Bixby Vision adds unnecessary bloat to the camera.That's the only logical explanation, as otherwise why wouldn’t the fingerprint scanner be above the Samsung logo, which would be a perfect place for it? A sluggish start for Bixby It's a feature that we're now seeing on other phones such as the OnePlus 6T, and which is rumored for the Samsung Galaxy S10.īut clearly Samsung couldn’t make this work effectively on the S8, so decided to shove the fingerprint scanner way up the back of the S8, as that was the only place left to put it that didn’t require some last-minute retooling of the phone. That would have been perfect, as it’s the way most people fire up the screen anyway. We’d heard rumors that the brand was trying to add in a new feature where the fingerprint was in the same place as on the S7 (at the base of the phone) but actually under the screen. In short, Samsung appears to have screwed this one up. This means that if you leave your phone lying around at work or at home someone can jump right into it though, so you’re basically just preventing a thief from being able to access data if you lose the Galaxy S8 on the train. The workaround we ended up with (as we’re not leaving our phones unlocked, which is what some might be tempted to do) is to use Smart Lock, where you can set up trusted places or connected devices to confirm your identity. No extra pressing, no having to interact with the phone to open it up – just one single press to be securely into your handset. What users now expect from flagship phones – and what Samsung had done perfectly before – is a simple, muscle memory action that opens your phone. the iPhone X is big competition to the Galaxy S8 as a result. This issue has been increased now that Apple has invested seemingly billions in creating invisible dots that fire into your face to verify your identity the same way. There's definitely an angle to hold it at that's optimal. There's nothing more infuriating about this feature than the fact you can't see if you're 'positioning' your face correctly. The phone fails to recognise your face far too often, it doesn’t work in low light, and it can be spoofed by a photo.

Over a week or so we did get used to the nuances of the iris scanner it’s fine – it’s just mildly irritating to have to hold your phone in a certain way, and it’s useless while walking or wearing sunglasses (although it did work through regular glasses).įacial recognition – despite being the default out of the box – is a non-starter for us. If you’re going to make people switch to an iris scanner by putting the fingerprint sensor out of reach, then make it flawless, not brilliant-most-of-the-time-but-sometimes-not. There were also times when the iris scanner wouldn’t work even in optimal conditions (sitting still in bright light), and only a restart sorted this issue out. On the train, this is not acceptable behavior – and after a couple of days, it actually made our eyes hurt, pushing them out on stalks so often. This meant we sometimes ended up gurning (by the way, we urge you to search YouTube for the gurning world championships) at the S8, trying to force the issue by opening our eyes really wide and moving the phone around in order to unlock it. Other times, when you’re walking or in lower light, the iris scanner just failed time and again (although weirdly it works fine in the pitch-dark). We spent a week thoroughly testing the Samsung Galaxy S8 when it first came out - watch our video below to see how we got on. To find the best deal for you, check out our selection of the best Samsung Galaxy S8 deals in the UK. Some deals offer the phone for less than £25 per month with a substantial amount of internet included. In the UK, the contract price has dropped. In the US, Amazon has it for $462 unlocked – a $265 price drop in under two years. The Samsung Galaxy S8 carried a hefty price tag when it arrived in April 2017, but close to two years on the cost has reduced significantly, making the phone an attractive proposition for those who find the S9 a little on the steep side.Īt launch, the SIM-free Samsung Galaxy S8 price was £639 ($724.99, AU$ 1,200), but now it can be found for just around £360 ($460, AU$720).

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