Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Review By PhoneArena

Over the years Samsung has made a name for itself as the true champion for the active lifestyle within the mobile landscape, from the evolution of their fitness devices to the active line of phones. Samsung has proven to be a real thorn in the side for Apple. When it comes to this, the Apple still seems to win every time, based on their name and token efforts in these categories, but Samsung still remains the only manufacturer to offer a truly ruggedized device that meets military standards for drops water dust and a myriad of other conditions and still offers their best internals, while doing so. The Galaxy SA active takes the arguable phone of the year and creates a capable and formidable device which endeavors to prove that phones like this are still very necessary. Of course, the most notable feature about the s8 active is its design as anticipated. It's a much thicker device which doesn't employ the infinity display of the original s8 sure the screen may be the same size and also shares the same rounded corners, but making the screen a true infinity display.

What if of course, detracted from its durability? Instead, a shatter resistant layer covers the Gorilla Glass 5 display, while thick metal and rubberized plastic surround it. Metal comprises that thick edges up to the corners which are reinforced with a hard rubber, as always with the active line. This added 1/2 deserves to protect the device from drops up to 5 feet and, of course, ip68 water and dust proofing. The s8 active actually meets military grade standards, as the s7 active did, which adds extreme temperatures and altitudes among 21 other environmental conditions that the active proved to endure rugged. Construction aside, the active makes a couple big changes to step up to the SAS design.

Firstly, the active button is now replaced by Bigamy and there's no indication that it'll ever come back and the s7 active this button served as a shortcut to favorite apps, depending on how you clicked it now, a Bigamy card will replace the activity zone dashboard at once. Access you'll also be losing the three navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen, just as the original SAS done well, not a huge deal to regular estate consumers. The active fan base may find these changes a bit differently for all its bulk and heaviness, though it's still a well-balanced and pocketable phone, which feels good man despite its above-average weight. Even without the curved edges. This 5.8 inch AMOLED display is still a beautiful tool for viewing content. But now you should all be aware of the formatting troubles these bezel list displays encounter due to their taller size with an 18 point 5 by 9 reach, the SA tactic will often be cropping stretching or letter boxing videos you choose.

Apps like YouTube will fill your screen when possible, but content shot in a compatible aspect. Ratio is very sparse. This will change over time as more productions. Utilize the 2 by 1 aspect ratio, but even in this, the most friendly format for the SI they'll have black bars at the top and bottom, unless you elect to crop of course. Otherwise, the videos look gorgeous on this display, though Super AMOLED displays, like this one, tend to over saturate colors and bring a bluish tint to the overall image.

You still have Samsung's preset modes and sliders to adjust the screen to your liking. We found the adaptive display mode to be the best for vivid all-around use, but the basic mode makes a strong case for accurate colors either way, details are crisp, movement is smooth and viewing is a joint, especially with this loudspeaker producing a louder and fuller, sound at most smartphones. This single speaker avoids overly tinny sound and will be plenty loud for listening to music, watching videos and, of course, taking speakerphone calls. Speaking of speaking on the speakerphone regular calls come through nicely as well. We received no complaints from our callers, nor did we have any of our own, though the earpiece could use a small boost in volume in terms of performance.

The Snapdragon 835 powered s8 active should have no surprises here using the same 4 gig Ram configuration as the regular s8 movement through the OS, Swift and ever prompt multitasking is a breeze, though we did encounter slight pauses when flicking over to big suites dashboard and the occasional force closed during an initial setup. But things seem to level out after this. The Samsung experience as the UI is now called, delivers the same Samsung branded, apps and nuances that we've become accustomed to small things like the clickable arrow to scroll to the top of pages or the ability to scroll your screenshots for features we wish Android would adopt universally, but Samsung's suite of apps for messaging web browsing and email do little to entice us over there stock Android counterparts. Perhaps the resources consumed on such useless endeavors would be better spent on improving more worthy projects like Big B, when the original s8 launched so did Bigamy and as most of you know, the integration was not quite there yet at last we have voice control for Bigamy whether prompted do the high Bigamy hot phrase or holding down the dedicated button voice, control showcases the best that the virtual Butler has to offer. Of course, Bigamy can do your google's organized your life and manipulate settings on your phone as most assistants can, although it may not be the best for searches, speak cells in phone control, you can pretty much navigate your entire device just using your voice.

For instance, you can say hi biggest when you turn on Wi-Fi calling in this case. AT&T is welcome. Screen for the feature pops up. You can then tell Bigamy to scroll down and again until you're at the bottom. From here, you can tell Bigamy your selection, whether it's to continue or cancel Bigamy is reading the entire screen, making sure to recognize all your options and act on them.

When you say sup, this is impressively seamless, especially for this early level of software. However, the most useful functions come from app integration. Third party and first telling Bigamy to open the voice recorder and start recording happens in a couple. Quick seconds same go for telling the assistant to record slo-mo, video or another specific action all are executed in a near instantaneous fashion, unachievable by simple swipes and taps third-party integration, like yelps, has forever changed how we'll access the app, and we can't wait for deeper integration into a wider range of apps, though the level it's at now is commendable. The biggest issue you'll face with Bigamy is its hearing problems.

Speech. Recognition is probably the most inconsistent we've seen among voice assistance, which is a shame considering the potential at hat. Teaching Bigamy want to get something wrong is easy and well-executed, but it doesn't learn right away. Unfortunately, it seems to be sending these corrections off to the labs for further processing, better on-board learning and speech. Recognition is a must here in order for Bigamy to thrive, the 12 megapixel rear camera, an 8 megapixel front, facing the same two sensors you'll, find on the original SAT and therefore still two of the best in the game.

Photos taken in optimal conditions produce plenty of detail as well as vivid colors, and we noticed somewhat of a yellow tinge to certain scenes. This aside, photo quality is great all throughout the spectrum of lighting scenarios. HDR shots are exquisitely balanced, and low light keeps noise to an absolute minimum while pulling vibrant colors out of the shadows and never compromising in detail capture macro shots on the active produced, great sharpness in the foreground and pleasing both. In the background, not to mention the amazing quickness, with which the s8 active focuses the subject thanks to dual pixel technology, both the front and rear camera have a variety of shooting modes, including a depth of field mode for that coveted both effect. Unlike the note 8, though, you can't tweak the blur effect after or during the shot.

Video quality follows in the tradition of this potent camera pulling in vibrant colors and sharp details. All the while exposing adeptly there is a bit of shutter role and a peculiar wobble at the end of pans. But, aside from this, video captures strong dual pixels also assist in immediately focusing objects, as they appear, the s8 active packs, a four thousand William battery, which is a one thousand William step up from the regular s8 Samsung rates. The original s8 at three point four days standby time with the always on display enabled, while the active is rated at five, we found this to be quite accurate in terms of the games we saw in the active. Our custom test has the actives larger battery lasting two and a half more hours than the regular s8, and almost the exact duration of the s7 actives test at just about 11 hours, recharge times will of course be higher as well clocking in at two hours on the dot.

So there you have it. Thankfully, no true surprises to report it's a Galaxy S8 with some added armor and a bigger battery for active fans, though the removal of the physical navigation buttons may approve a deal-breaker for some that we wouldn't hold out hope their return. Otherwise, anyone who lusted after the Galaxy on state for its powerful internals and exquisite camera, but shied away from its fragile frame will be happy to know that the device of their dreams has landed. We're also happy to see the act of make its return and hope to see many more I'm Corey Ga skin with phone arena, thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe for our latest reviews.

Source : PhoneArena