First Impression and After Use Thread

[ihavenewnike]

CONGRATS on your purchase,
I know a lot of us have already received our devices, and some haven't. If you have received your new phone, post your first impressions. After using the device some, also post what little tricks you may have found, what you have fell in love with and what you dislike or absolutely hate. Also, what was your previous phone and are you enjoying your upgrade? I'll start by saying first impression is I love the size and screen. Real quick thing I do absolutely hate is Bixby. Tried it out a few times from the button, sucked. And the image recognition got me a little excited, but disappointed. I must also add, the face recognition is amazingly fast.

 

[Lienot]

I use only FACE RECOGNITION - it is very fast, works 99% and I don't think one will steal, shoot a photo, print it... and so on.
It is the fastest and easy way to unlock the phone, I was wearing a hoodie and it worked very very well.
I am not the NSA, so face recognition is enough for me and I am happy that it is as fast as it is...

lienot

 

[TheAnarchist1]

My Initial Thoughts

I received my Orchid Gray 64GB T-Mobile device yesterday around 5 PM EST. I have had a few hours to mess around with the device as a result. Here are my first impressions:

1. The screen is absolutely gorgeous. Samsung really hit it out of the park with this one. The images are clear, crisp, vibrant, and with absolutely zero pixels to the naked eye. This holds true even when the device is held close to the face. With that being said.... there are definitely some app and media content compatibility issues. Samsung tries to alleviate this with some built in cropping and optimization from the software side of things, but it just can't hide the fact that the content has quite caught up with the hardware. That is on the development community, though, and not Samsung.

2. Biometrics are the way to go when it comes to logging into and working your way through this device. The iris scanner isn't perfect, but, it is absolutely light years ahead of the tech that we had a taste of in the Note 7. The iris scanner ALMOST feels like a feature at this point, rather than a gimmick. With that being said. The fingerprint scanner is total weak sauce. This doesn't so much have anything to do with the actual location as it does the accuracy ratio of the scanner itself. I have long and thin fingers which make the placement of the fingerprint scanner a nonissue for me. To each their own. I would say that the accuracy is more a constant miss than a hit. I find myself using a combination of smart lock and the iris scanner with a pin to keep me going and it works well for me. I have not tried the facial recognition yet.

3. The device is blisteringly fast. There isn't any argument to be had here. Everything flies from web page scrolling to scrolling through the Playstore to loading apps from memory. No management issues yet that I have been able to spot. The only limitations are those of your data connection. The Snapdragon 835 is a thing of beauty.

4. The actual hardware absolutely oozes quality from the orchid color to the excess of gorilla glass and metal. The device is thin but not flimsy and big but not too heavy. Home run as per usual.

5. I am still working through battery life. I know it takes a few days for your software to settle so i'll report back at a later point with an update. Thus far, though, it is AT LEAST no worse than my Pixel XL. It might be a bit better but it is too early to tell. With that being said. The Pixel XL has faster fast charging. This sucker takes a bit to charge up. Not as long as it could take, but there is faster on the market.

6. My final point and my biggest issue with the device is primarily software. Whereas I felt that Samsung had finally reached a place of beauty with the final Marshmallow builds on the S7 Edge. The Nougat Touchwiz, or Grace, or whatever it is called these days feels like a bit of a step back. The software hasn't reached that point of optimization that the Pixel XL has nor even the level that the S7 Edge had. It feels more like the early Grace UX on the Note 7. There are scaling issues. The menus aren't always arranged in the best way. There is some scrolling jank in terms of the actual Android menus and whatnot. I feel that it probably has to do with an experience that wasn't quite optimized for such a unique screen, yet. I am hoping this will improve over time. I won't really hold it against Samsung. I mean, perhaps I am just spoiled after having been a Pixel XL user from the beginning but I won't say it necessarily works in their benefit yet, either. The S7 Edge felt polished. This experience still feels like a work in progress. Of course.....as of 420/17 we haven't even had a day one patch yet since day one is tomorrow...so......to be continued.

Feel free to ask me any questions if there is something I have missed. I feel like there is a lot I have left unstated.

EDIT: One additional thought. S7 Edge era standing wireless charging cradles are not completely compatible with the 8+ I have one and have tried it. The wireless charging cycles between connect and disconnect because the device is too tall for the cradle. The hardware inside as a result sits just at the edge of the top of the cradle and provides an inconsistent connection. This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!

 

[buttsak]

First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am

 

[jdelano]

I've found it to be pretty snappy! I love the iris scanning, it works even with my glasses on. It is actually really easy to use one handed, with a rare supporting off hand assist.
The screen is of course impressive.

I've had 3 occasions where I needed to reboot the device because either an app refused to load. Play Store once, setting TW as my launcher (I was using Nova on my S7E so after smart switch when I pressed the home key it asked which launcher to set as default) and then trying to enable "Ok Google" where it didn't hear me. As an early adopter, I expect that there may be possible hiccups.

 

[SBERG117]

Not crazy about lock screen music player...Wish there were other options for that... Seems like I have to make sure I'm hitting exactly in the right spot to skip songs.
Becomes a bit of a annoyance when having to hit the button repeatedly to switch a song...

 

[RMXO]

I'm currently at work and I have 4 bar signal while in the basement. My Note 7, S7, LG V20 got 2-3 or no bars. I'm extremely happy due to this. More to follow and im glad i got it.

took forever for Iris scanner to register my iris properly

 

[xile6]

Its a great phone overeall.
Fast and great looking screen. Feels really good in the hand.
I got the s8 plus and im able to access everything on the phone.
The fingerprint sensor works. I can have the phone in my right hand and press the power with my thumb and finger on the sensor.
The home key took a bit to get use to. I wasnt pushing on it like i should.
Gui/OS has some nice changes, that makes things faster or easier to do.
Bixiy isnt useful at all. Maybe once its update it will work better. But on a sids note i havent Accidentally hit the button. So thats good.

The obly complain i would have a bout the phone that some apps dont fit full screen. You can force them but then the sides get cut off.
I know its an Aspect rataio that should be fix in updates of those apps.

And ill have to test but i think the speaker is lower volume then the s7e. But not sure yet.

 

[ihavenewnike]

First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am

I haven't updated it yet, so I was stil able to use the "All in one Gesture" app that was discussed on XDA before official release.

 

[ebamit]

My second day impressions are pretty much spot on with @TheAnarchist1. This is hands-down the snappiest phone I have ever used. The screen is brilliant, and this version of Touchwiz is (finally) excellent. I've seen lot of features that the other launchers have had for years. I usually install Nova immediately, but this time I'm rolling with stock. I also was able to remap the Bixby button to Google Assistant with no problem.

My only issue (so far) is with the always-on screen. I've had two pocket dials and responded to a text with gibberish while the device was in my front pocket. Clearly, that's not going to work. I'll probably have to turn it off.

 

[JAWyered]

Just got mine going.

Design is pretty good, however, I think personally I would have preferred they stick with the sharper corners from the Note 7 and less rounded screen like the Note 7. Basically make the Note 7 but with smaller top and bottom bezels and this screen size. This is fine though, here's to hoping for the Note 8.

Obviously the fingerprint sensor on the back. Would have been exceptional for the fingerprint sensor to be built into the screen as rumored, but I don't particularly think this placement is much worse than any other fingerprint sensor that is on the back of the phone. I've mapped fingers from both hands, and when two handed, I find my left pointer rests on the sensor so it is kinda nice in some regard. I use smart location and bluetooth device unlocks a lot, so I avoid unlocking for the most part, at home, in vehicle, running with headphones, etc... Iris scanner is very useful, most of the time, but it can be awkward. Haven't tried facial recognition.

I see SIGNIFICANT improvement to Touchwiz and now they finally get at least some customization options. I'm trying to make it work, but a couple hours in, I'm already itching to switch back to Nova launcher. Small little peeves, but overall, it finally looks good, and has enough customization that I don't think the Samsung launcher is too bad. I really wish they would stop loading messengers for Verizon and Samsung, to which Samsung's is un-disable-able. Samsung makes special customization and actions for theirs, but I still don't want to use a manufactures messenger. Google brand for me.

 

[AndroidKills]

1. So far, I'm amazed how well the iris scanner works and it is totally a fingerprint substitution. The battery life is simply amazing imo, I'm using it to the phone quite frequently in fact I have been browsing the web and using all sorts of social media the past hour. I should say I've only dropped about 8%, I'm genuinely pleased.

2. Performance is snappy, I haven't come across "real" lag (arbitrary statement). Coming from a note 4, TouchWiz has greatly been optimized and made much smoother.

3. 4gs of ram sounds like a little in 2017 but it's holding up like a champ!

4. So far I'm just in awe how great this phone is just to hold. I was scared the s8+ would be too big, but it fits perfect in the hand and is comfortable to use.

 

[aujbman]

I can update this post as time goes by, but so far I only have a few gripes and some are not of the phone itself but the software:

1. I was upset when I was forced to go from the Note 7 back to the S7 edge due to the battery issues ( Twice! ) and was upset again when the s7 did not have the option of showing your calendar events listed on the Always On screen and instead just had the full month calendar. Eventually it was updated and gained that capability, but now, the S8 is the same way! I am an attorney and always have somewhere to be or someone coming by so it was nice just to look at my phone and know what was coming up without having to unlock it to check my calendar. Not a biggie, just annoying that a new phone is without that option.

2. The screen ration thing does look annoying sometimes. You can just tell that you have this big beautiful screen but almost everytime you turn it landscape there are black bars and your apps look the exact same as on the previous phone. Like I said, this is just the software thing and hopefully apps will catch up and start utilizing the larger screen more.

Otherwise, love the screen, love the speed. Wanted to stick with TouchWiz but I have a thing about the bottom of the screen not being available and the limitations of the 5x5 setup so I went back to Solo Launcher where I can hide the notification panel and dock at the bottom which makes this big screen look even bigger! More native customization of the home screen closer to home replacements such as that is what Touchwiz has been missing for a long time.

 

[CConn882]

My initial impressions on my S8+:

1. It's incredibly fast. Snappier than any Samsung phone I've ever had or would ever expect them to produce. Loading time doesn't even exist for most apps, and the various animations seem much better than their older phones - the phone's performance reminds me more of the One plus 3T than an S7.

2. Battery life is really impressive. It looks like it might have the best battery life of any phone I've ever owned, which is particularly impressive considering it's a bigger screen and a smaller battery than the S7E.

3. The fingerprint scanner placement isn't quite as bad as people would lead you to believe. I haven't accidentally touched my camera lens once. However, it is a not too high up on the phone, which leads me to only touching it with half my finger, leading to it not unlocking. If they had located the entire set up a little lower on the device, it would've been fine.

4. The S8+ is a little too tall for my liking. It's practically impossible to reach the top opposite corner when using it with one hand. Obviously, activating one handed mode is one solution, but I really hope with flagships switching to 18:9 ratios, developers start moving any and all buttons to the lower half of their apps.

 

[TommiP77]

First impression, absolutely fabulous phone. Why ist the small cores maximum freq disabled?

 

[gvfd65]

Other than AT&T sent me the wrong color (You had one job...) I LOVE the phone. Coming from a Nexus 6P this thing is INSANE.

 

[Eddie Hicks]

This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!

I got a chuckle from that because someone asked me in another thread if the charger would work with the phone in landscape position. BTW, nice review.

 

[coldconfession13]

Just set it up. My only gripe is so far is I wish Samsung used Google version of restore data. I connected it to my Pixel and it copied everything but data. I guess the app wasn't able to do it. So having to manually download all my apps sucked.