[Poll] Which Galaxy S flagship do you think was the ugliest?

Maybe the ugly word is too hard, but let’s face it, Samsung was never too interested in beautiful smartphone designs until the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge (or the Galaxy Alpha, if you want to keep that ignored phone in memory). Samsung’s smartphone designs were definitely the most functional in terms of ergonomics and handling, but they looked positively boring and lazy alongside the iPhones and the HTCs a couple of years ago.

The Galaxy S5, with the dotted texture on its back, is what many remember as the reason for Samsung finally moving on to the metal and glass design that debuted on the Galaxy S6 (anyone remember the blue S5?). But it was perhaps the “designed for humans” design of the Galaxy S III that got things going downhill. The S III was a result of Samsung trying to move away from an iPhone-like design; Samsung probably didn’t care about anything but getting Apple off its back, which was probably the reason why the S III was so visually unappealing.

The S III’s design wasn’t phased out; it was refined continuously until we got the Galaxy S7 last year. But what kept everyone so interested was the new dual-edge screen that was introduced with the Galaxy S6 edge, and now, with the Galaxy S8, Samsung is once again pushing the boundaries of smartphone design. In fact, the new S8 and S8+ are so beautiful that it got us wondering what device our readers think was the ugliest of all Galaxy S flagships.

Was it the human-friendly Galaxy S III, or the Galaxy S5 with its ergonomic yet hard-on-the-eye perforated back? Or maybe you think the S III and S5 were beautiful and it was Samsung’s iPhone-y design of the original Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II that was the worst of the lot? Well, let us know your opinion by leaving a comment, and by voting in the poll below.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Themes Thursday: Have a look at this week’s best new themes

Welcome back to Themes Thursday! Samsung has released a whopping 252 new themes in its Theme Store for compatible Galaxy smartphones, and we went through each one of them so that you don’t have to spend your valuable time. We’ve shortlisted 11 new theme packs that you might like to install on your smartphone.

All the themes designed by ZEMSTONE which are listed here look great, thanks to brilliant iconography and AOD mode clock designs. The Gless UI theme pack by Lucas Kendi looks great too. The [Anup] Gradient UI, [WHL] Morning Sunshine Pro, Outline Grace, and Stay Cool Neon themes might appeal to a lot of readers as well.

Which new theme did you like this week?

[Anup] Gradient UI

[WHL] Morning Sunshine Pro

[ZEM] Deer In The Night

[ZEM] Flower Story

[ZEM] Nightscape

[Kendi] Gless UI

[ZEM] Space

[ZEM] Spring Field

[ZEM] Vivid Sky

Outline Grace

Stay Cool Neon

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US Cellular’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge start receiving Android 7.0 update

Samsung started rolling out Android 7.0 to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge from January, and the update is now reaching more markets and networks around the world. Latest variants of these smartphones to receive the Nougat update are the Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge on US Cellular’s network in the US.

The US Cellular variants of the Galaxy S7 (SM-G930R4) and S7 edge (SM-G935R4) are now receiving the Android 7.0 update with a file size of 1512.39MB. The update brings a newer user interface, improved notifications and quick setting toggles, improved AoD functionality, and a lot more features to the devices.

If the OTA update didn’t hit your device yet, you can download the full firmware file from our firmware database and flash it manually. However, don’t forget to check out our comprehensive series that showcases all the new features that come with the Nougat update to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

Firmware Details:

Model	SM-G930R4
Model name	Galaxy S7
Country	USA
Version	Android 7
Changelist	10653600
Build date	Wed, 29 Mar 2017 14:06:34 +0000
Security Patch Level	2017-04-01
Product code	USC
PDA	G930R4TYU4BQC5
CSC	G930R4USC4BQC5

 

Model	SM-G935R4
Model name	Galaxy S7 edge
Country	USA
Version	Android 7
Changelist	10653600
Build date	Wed, 29 Mar 2017 14:04:24 +0000
Security Patch Level	2017-04-01
Product code	USC
PDA	G935R4TYU4BQC5
CSC	G935R4USC4BQC5

 

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Samsung releases April security update for the Galaxy S8+ in Europe

Samsung has started rolling out its first update for the Galaxy S8+ in Europe. At present, it doesn’t look like the upgrade bundles anything other than the changes included in this month’s security maintenance release, which includes patches for a total of 49 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) in the Android OS and an additional 16 fixes for the firm’s Galaxy-branded smartphones.

Read more: Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ review: Samsung brings us the future, but it’s not perfect yet

As we’ve come to expect, the update is being distributed in stages. It’s already reached Belgium and Germany, and is expected to make its way to other countries in the region over the course of the next few days. If you’re already in possession of a Galaxy S8+ and would like to see if the OTA is ready, open up Settings, then select the relevant option from the Software Update subheading.

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SamMobile Daily Recap: April 20, 2017 — Galaxy Book, Galaxy S8 and more!

We publish a lot of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the majority of news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to keep up. However, we think we’ve come up with a fantastic solution — a daily recap.

Here’s what we covered today.

Business

Samsung looking to reclaim its top spot in premium smartphone segment in India with Galaxy S8

Phones

Exynos variant of the Galaxy S8 offers slightly better GPU performance than the Snapdragon variant

Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM reportedly facing supply issues

The Galaxy S8 is surprisingly durable

Samsung Pay

UPI payments go live on Samsung Pay in India

Screen Analysis

Samsung Galaxy S8 detailed screen analysis

Tablets

You’ll be able to pre-order the Galaxy Book in the US on April 21

Tips & Tricks

Galaxy S8 Tip: Use all apps in fullscreen mode on the phone’s tall display

How to take screenshots on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+

TV

Samsung UHD TVs to support updated HDR10+ standard, Amazon Video to offer compatible content

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Like compact phones? Don’t be afraid of the Galaxy S8

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have big screens, but the fact that neither is proportionately big in overall size has already been beaten to death. But while those used to phones with 5.5-inch and larger displays will not be too fazed by the 6.2-inch display on the Galaxy S8+, folks who prefer 5-inch screens will be rather intimidated by the standard S8′s 5.8-inch display. I’m not sure we drove this point home in our review, so I’ll say this now: If you’re afraid of large phones and prefer compact devices, don’t be afraid of the Galaxy S8.

If you have tried out the Galaxy S8 at a store (or are lucky enough to already have one in your hands), you’ll know what I’m talking about. The Galaxy S8′s display is larger by more than half an inch compared to the Galaxy S7, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference when it comes to handling the phone. The S8 is slightly taller, and the display is tall enough to make reaching the top in single-handed usage impossible for many. The same goes for the fingerprint sensor, but otherwise, the S8 is as compact as phones can get with such gigantic displays.

The most notable element that helps make the phone ergonomic is the narrow design, so the overall experience handling the S8 will be very similar for those using a Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7, or any other 5-inch phone. Don’t worry; the display’s narrowness won’t ruin your experience in real-life usage, thanks to the new aspect ratio Samsung is using for the display. Not all apps support the new aspect ratio, but the company has thoughtfully built in a setting that allows you to force apps to take advantage of the entire screen.

What do you think? Did you order the standard Galaxy S8? If yes, was it the compact size that attracted you, or something else (like the lower price)?

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Daily Deal: Take 60% off a pair of Active InEar headphones

For a limited time only, you can snag yourself a pair of Samsung’s InEar headphones for just $11.97 — and yes, these are the same basic earphones that ship in the box of the firm’s latest smartphones. Although, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are an exception as they come bundled with a pair manufactured by AKG.

As is always the case with our Daily Deals, if you want to take advantage of this particular promotion, hit the Buy Now button below. We’d advise you to hurry though, as Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available and it probably won’t be around for long.

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Galaxy S8 Tip: Use all apps in fullscreen mode on the phone’s tall display

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ feature what Samsung calls Infinity Displays, which are taller and narrower than the AMOLED displays on other Samsung smartphones. The taller screens also have a new aspect ratio of 18:5:9, which allows for an enhanced experience when watching videos and browsing the web. But since the aspect ratio is taller than the regular 16:9 aspect ratio found on smartphones, Galaxy S8 users will find that some apps have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen (or on the left and right if you are using the phone in landscape mode).

While developers will soon latch on to the new aspect ratio and add support to their apps (Google is already telling developers how they can go about doing so), right now, it makes for a less than perfect experience for those who will be using the Galaxy S8. Thankfully, Samsung has built in an option on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ that lets every app make use of the entire screen.

Full screen mode has to be enabled individually for each app, and if you’re seeing black bars in your favorite apps, follow the steps below to force them to use the full aspect ratio of the beautiful Infinity display on your Galaxy S8 or S8+.

1. On your phone, open the settings (either from the shortcut in the app drawer or from the notification shade), then go into the Display section.
2. Here, find and tap on the Full screen apps option.
3. You’ll see a list of all the installed apps on your phone. Here, just toggle the switch to the on position for each app that you want to run in full screen mode.

Following the steps above should should get rid of the black bars and let you get back to using your favorite apps as they were meant to be used. For an example of how an app looks in regular and full screen mode, take a look at the image below.

Check out our other Galaxy S8 and S8+ tips and tricks, and be on the lookout for more in the coming days.

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Samsung UHD TVs to support updated HDR10+ standard, Amazon Video to offer compatible content

Samsung has announced that its UHD TVs will now support the updated HDR10+ standard that offers enhanced contrast and colors. The company has partnered with Amazon Video to offer HDR10+ videos on its 4K TVs (including QLED TVs) released in 2017 and 2016. Samsung’s 4K TVs released in 2017 already support the HDR10+ standard, and the ones released in 2016 will receive the feature via a firmware upgrade in the second half of this year.

HDR10 is the most popular HDR format right now, but Samsung states that it uses static metadata that does not change during video playback despite scene specific brightness levels, so image quality might not be optimal in some scenes. The updated HDR10+ standard uses dynamic metadata, so compatible HDR TVs can adjust the brightness on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis, producing images that are much closer to the director’s intent.

“As an advanced HDR10 technology, HDR10+ offers an unparalleled HDR viewing experience — vivid picture, better contrast and accurate colors — that brings HDR video to life,” said Kyoungwon Lim, Vice President of Visual Display Division at Samsung Electronics. “We’re excited to work with world-class industry partners, including Amazon Video, to bring more amazing HDR content directly to our 2017 UHD TVs, including our QLED TV lineup.”

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How to take screenshots on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+

With the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, Samsung has gotten rid of its traditional hard home button and capacitive back and recents keys and has finally brought to the fore on-screen navigation keys. Since there’s no hardware home key, some of its functions, such as launching the camera, have been relegated to the power button. Some would say this is great, as it brings Samsung’s software in line with what Google envisions for Android, but for others, it will mean getting used to a new way of getting things done on their Galaxy phone.

Taking screenshots, however, remains a simple affair, and the home button’s task here is now handled by the volume down key. Also, as on previous devices, there are multiple ways you can take screenshots on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, meaning you aren’t restricted to always playing around with the phone’s buttons to capture what’s on screen.

Here’s what you can do to take screenshots on the Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Method 1: Using volume and power keys

1. First, you need to have whatever it is you want a screenshot of to be on the display. This can be an app, game, or any other screen that you want to capture.
2. Press and hold the power button and the volume down button at the same time until you hear a camera shutter sound and see an animation. You get both an audio and visual cue once a screenshot is captured, so it’s impossible to miss that the screenshot has been taken.

Method 2: Via a palm swipe

1. Samsung’s phones also come with a gesture for capturing a screenshot. This gesture lets you swipe the screen with the edge of your hand from right to left or left to right.
2. To enable this gesture, head into the Settings » Advanced features menu, and toggle the “Palm swipe to capture” option to on. You will then see a visual example of how this works at the top.
3. Now simply get to the app or screen you want to capture, then swipe the screen from right to left (or left to right) with the edge of your hand (the hand should be on the display in a karate chop-like manner) and voila, your screenshot will be captured.

Smart Capture and Scroll Capture

Once you take a screenshot, Samsung allows you to perform various functions, such as sharing or editing the screenshot, instantly. For every screenshot you take, you will see Draw, Crop and Share options at the bottom of the screen, and you will also see an option called “Scroll capture”. If you don’t see these options, go into the Settings » Advanced features menu and enable Smart Capture.

What does scroll capture do? Well, it’s an ingenious way of capturing more than what you see on screen in a single image. For example, using scroll capture, you can capture an entire webpage, or a long list in some other app. To use scroll capture, here’s what you need to do.

1. Follow either of the two methods above to capture a screenshot. Note that scrolling screenshot only works if you there is some content below what you’re trying to capture, like in a long webpage.
2. Now, you will see the Scroll capture option at the bottom of the screen. Hit this button, and the phone will scroll down and capture more content.
3. You can either stop at this point (just tap somewhere within the screen to save the screenshot), or keep pressing the Scroll capture button until you have captured what you require or when there’s no more content left to capture.
   

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All of your screenshots get saved in the Screenshots folder in the Albums tab of the gallery, or show up among your regular camera photos if you’re viewing the Pictures tab. To access them via a file manager, go into the internal storage, open the DCIM folder, and then open the Screenshots folder.

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UPI payments go live on Samsung Pay in India

India’s recent push towards digital payments has been a great excuse for Samsung to go all in with Samsung Pay in the country. Samsung’s payment service supports all major banks in India and also includes support for Paytm, a popular wallet service. At the time of launch, Samsung had said Samsung Pay would support India’s UPI payments service, and the service has now gone live for all Samsung Pay users in the country.

For those unaware, UPI, or Unified Payments Interface, is a national service for transferring funds between banks in India. UPI only requires users to have a telephone number registered with their banks in order to work, making it the most accessible fund transfer system that can be used even on a feature phone. Integration through Samsung Pay means users can send money to others through the Samsung Pay app, and also request money from others and pay at merchants and retailers.

UPI support comes as part of a 84 MB update to Samsung Pay (the size may vary for you). You should get a notification that the update is available when you open Samsung Pay, and you can follow instructions after installing the update to add your UPI accounts. Still haven’t gotten on-board with Samsung Pay? Check out our hands-on experience with Samsung Pay in India, and also take a look at our guide for setting up Samsung Pay on a supported device.

Thanks, Imaduddin!

 

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Exynos variant of the Galaxy S8 offers slightly better GPU performance than the Snapdragon variant

There are two variants of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. One variant uses Samsung’s Exynos 8895 chipset, while the other uses the Snapdragon 835 SoC from Qualcomm. The Snapdragon variant is sold in Canada, China, Japan, and the US. Other markets around the world get the Exynos variant. Both chipsets are quite similar in terms of features, functionality, and performance.

The Exynos 8895 and the Snapdragon 835 chipsets are built using Samsung’s 10nm FinFET process technology, feature gigabit LTE modems, Bluetooth 5.0, and more. However, many were intrigued to see which one offers faster performance, and GSMArena has published a range of benchmark numbers that suggest that the Exynos chipset has a slight more powerful GPU.

The Exynos 8895 variant of the Galaxy S8 showcased faster multi-core CPU performance in Geekbench 3, while the Snapdragon 835 variant offered faster single-core performance. However, it’s interesting to note that both the variants of the Galaxy S8 offered a lower single-core score than Snapdragon variant of last year’s Galaxy S7. The Exynos variant of the Galaxy S8 scored higher than the Snapdragon variant in most benchmark tests.

The ARM Mali-G71 MP20 GPU inside the Exynos 8895 appears to be more powerful than the Adreno 540 GPU inside the Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Exynos variant of the Galaxy S8 consistently scored higher than the Snapdragon variant in all GFXBench tests conducted by GSMArena. The Exynos variant also scored higher in Basemark X and Basemark ES 3.1 Metal tests. Head over to the source link to see all the results.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 detailed screen analysis

Samsung launched the new Galaxy S8 last month, and we recently tested the Galaxy S8′s display to see how it measures up. The Galaxy S8 has a new virtually bezel-less screen, the so-called Infinity Display, so let’s find out what this phone brings to the table in terms of the viewing experience. We tested the screen in the Adaptive mode, which is the default display mode, and also in Basic and AMOLED Photo modes.

If you want to know what the graphs in this measurement mean, please refer to this post.

First, some basic stuff. The Galaxy S8 sports a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD+ (2960×1440 pixels) resolution, a pixel density of around 570 PPI, and the weird aspect ratio of 18:9::5. It rocks the infamous Diamond PenTile pixel layout, which you can see in the close-up picture below

                                                               .

Brightness Levels

First things first, the screen has a maximum brightness of around 447.70 cd/m2 (nits) in manual brightness setting, and 693.21 cd/m2 in auto brightness. At the dimmest setting, the screen can go as low as 1.88 cd/m2 in auto brightness mode, and as low as 1.96 cd/m2 in manual brightness.

Adaptive Display

When we look at its color gamut and the colors in the sRGB color space, we can conclude that every color misses its target point and the screen is thus oversaturated (a common theme on AMOLED displays). The white point is pretty much off target, which you can see in the graph on the right side below. The margin of the displayed primary and secondary colors isn’t that good, with a Delta E error of 5.98 being too high, which is something we see all the time in this screen mode.

The error of the Grayscale color is not too great at 4.34 (although it is a tad better than Samsung’s other displays which were around 5 or 6) and the whites are bluish here as well; that is something manufacturers do to make the whites look more white, especially on AMOLED displays. The contrast ratio, however, is unmeasurable so that is extremely good. Blacks are really black, yet when we get to the lighter colors we see that blueish tint popping out as red and green deteriorates. This is something you can see in the color temperature as well, with a temperature of 7426 being too cold (and 6509 is the sweet spot).

Basic Mode

 

Like with all the display from Samsung, we aren’t a fan of Adaptive mode (though some of us don’t exactly mind using it), but we have the option of changing it to Basic mode. The basic mode is the closest you can get to a nicely calibrated screen, though the display can look a little dull when you first lay your eyes on this screen mode. In the sRGB color space, it scores great as it hits most of the targets, with the margin of the displayed primary and secondary colors having a Delta E error of 2.3 which is good. The white point is just a little off center, but nothing too serious.

 

It’s a similar story in grayscale, although we see red and a little bit blue popping up a little in the lighter colors, which results in a warmer screen and that is something you can see at the color temperature as well. With a color temperature of 6519, it is a lot closer to 6509, which would be the best score.  The margin of color error in Grayscale of Delte E 3.5 is good but not better than other Basic Modes we measured before; for example, the Galaxy A8 had a Delta E of 1.5 in the Grayscale color error. Its contrast here in Basic Mode is unmeasurable as well so that is extremely good.

AMOLED Photo

The mode I always set my screen to is AMOLED Photo, this gives you the punchiness of the Adaptive Display mode without making it feel too much. As you can see that the Delta E color error is only 2 points higher than the Basic Mode and somewhat 2 points lower than Adaptive Mode. A funny detail here is that the Grayscale color error is almost the same as in the basic mode and its color temerature is almost the same. A first!

Conclusion

The scores of the Galaxy S8 are exceptionally good and we see another great example of why Samsung is still the king of displays. Excellent scores all the way around, and if we take a look at last year’s Galaxy S7, then we see an all around improvement. Yet again, it’s an achievement for Samsung, as the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge displays were already quite great.

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Samsung looking to reclaim its top spot in India’s premium smartphone segment with Galaxy S8

Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and S8+ for the Indian market yesterday, and the company is hoping that the new devices would help it reclaim its top spot in the country’s premium smartphone segment. The company had lost its top spot in the premium segment to Apple last quarter due to the Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco. The South Korean smartphone giant had a market share of 35 percent, while Apple had a market share of 62 percent in India’s premium smartphone segment during in Q4 of 2017.

The company’s Southwest Asian chief Hong Hyun-chil said, “In order to keep the promise of ‘Make for India,’ we have made all the Galaxy S8 series sold here in India,” during the press conference. Samsung also hopes that the rollout of its mobile payment service Samsung Pay would help it distinguish itself from the competition in the Indian market. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ would go on sale in India on May 5. The company is also facing a stiff competition from Xiaomi, which launched the Mi 6 yesterday in China for half the price of the Galaxy S8.

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Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM reportedly facing supply issues

The number of pre-ordered Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ units to start being used in South Korea has dropped since services began on Tuesday. It’s believed that only 63,400 handsets were activated on Wednesday, which is roughly one-quarter of the previous day’s 260,000. The reason? The popular Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory is facing supply issues.

Still, that isn’t bad going considering it was revealed earlier this week that pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ had crossed one million in the firm’s home country, five times the figure it achieved with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. It’s believed that inventory of the Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM will be replenished over the next week, and orders will continue to ship on a daily basis.

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You’ll be able to pre-order the Galaxy Book in the US on April 21

Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Book, which made its debut at MWC back in February, will go up for pre-order in the United States on April 21, with prices starting at $630 for the 10.6 model and $1,130 for the 12-inch model, and topping out at $1,300 for the LTE version of the latter.

“Today’s young professionals and entrepreneurs require a device that allows them to work without any limitations,” said Alanna Cotton, VM of Product Marketing. “We are excited to bring to market the Samsung Galaxy Book LTE and Wi-Fi models, offering a 2-in-1 PC portfolio that delivers on power and performance.”

After a brief pre-order period, the Galaxy Book will start shipping and appear on shelves in brick-and-mortar stores on May 21. Best Buy was quick to point out that it’ll hold exclusivity over the black color variant, while all other retailers in the region will receive the standard silver model.

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The Galaxy S8 is surprisingly durable

Despite being constructed from a plate of metal sandwiched between two sheets of glass, the Galaxy S8 is actually a surprisingly durable smartphone. Don’t believe us? Just look at how well it holds up in this durability test.

While the metal frame is pretty easy to scratch, the rest of the phone (the parts that matter, like the screen) isn’t. In fact, the Infinity Display didn’t shatter at all while under pressure — but the same can’t be said about the backplate.

Unlike the Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8 also excelled in the burn test. After around 10 seconds, its predecessor was left with a blemish on the screen. However, the Galaxy S8 made a recovery, up until the flame was held on for 30 seconds.

Not bad going.

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