Gadgetory

some of you have noticed the Apple watch on my wrist recently and it's true I got so frustrated with androids craptastic power management for background tasks that when I reformatted my Android daily driver galaxy s7 and started carrying the iPhone 7 as a stopgap solution along with a lightning - three and a half millimeter adapter I never went back but the iPhone is far from flawless assure symmetry is beauty but the ergonomics leave a lot to be desired and iOS works damn well these days even for heavy Google service users like me but it still has redonkulous limitations like not being able to move icons around it will so then will the Galaxy s8 be enough to bring me back let's find out HP's new omen X lineup comes equipped with Intel 7th generation Core i7 processor check it out at the link in the video description meet the Galaxy s8 samsung may have lacked the courage to remove the three-and-a-half millimeter jack but other than that it's got almost everything you'd expect from a 2017 flagship with top-of-the-line specs and modern features like USB type-c wireless charging and ip68 water resistance this is indisputably the finest design work ever from Samsung's mobile division and I remember like it was yesterday being blown away by the quantum leap forward that they took with the s6 edge but that was nothing compared to this I already liked the curved front and rear glass from the note 7 so I was amped to see that return but when I first heard about some of the other changes like the taller than usual 18 and a half by 9 aspect ratio and the decision to remove the hardware home-button that's been a galaxy staple since they first blatantly ripped off the iPhone 7 years ago I was pretty skeptical but what Samsung has done here is amazing for reasons that probably aren't immediately apparent let's get back to the hole ripping off the iPhone conversation whether they actually did that all those years ago and to what degree still hasn't been resolved but that's what's different with this phone no objective person can make that argument today both of the s8 and si+ are significant steps forward from an aging iPhone design that's been with us for nearly three years now the curved front and rear shape that made the note 7 the most holdable phablet ever work just as well on the SAT plus and then even better on a line of size device like the s8 and this together with the Titan integration of biometric authentication has managed to change long time phone use habits of mine in a matter of hours an impressive feat first is the way I access apps I've dismissed Samsung's previous efforts to make the curved screen useful as contrived but as someone with only a handful of frequently used apps and basically no friends I can now do over 90% of what I would do on my phone including capturing screenshots with a simple swipe from the right second is the way I unlock my phone I don't recommend Samsung's a facial method could get a little messy for you if someone uses a picture to unlock your phone but there's lots of other options and between Google's own smart locking based on location and sensor data Samsung's retina unlock that picks me up a good 60 plus percent of the time during normal use and the rear fingerprint sensor it's finally gotten to the point where nobody else can pick up my device and just start using it but for me I'm not thinking about security while I try to use it which is the holy grail of biometric security though with that said I still would have very much preferred the rumored fingerprint sensor under the on screen home button which leads us then into big change number three the way I interact with the phone's home back and multitasking buttons which by the way can be rearranged if you want now yes I never missed my precious dedicated buttons once unlike other Android phones that require an extra press to unhide the buttons that then cover up valuable vertical scrolling real estate or whatever content it is you're trying to enjoy Samsung's unique aspect ratio leaves enough room that it never feels like they're in the way and even when they're hidden you can still access the home button with a hard press from anywhere it is so intuitive which isn't to say that there's nothing about the s8 that falls behind the iPhone Apple's 3d touch pressure-sensitive screen is just so much better aside from the obvious it covers the whole screen aspect the quality of the haptic feedback is an area that Samsung could definitely stand to improve and while I'm whining now that Apple's fixed it that single bottom speaker without stereo backup from the earpiece speaker that's already there just use it please is so 2015 and furthermore while the 2960 by 1440 AMOLED display has impressive specs like HDR support even with video enhancement off and the cinema profile selected it still cranks color saturation in a way that might appeal to average consumers but that looks very unnatural next to the iPhone the non-existent improvements to the camera are a sore spot for some people but honestly for me I'm not that surprised that in spite of this sensor hardware change not much has been done to image quality or features here if you were happy with the lightning fast if slightly processing heavy rear camera and wide-angle selfie lens from before then you'll be happy with them on the s8 and if you weren't then man come on it must be hard being so damn difficult to please do you have any idea how hard it is to build a 4k video camera that's smaller than your fingernail sorry oops I actually didn't mean to put that right over top of the sensor I was trying to unlock the phone or maybe I was trying to touch the heart rate sensor okay so that is one fair complaint to Samsung's credit the oleophobic coating on the camera glass is really good but you will end up with janky pictures from time to time due to the unfortunate placement of those sensors on either side let's talk software now the new get flavor of TouchWiz or is it Samsung experienced whatever they're calling it is still a mixed bag it's lighter and higher performance than ever with some fantastic new innovations to app and icon management better multitasking a gorgeous new theme that makes the screen feel even more spacious than it is a crop mode for the extra wide screen that already works on YouTube and enough great little customizations that I honestly think Apple finally has to respond with some customizations of their own in the next version of iOS there is some bullcrap though that thing where it installs bloatware and locks to the first carrier sim you insert well that's back for another round of me hating it the always-on display is in my mind pretty useless without a more detailed preview like what Motorola does when you press on the notifications swiping up and swiping down from anywhere bringing up the app tray feels like a waste of a gesture to me down should bring down your notifications the ambient light sensor algorithm needs some serious work it was all over the place in my use and the mobile hotspot button has been removed as an option from the quick settings for some reason that is as inexplicable as it is infuriating to me furthermore Samsung's decision to disallow remapping of the bixby button is a purely stubborn move that I hope they reversed sooner rather than later without being offensive I hope I feel a little bad for people whose lives are so predictable that their digital assistant manages to do anything more useful than pop up a card from time to time with some recent news I don't personally care about digital assistants beyond setting a reminder or an alarm and neither do a lot of people and if I did I would just long press the home button and use Google's so final answer time will I switch this phone's overall usability is wonderful almost every objection like the way that the bezel is design makes edge a little more difficult to reach while typing can be overcome with a pretty simple habit change but my main issue with Android battery management remains I mean look at this random notification that popped up informing me that Gmail was sucking back battery what I even went out of my way on this phone to only sync up two of my Google accounts a pretty typical load out rather than the five plus that are required to manage all of our YouTube channels and making matters worse than that when I go to investigate further all I get is a black hole what kind of broken math is this then the next day having changed nothing about the way I'm using the phone I've got 30% left at the end of the day with a more normal battery life decreasing curve here but equally opaque numbers how is this not fixed by now yes there are power saving modes but you know what kind of a solution that is that's designing a crummy antenna and telling your users they're holding the phone wrong I understand that Google and Samsung can't control the entire app ecosystem but at the very least what I'm asking for is functioning tools so I can diagnose the issue myself so then yes I am switching to it it's really gorgeous but the first time this is the hottest thing in my pants when my wife walks into the room I'm going back to the iPhone well how'd I get over here I guess I must be filming an ad pickup for you guessed it be brand the brand is the place to go if you want a wicked awesome looking vinyl skin that fits your device and just plain feels great they use high-quality authentic true textured 3m vinyl on every product they've got unrivaled precision they ship worldwide on the cheap and if you guys were impressed by the Dragon Skin skin that I had on this phone during this video you're not the only one this has got to be their best skin yet it looks fantastic I don't know what it is is it scales is it burnt wood is it freaking it doesn't matter it looks fantastic and dramatically improves the grip enos of the phone at the same time so check it out at the link in the video description you can use their configurator to see exactly what your device will look like before you buy and I guess I've really run out of talking points here they're nice people or robots as it were so thanks for watching guys if you dislike this video you can hit that button but if you liked it hit the like button get subscribed maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video description also down there is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum where you can join up and talk tech it's a pretty cool place to hang out