. These are all the same cult flagships, each release of which is of great interest to the general public. The company's new smartphones never cease to amaze with their innovations, progressive functionality and capabilities. This fully applies to the Galaxy S8, which was released recently.

Samsung Galaxy S8 features

This device was released quite recently - in 2017. To say that he made a splash is to say nothing. The device turned out to be completely original and recognizable, it did not follow industry trends, but was completely individual and unsurpassed in its own way. Subsequent flagship models, in particular the 9th version of the Geleksi, left all the main features that the 8th version received.

What are the features of the device? It has many strengths and here are some of them:

• Absolutely remarkable design which is executed in the attractive glass case. The device is completely original and recognizable, it is simply impossible to confuse it with something else;
• A chic display that occupies almost the entire front panel of the device and is of incredible quality. Deep saturated colors and contrast, a lot of shades, a pleasant soft appearance - all this captivates the buyer from the first seconds of getting to know the device.
• A powerful stuffing that can easily "pull" any software, games and playing large video files.

Is it worth buying a device in 2018? If you want to get a full-fledged flagship device for a reasonable price, it's definitely worth it. Even the new Galaxy 9 hasn't received many innovations compared to the 8, so if you buy the Samsung Galaxy S8, you won't lose anything at all.

In terms of appearance and style, the device will give odds to any other representatives of flagships, including the iPhone 10, which is not very successful in this regard, in terms of filling and hardware capabilities, the smartphone is among the most productive solutions, in terms of interface quality and upgrade options, it will also be a very reasonable choice . If you want to become the owner of the device, then it is enough to find any suitable inexpensive store, for example, Big Mag, and purchase it there. You can be sure that this will be the right decision.

When will the Samsung S8 drop in price? Was the Galaxy S8 worth buying?

Now that Samsung has shown off its latest smartphone to the public, it's promising a more advanced camera, a more powerful and efficient processor... and (depending on where you buy it) a hefty price tag. And although the price of the S9 in the US is slightly lower than the original cost of the S8, in Russia the price can reach almost 57,990 rubles for a new phone, and the cost of the S9 + will be more than 74,990 rubles.

But you don't have to spend a huge amount of money. Just to get a quality flagship smartphone. You can find quite a powerful model on the market right now, and its price is expected to drop sharply in the coming weeks.

We are talking about the Galaxy S8 - a model that the expected S9 promises to throw off the line.

Buying last year's smartphone may seem counterproductive, as the S9 promises improved specs, especially for the device's camera. But the S8 deserves credit on its own, as it topped our smartphone rankings for most of 2017. And very soon it will be possible to buy it at a much lower price than a few weeks ago - at a number of stores the price is already decreasing.

Let's take a closer look at what you still get by choosing the S8 over the newer S9, and what you'll most likely have to sacrifice for the low price.

No one can say for sure how much the Samsung S8 will drop in price with the start of S9 pre-orders on March 2nd. But judging by past price changes of earlier models, the S8 could drop in price very quickly. As a rule, smartphone prices fall by 15-20 percent in 12 months.

That's exactly what happened a year ago with the release of the Galaxy S8: The S7 was suddenly no longer a hot commodity, according to Lindsey Sacrida, director of content marketing service DealNwes.

“Last year when the S8 was announced, we found offers to purchase an unboxed 32G S7 for prices starting at $31,000 – $29,990 less than the original price,” Sakraida said shortly before the S9 was released. “We also noticed the 128GB model for 39,990 rubles. So before the introduction of the S8, only unlocked S7s saw price cuts in stores.”

The situation changed with the release of S8 in April 2017. According to Sakraida, by that time, the monthly fee for S7s bought in installments began to decline. The S7 model, which had a starting price of 47,990 rubles, fell in price to about 37,990 rubles in the months leading up to the release of the S8, according to DealNews. The S7 is currently available on Amazon for 27,000 rubles ($449).

How much and when will the Samsung S8 fall in price? You can find out by comparing it with the Galaxy S7.

When did the Samsung Galaxy S7 fall in price?

Price tracking site CamelCamelCamel confirms this by showing that Galaxy S7 prices from third-party sellers dropped significantly (see image below) in the spring of 2017 when the S8 hit the market. The same thing happened with the prices of older models such as the Galaxy S6.

In general, smartphone prices are declining by 15-20 percent per year, says Christina Gallup. But will the Samsung S8 get cheaper as well as the S7?

The price drop for the S7 with the introduction of the S8 could be an exception, Sakraida warns. “The S7 was a good smartphone, but for many buyers its reputation has been tarnished by the Note 7 fiasco, so it is possible that the S7 price cut was more aggressive than the expected similar effect for the S8 after the S9 was shown,” she added.

But it still makes sense to look at prices for unlocked S8s after the announcement of the S9. According to Sakraida, price cuts from distributors can be expected as soon as the S9 starts shipping.

At the time of this writing, both Samsung and the major wireless carriers are still charging over $46,990 for the Galaxy S8, although that will likely change with the S9's release. But on retail sites, everything is not so: there you can find an unlocked S8 for less than 39,990 rubles.

So, if you choose the Galaxy S8 over the new S9, you'll be saving money - the current price difference is $15,000 and the gap is expected to widen. What options will you have to sacrifice for a lower cost?

The S9 offers the most improvement in photography. The new model stands out with a 12-megapixel camera with adjustable aperture: in low light, the aperture expands to f/1.5; it can also be narrowed down to f/2.4 to capture more detail in wide-angle shots. The S9 still has a single rear camera like the S8 and S8+, and dual lenses can be found on the larger (and more expensive) Galaxy S9+.

We had time to take some test shots with the S9. We're still doing a detailed comparison with the results of other phones, but these frames can already be judged on the performance of the improved S9 camera. In general, we noticed improved results in low light levels, although color reproduction is not quite accurate in some cases.

“I definitely think people should consider buying the S8 when the S9 goes on sale, especially since stores will be offering bargains at a low price.” – Christina Gallup, WhistleOut.

So what should you buy, Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S9?

Should you ignore the latest flagship smartphone in favor of last year's model? Much depends on what options you are interested in. If you use your smartphone to take a lot of photos, then the improvements in the Galaxy S9 may justify the increased cost.

Also consider how long you plan to use your next phone. While the S8 is still able to handle most apps, 24 months later that may no longer be the case as Android updates are coming soon and app developers will start offering more processor-hungry apps.

Still, based on the specs and features of Samsung's new smartphone, the S9 isn't all that different from last year's model. If you can do without some of the bells and whistles in the Galaxy S9, then the current Galaxy S8 should be enough to satisfy your desires - especially given the approaching price drop.

The choice is yours, but the Samsung S8 is pretty cheap compared to last year.

Should you buy the new Galaxy S9 and S9+? Should you update your Galaxy S8 to the latest model? What is the difference between the S9 line and the S8? Let's answer these questions here and now...

The new line is actively discussed by bloggers and the media. Some have already had the opportunity to study the novelty more closely. Today we want to consider all the key changes implemented in the smartphone and understand whether the company's technologies have been globally processed or whether the functionality of the Galaxy S9 is Samsung's competent marketing work. More details about all the advantages and disadvantages of the smartphone, as well as a comparison with top models of other brands, are laid out in just ten paragraphs.

For everything else, the quality, focusing speed, everything is on top and it can be said that the phone is one of the best video recording tools.

bixby

Bixby is inferior to Google Assistant

Bixby is Samsung's smart assistant that has access to phone features and settings that its peers can't boast of, but it still needs a lot of work in terms of voice recognition and knowledge base. These shortcomings become apparent when you try to use Bixby alongside the fast, knowledgeable, and excellent Google Assistant, the ubiquitous Alexa on Amazon Echo products, and even Apple's Siri.

It remains to be hoped that the Bixby experience will improve over time, but for now it is preferable to turn off the Bixby button completely and use a different assistant.

The fingerprint scanner

Comfortable but still too small

The odd placement of the fingerprint scanner next to the camera on the S8 series was the phone's biggest annoyance. In the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung developers have fixed this bug. The fingerprint scanner is now under the camera in a much more reasonable place, but it's still not the most ideal option. The scanner itself is a bit smaller than average and there is still the possibility of accidentally touching the camera lens, but it's better than before.

From the additional means of protection, the Intelligent Scan option has appeared, which combines the use of iris recognition and face recognition. Protection is still damp, has a fairly high throughput and is not very reliable, like the good old fingerprint scanner. Competing 3D scanning on the iPhone X is safer in this respect.

Sound

New dual front speakers sound amazing

Last but not least, the audio quality of the Galaxy S9 has been greatly improved. Currently, the smartphone is equipped with two stereo speakers: one is located at the bottom, and the second is integrated into the speaker. Playback is great - a huge improvement over last year's S8. Most flagship phones have similar high-end speakers (iPhone 8 and iPhone X, Pixel 2 series, and more), so the Galaxy S9 didn't take the lead, but it's still nice to see these improvements.

Included are AKG headphones, which also received improvements. Smarter design and better sound quality, plus a braided cable that reduces tangles.

Outcome

After analyzing the innovations in the new Galaxy S9, we can conclude that there are still small improvements, but they are not radical changes or the result of a major overhaul. Therefore, if you are the owner of the Galaxy S8, most likely you should not think about updating your smartphone to the S9 version, since the changes are minor. However, it's up to you to decide!