Galaxy S8 receiving rave reviews
Visitors to Samsung Electronics’ ‘unpacked’ event for its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone join a hands-on demonstration session at the Lincoln Center in New York, Wednesday (local time). / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
New phones to be available on April 21
By Kang Seung-woo
NEW YORK ― Samsung Electronics’ new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, is receiving rave reviews around the globe.
The long-awaited smartphone was finally unveiled at New York’s Lincoln Center, Wednesday (local time), with more than 20,000 in attendance. The unveiling was also livestreamed.
Given that the S8 was the first major phone since the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, there had been plenty of talk about the device, but the anticipation for the phone was so high, as evidenced by a long queue of people awaiting entrance ― even two hours before the event was supposed to start.
For the two-hour event ― one hour for a presentation by Samsung staff, including Mobile Communications Business President Koh Dong-jin, and the other for a tryout time ― 25,000 people visited the venue to get their hands on the high-end phone in advance of its release and they were satisfied.
“It is a really good phone. It is more than what I expected from Samsung. We can really see that the company is bringing new specifications and new functionality to the smartphone market,” said Bruno Martinez of Brazil’s Showmetech, a website specializing in information technology (IT).
“I am guessing it is going to be a great success in the world.”
Will Shanklin, the VR and mobile editor of technology website New Atlas, also said, “It was fine. It was what I expected after thousands of leaks. The screen was the best part ― the bigger screen with smaller bezels.”
Andy Baryer, host and producer of Canada’s GetConnected, a television and radio show featuring technology, summed it up as a “game-changer.”
The S8 has arrived amid growing questions on whether it will be able to save Samsung after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. The Note 7 was short-lived due to battery fire issues only two months after its launch last August, which cost the Korean tech giant more than $5 billion.
“The Galaxy Note 7 was a very good phone, but it is a pity that they had a battery problem because overall it was a great phone to use,” Martinez said.
“I am hoping they can restore their brand to what people used to think about Samsung before the Galaxy Note 7.”
Many global media outlets also gave it the thumbs-up.
“Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phones unveiled today will make you forget all about the Note 7 debacle,” IT magazine Wired said.
Tech website Gizmodo said, “The Galaxy S8 looks like the phone Samsung has been trying to build for the last few years. The integration of Bixby, its newly acquired AI assistant, lets Samsung compete with Google and Apple in a new and, at least for Samsung, unprecedented way.”
Samsung plans to start receiving preorders for the smartphones early next month in Korea, the United States and Canada. Customers will get the gadgets beginning April 21 in the three countries. The S8 will be available in other countries later.