Look around any major tech website and you’ll notice that everyone is full of praise for the new Samsung Galaxy S8.
Even folks down at Apple have decided to go the Samsung way in terms of design and general looks of the rumored iPhone 8, but there’s just a lot on the S8 that makes it a much better phone when compared to the competition, including the magnificent Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Of course, there’re a few things that some people don’t like about the Galaxy S8, for instance, fingerprint placement and the battery capacity of the standard model, however, these drawbacks are outweighed by the many goodies this phone packs, which form part of our 5 reasons as to why the S8 is way better than the current iPhone flagships.
More security-focused features
Today, oil is arguably no longer the most valuable commodity on earth, rather, it’s data. This data goes to the extent of including personal information you carry on your phone and given its growing value, there’s need to have it under the most secure platform – or device for that matter.
With the new Samsung Galaxy S8, you not only have the usual passcode and fingerprint scanner for protecting your personal information, but you also get an iris scanner and facial recognition feature to better protect what you have stored on the phone. As for the iPhone 7, you only get to use the usual passcode and Touch ID.
3.5mm audio jack
Whether it represents the future or not, the smartphone world is not just ready for the new USB Type-C universal port or Apple’s Lightning Connector for that matter. With Samsung Galaxy S8 shipping with a 3.5mm audio jack, you’ll be able to turn to your old headphones and use them without any problem, however, those on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus must use a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter for this to happen, which is kind of annoying.
It also means that you cannot charge your phone while listening to music via your headphones, which makes life even harder considering that the iPhone 7 doesn’t support wireless charging, a feature that is available on the Galaxy S8.
Virtual Reality
If you have been carried away by the new virtual reality craze, you’ll love the Galaxy S8 more than the iPhone 7. Apple’s hasn’t jumped into this VR world just yet, which makes the S8 a better choice for those who want to get immersed into VR. The Korean company is even promoting this side of life by accompanying the S8 with a free Gear VR headset.
Samsung DeX
Besides introducing support for a new – although not fully functional – Bixby voice assistant, Samsung Galaxy S8 also brings support for a desktop environment thanks to a device known as Samsung DeX. With this dock, you can connect your S8 to a monitor and introduce accessories such as a keyboard and mouse, thus turning the phone into a desktop. There’s no such thing on an Apple iPhone 7 or 7 Plus.
Wireless charging
Due to the full metal design of the iPhone, it has meant that no Apple phone supports wireless charging, a feature that the Galaxy S8 is not the only Sammy device to support. It gets even better knowing that this wireless charging is also supported on fast charging. Apparently, the upcoming iPhone 8 will come with an all-glass design in order to introduce wireless charging, at least according to rumors.
Bonus: The best display screen
It’s unimaginable how Samsung seems to get better and better with the display of each flagship phone it releases. Ever since the Galaxy S6, we’ve seen gradual improvements with each S model and today, the Galaxy S8 has a display screen that is simply out of this world. The Infinity Display features an 18.5:9 aspect ratio that makes the screen taller than usual, hence the QHD+ resolution.
The debate between AMOLED and LCD panels has been here for a while, but the former has always emerged as the winner. With this in mind, the 5.8-inch Super AMOLED panel used on the S8 is way ahead of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch IPS LCD panels used on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. It gets even worse for the latter when it comes to resolution, with the flagship model offering just 1080p.