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[michaelius]

Not a huge fan of the S8's edge on the left and right mainly because it looks bad in a case and makes apps look weird at times. Don't like the Apple bump either, though.

And that's why I'm running Xperia Normal bezels , normal screen and audio jack

 

[Orniletter]

I think this years Galaxy A3 is more pleasing on the eyes than most iPhones (and is really cheap for how rock solid it is in every category, including design).

Samsung fixed their Achilles' heel when they started using quality materials over the cheap plastic they tended to use.

 

[LegendofLex]

I wouldn't say sustaining innovations--improvements on a form factor that already exists, like smaller bezels, inductive charging, face authentication, higher quality screens--are an Apple-like UX innovation to begin with.

We're not talking about something as drastic as a shift from buttons as the primary interface for a phone to a buttonless touch screen. That's a paradigm shift in terms of form factor that changed a lot about the way we think about software usability.

 

[byropoint]

Never thought it would happen, but yeah, I think the S8 looks better, the only physical flaw it has is the fingerprint sensor location, if they managed to get it under the screen as they intended it would be the perfect phone hardware-wise. Also, it needs stereo speakers, I like those.

 

[Officerrob]

Free form displays mean that they don’t have to be limited to the largest rectangle that fits in the front of a smartphone anymore. What looks weird now, will look normal tomorrow.

Apple has a strong trendsetting tradition and the X shouldn’t be an exception.The free form display adding those bits of real estate on the top give the illusion of new technology that breaks with the common idea of displays being limited to a fairly rectangle shape. It’s like it’s stretching as much as it can on the front of the phone and instead of stopping in the usual hard bezel fashion on the top because of the camera hardware, it just contours that camera hardware like a liquid would.

Already iconic tbh.

This is sarcasm, right?

 

[NumberThree]

This picture is the perfect example of my previous post.

How is adding 2-3 millimetres to the top bezel for the facial recognition tech not a better design choice than chopping up the top of the screen?

The screen is THE most important part of a phone.

2mm less bezel on top is something you look at before you buy, notice for a while after purchase, and never care about ever again.

That cut out will be in your face forever. Every video you watch. Every time you do anything in landscape.

I'm not a fan of the cutout myself, but I'd assume when watching videos etc. the entire part will be unused and remain black, so it would look like a bezel anyway. The screen in landscape is wider than 16:9.

 

[Turbo Killer]

Googled it. No waterproofing, no headphone jack (lol), crappy earpiece (big flaw), crappy selfie cam on bottom bezel for some reason, way worse rear camera (singular), no fancy IR array, a cpu that's way, way slower, a much lower quality OLED, and all packed in a bigger body.

G, I'm so jealous of this phone from a Chinese company that makes versions of android that ape iOS, and all this in a even bigger bulkier device? Where do I sign up?

But it looks better right and that's what matters, right? Not the better CPU, camera, screen, os, and overall hardware. All Apple needs is an exploding phone and they will catch up to Samsung.

 

[diaspora]

But it looks better right and that's what matters, right? Not the better CPU, camera, screen, os, and overall hardware. All Apple needs is an exploding phone and they will catch up to Samsung.

I don't know what the two of you are arguing. That guy brought up Xiomi when talking about looks.

 

[jts]

I can't tell if you're joking because this has all already been done.

I don’t know if you’re joking because the whole “Apple dozent innovashun” is an old and repeated trope every time Apple does something new and every time it is proved to be moot because when Apple does something, the market will indeed follow. So why continue the cycle? Let’s just skip that step this time.

 

[KaYotiX]

Love my s8+ and kinda laughed when I saw the iPhone X reveal.

Wife who loves Apple isn't really that excited either, she's thinking of getting the Note 8 instead.

 

[Turbo Killer]

I don't know what the two of you are arguing. That guy brought up Xiomi when talking about looks.

Because there are more important things than looks when it comes to choosing phones, and the OP jus glosses over the faster CPU like its no big deal.

 

[diaspora]

I don’t know if you’re joking because the whole “Apple dozent innovashun” is an old and repeated trope every time Apple does something new and every time it is proved to be moot because when Apple does something, the market will indeed follow. So why continue the cycle? Let’s just skip that step this time.

But... Apple is following the market, as far as display is concerned they're charging already existing trends.

 

[Antiwhippy]

I don’t know if you’re joking because the whole “Apple dozent innovashun” is an old and repeated trope every time Apple does something new and every time it is proved to be moot because when Apple does something, the market will indeed follow. So why continue the cycle? Let’s just skip that step this time.

I mean if you're referring to the notch the essential phone already did it.

 

[Nothing1016]

I'll wait for reviews and actually owning the product before making such a claim. The hands-on previews so far for the X have been incredibly positive so I have high hopes.

 

[Officerrob]

I don’t know if you’re joking because the whole “Apple dozent innovashun” is an old and repeated trope every time Apple does something new and every time it is proved to be moot because when Apple does something, the market will indeed follow. So why continue the cycle? Let’s just skip that step this time.

What's the innovation here exactly?

 

[MThanded]

They charge 1000$ for a fucking phone,so yeah,they have out-apple Apple

There are already a few 1000 dollar phones. People really need to stop saying this. Also almost everyone is distributing cost over 24 months. In most cases thats a monthly increase of 10 dollars.

 

[Chindogg]

But unable to outsell apple yeah?

Apple just recently fell to #3 in sales after Samsung and Huawei.

There are already a few 1000 dollar phones. People really need to stop saying this. Also almost everyone is distributing cost over 24 months. In most cases thats a monthly increase of 10 dollars.

Gold plated phones and other nonsensical bullshit like that shouldn't fall into this conversation.

They're actually charging $1000 for a phone that the S8 is already beating now for a couple hundred less.

 

[diaspora]

Because there are more important things than looks when it comes to choosing phones, and the OP jus glosses over the faster CPU like its no big deal.

The person mentioning Xiomi was just responding to a question about looks.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

apple is just a shambles

 

[ec0ec0]

So, the iPhone's X screen is 5.8". However, when using it horizontally (for example, while watching video), and to prevent the "notch" from blocking the view, it woul be less than the marketed 5.8", as both the top and the bottom would have to turn to black (as if it had bezels). How much (of the 5.8") would be lost?

 

[Audioboxer]

First time I've seen that iPhone and that top notch is a horrendous design decision. It actually genuinely eats into a small section of the picture you're supposed to see.

Talk about basic design methodology failing.

 

[gamz]

I have to see the X in person, but I'm not gonna lie the S8 is beautiful.

 

[Chindogg]

apple is just a shambles

Nah brand recognition will keep them alive for a long time. People love that walled garden experience, which is totally ok.

But their claims of functional superiority are long gone and Apple fans need to just accept that and admit they're buying an experience rather than a superior device.

It's stupid to compare iphones sales to samsung galaxy sales. Android has dozens of manufacturers each with budget/mid/high cost phones and the sales are fragmented between them.

But iPhones and Galaxies are straight up competing, comparable device families. It's totally fair to compare both.

 

[Officerrob]

First time I've seen that iPhone and that top notch is a horrendous design decision. It actually genuinely eats into a small section of the picture you're supposed to see.

Talk about basic design methodology failing.

It feels like they couldn't find an elegant solution and just said fuck it

 

[jm89]

It's stupid to compare iphones sales to samsung galaxy sales. Android has dozens of manufacturers each with budget/mid/high cost phones and the sales are fragmented between them.

 

[Breakage]

The notch is really noticeable in that landscape picture in the OP. It looks as if it needs to be peeled off.

 

[LegendofLex]

It feels like they couldn't find an elegant solution and just said fuck it

It's weird, because the "display status indicators in the extra space around the speakers/camera" solution was pretty slick, and there was never really a reason to have images/video partially obscured by the already slight speaker bezel.

 

[diaspora]

Putting time and stuff next to the notch is normally fine like the Essential Phone it's just with video and stuff like the Essential Phone it gets weird.

 

[jm89]

But iPhones and Galaxies are straight up competing, comparable device families. It's totally fair to compare both.

Not really. You buy an iphone and commit to ios ecosystem you only have a choice to buy iphones.

Whilst with android it's not the same it is very easy to switch between manufacturers. For example i went from HTC > LG > SONY > SAMSUNG. Alot of people do this, i love my s8+ but i can easily switch to another manufacturer if they come out with a better phone.

 

[Peterthumpa]

But their claims of functional superiority are long gone and Apple fans need to just accept that and admit they're buying an experience rather than a superior device.

This is wrong in so many levels. And that comes from someone who owns a Galaxy S7 Edge and tried an iPhone 6 and was blown away by how faster the thing feels compared to my Android phone.

Apple's hardware+software combo advantage is real and shouldn't be taken for granted.

 

[Owari]

Nah. Samsung has fat ugly bezels. X does not. Samsung also has the worst phone OS known to man.

So no. Nice OP though Samsung fan!

 

[Aleh]

S8 Note 8?

That has to be the single ugliest back on the market. That huge unibrow-like camera setup is unsightly.

Sure, the iPhone has a camera bump, but at least it's a clean and unobtrusive shape, in a completely clean back.

It's also funny to see people call Samsung's fronts bezeless when they have big ones on top and bottom and the sides are only bezeless in the renders because they hide them with reflections, and they are also curved which means they are basically useless too, if not an hindrance past the novelty after your purchase.

They also can't seem to be able to align the holes on the bottom as if it's a hard task, but whatever.

That's not to say the S8 is ugly, I actually like it, but to see so many people criticize Apple's design compared to theirs is baffling to me.

 

[Chindogg]

Not really. You buy an iphone and commit to ios ecosystem you only have a choice to buy iphones.

Whilst with android it's not the same it is very easy to switch between manufacturers. For example i went from HTC > LG > SONY > SAMSUNG. Alot of people do this, i love my s8+ but i can easily switch to another manufacturer if they come out with a better phone.

That makes no sense. It's a straight up "what phone family sells more" and just because you can move from one Android to a Galaxy doesn't mean you can't move from an iOS environment to Android.

Sure you'll lose your apps, but many people don't even transfer their old data to their new phones anyways. They just start fresh.

This is wrong in so many levels. And that comes from someone who owns a Galaxy S7 Edge and tried an iPhone 6 and was blown away by how faster the thing feels compared to my Android phone.

Apple's hardware+software combo advantage is real and shouldn't be taken for granted.

"Feels" is a subjective term. I've got an iPad and always felt the damn thing was slower than my Android phones. It just depends on what apps (and bloatware) you're using on your device.

But like I said, you prefer that experience. And that's totally fine. But it's completely subjective.

 

[Peterthumpa]

"Feels" is a subjective term. I've got an iPad and always felt the damn thing was slower than my Android phones. It just depends on what apps (and bloatware) you're using on your device.

Not subjective at all in this case. I'm talking about a factory reseted S7 Edge with no carrier bloatware vs an iPhone with plenty of apps installed.

Which iPad do you have? They're usually behind their iPhone "counterparts" in specs.

Don't get me wrong, the S7 Edge is a pretty good phone. I like it. However, long story short, spent a week with the iPhone and besides the horrible bezels, the experience was downright incredible. Safari is smooth as fuck to browse, apps open faster, often look better... you get the picture.

I've been using Android phones for 6 years. My S7 Edge will be the last.

 

[jm89]

That makes no sense. It's a straight up "what phone family sells more" and just because you can move from one Android to a Galaxy doesn't mean you can't move from an iOS environment to Android.

Sure you'll lose your apps, but many people don't even transfer their old data to their new phones anyways. They just start fresh.

People are not committed to the phone brand on android they can easily move around that will effect sales. Iphones don't really have this issue, their is only manufacturer who has all the sales.

 

[dragonelite]

If only galaxy series had great custom rom support I would be all over it.

 

[KHarvey16]

"Feels" is a subjective term. I've got an iPad and always felt the damn thing was slower than my Android phones. It just depends on what apps (and bloatware) you're using on your device.

But like I said, you prefer that experience. And that's totally fine. But it's completely subjective.

"Functional superiority" is subjective. You basically said Apple fans need to accept your opinion.

 

[plagiarize]

Not a huge fan of the S8's edge on the left and right mainly because it looks bad in a case and makes apps look weird at times. Don't like the Apple bump either, though.

So... don't put it in a case. Live dangerously like I do!

 

[Audioboxer]

It feels like they couldn't find an elegant solution and just said fuck it

There's plenty that is subjective when it comes to cosmetics, hence fans arguing from birth to death about favourite product designs. This is so far pushed to even suggest it's purely a subjective cosmetic thing. It actively impacts on the viewing experience, no matter how small, with taking away part of the picture. On a device many do use for media and viewing videos it is just baffling how this passed the design testing stages. I wage a fairly healthy bet this notch/cut out never appears in another iPhone again. Call it fans literally beta-testing Apple's first attempt at "bezel-less".

 

[airjoca]

This is wrong in so many levels. And that comes from someone who owns a Galaxy S7 Edge and tried an iPhone 6 and was blown away by how faster the thing feels compared to my Android phone.

Apple's hardware+software combo advantage is real and shouldn't be taken for granted.

You mean compared to a Samsung phone. Samsung is know for it's laggy OS. Try other android phones like Pixel, HTC, LG.

 

[Peterthumpa]

There's plenty that is subjective when it comes to cosmetics, hence fans arguing from birth to death about favourite product designs. This is so far pushed to even suggest it's purely a subjective cosmetic thing. It actively impacts on the viewing experience, no matter how small, with taking away part of the picture. On a device many do use for media and viewing videos it is just baffling how this passed the design testing stages. I wage a fairly healthy bet this notch/cut out never appears in another iPhone again.

I'd say perhaps it makes an appearance in a possible "XS" version. But for the next completely new iPhone model, no way - they'll figure out a way.

 

[Spuck-uk]

Yes, the Samsung looks better, and android has had these apple 'innovations' for years now.

 

[Peterthumpa]

You mean compared to a Samsung phone. Samsung is know for it's laggy OS. Try other android phones like Pixel, HTC, LG.

The S7 was the fastest phone back in the day when I tested it, according to countless reviews. Touchwiz performance has been fixed for quite some time already, this shit is inherent to Android itself. Google itself acknowledged it with their "Project Butter" a few years ago, which made things better, but not that much.

Ask a Pixel user to use Chrome to browse an image-heavy site like say, The Verge, and try to compare with someone else doing the same thing using Safari and you'll see which one is smoother, in general.

 

[Spuck-uk]

... if that's the best they got, well.

Essential looks okay, kinda gives "look what I made after I read the iPhone leaks"

The essential was released before any hint of a leak from Apple, so if anyones cribbing design here, it's Apple, lol

 

[Kthulhu]

That camera indent is pretty irritating. While you'd probably get used to it for regular use, I imagine video apps and such just won't use the whole screen - in which case, what's the point? Just cut the screen there.

Video apps wouldn't take up the whole screen anyway if the video doesn't have an aspect ratio greater than 16:9

 

[diaspora]

TouchWiz isn't perfect but is largely irrelevant with the availability of the Launcher3 apk.

 

[plagiarize]

The S7 was the fastest phone back in the day when I tested it, according to countless reviews. Touchwiz performance has been fixed for quite some time already, it's inherent to Android itself.

Ask a Pixel user to browse an image-heavy site like say, The Verge, and try to compare with someone else doing the same thing using Safari and you'll see which one is smoother, in general.

Or stop using Chrome. Chrome seems terrible on android compared to other browsers oddly enough.

 

[AndersK]

The S8 is so pretty. I'm really happy with my One plus 5, but dang i was tempted.

I'd have to see the X IRL to make a final call, but the first pic in OP's post look kinda...chunky?

 

[Peterthumpa]

Or stop using Chrome. Chrome seems terrible on android compared to other browsers oddly enough.

Already tried Firefox, Opera, Dolphin, you name it. Same shit. Chrome is actually the fastest of the bunch.

Besides, I don't know how you guys defending Android can't see that what I'm arguing is a fact. Look, I own an Android phone, but when the competition is arguably faster with theoretically "slower" hardware, there's nothing else to be said, I guess.

 

[GuessWho]

I think in general, nobody is "Apple-ing" smartphones, and personal gadgets have become unexciting. We are deep into the realm of iterative improvements.

We know what phones do at this point: social media, cameras, video, reading websites, email, playing some dinky games. Phones have been good at these things for a long time, and these annual updates are just 2 or 3% improvements in the overall experience year after year. Smaller bezels aren't much more than a minor cosmetic and ergonomic improvement. Increased power doesn't really make a huge difference in using instagram or reading buzzfeed for anyone. A better screen doesn't dramatically improve watching a Casey Neistat video or reading an ebook.

The reality is that most people will be perfectly happy with their two or three year old phone, and if someone genuinely needs a new phone, they'll be just fine with one of the cheaper phones like the SE or the older Galaxy phones or OnePlus whatever.

Most of the new features are driven by marketing, are marginally useful, and don't really make dramatic changes to the way we use our phones day-to-day. There will be ultra-fans and power users that argue that new products are Extremely Exciting, or this feature is Extremely Cool, but the reality is that a "crappy" older phone will do everything you need it to do just fine. There are already 20 youtube videos discussing the importance of the iPhone X, or why the S8+ or Note is better, but none of it matters.

None of us actually need a new phone, and yet we focus so much of our attention on these products like they actually matter. Most people would be better off removing products from their lives, getting more sleep, and getting more exercise. Not obsessing over which smartphone they want to upgrade to this fall or which movie they're going to go see next or which game they're going to buy next week.

100% truth right here. Exactly how I feel.