The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a near perfect device. It maintains all the strengths of its predecessor and introduces a truck load of its own. But there are some few aspects that would have helped it finish that last stretch to total greatness.
Dual camera
There was a time when the rumors of a dual camera touting Galaxy S8 had started building up. There was even a leaked image of the phone having those cameras, but these leaks suddenly disappeared. Am sure there are some that hoped for such a feature. Most flagships are nowadays coming with dual cameras, there are not just marketing tricks but they add real value to photography, HTC started the trend and was using them to achieve a bokeh effect, Huawei uses them to enhance low light photography, LG for super wide angle photos and Apple applies them in zooming. As you can see, all these companies have found a unique usage for their dual cameras even though some of the features are shared such as bokeh effects and zooming. I was looking forward to see what Samsung would have done with their version, the company is a leader in photography and has pioneered many cameras technologies that have come to be copied by others overtime, I was hoping they would do the same with dual cameras and the 1000fps video recording feature that never came true.
Stereo speakers
That Infinity Display on the Galaxy S8 will lure many into consuming media via their phones from videos to gaming and more. Samsung would really have enhanced this experience by equipping these devices with stereo speakers to complement that stunning HDR Super AMOLED screen. When Samsung acquired the audio products guru, Harman, many thought that they would team up to revolutionize the audio experience in Samsung phones. Harman is the parent company of world reknowed audio brands such as JBL, AKG, Harman & Kardon and much more, they have no excuse for not delivering the best. Fortunately, we got AKG in the box, but Samsung would have gone the extra mile to add top notch stereo speakers.
Bigger battery
With bigger screens comes more batter consumption. The new Galaxy S8s have taller bodies that have left more room that could have been used for enlarging the batteries. The S8+ did the worst and decided to go for a smaller battery than the one its predecessor the S7 Edge had, 3500 vs 3600mAh. Sure the 10nm processor in the phone will be battery efficient but I imagine people will use the phone a lot more due to the big beautiful Infinity Display hence depleting the available batteries much faster. Most people wouldn’t mind the phones gaining a millimetre or two to accommodate 4000 mAh, especially now that it has contours that make the device feel so much thinner.
Sturdy metallic body
First off, the glass bodies are gorgeous and they replicate a marble feeling in your hand that is second to none. But the fun quickly ends when you drop the device and shatter the glass on both sides. It is rare to find people with glass build phones using them without cases. These cases cover up all the beauty, what the point of having a phone that reflects light with its rear glass cover if no one can enjoy that art. Granted, the Gorilla Glass 5 is shatter resistant but it also has its limits. In addition, glass has high affinity for oily stains and smudges. A metallic rear would solve all this issues.
Better placement of the fingerprint sensor
This was the elephant in the room, most people were thinking it the moment they saw the Galaxy S8. Putting the fingerprint scanner next to the camera was not a good idea. A user would end up smudging the camera lens every time they unlock their phones. Samsung also knows this and they made a pop up reminder that appears whenever you open the camera app and you have your fingerprint unlocking feature active. The pop up asks you to clean your camera lens before taking pictures or videos. Samsung would have avoided all this by having the fingerprint in the central rear area like Huawei, LG or Google Pixel phones; alternatively, could also have put it on the power button like Sony does. Well some argue that the company did that to make the phone look different and also to entice people into using iris scanner and face recognition. Whatever the reason, a company with a big research and development budget as Samsung does would have figured out a better position for such a key feature of their product.