The Galaxy S8 Plus is an ergonomic marvel
The Galaxy S8 Plus is an ergonomic marvel
A screen this big has never been this easy to use
by Vlad Savov@vladsavov
Apr 19, 2017, 9:17am EDT
One of the hardest questions to answer, once you’ve
decided to buy one of Samsung’s awesome new Galaxy S8 phones, is whether to go
for the regular 5.8-inch variety or the Plus-sized 6.2-inch model. If I had to
make that decision before seeing and using both phones, I’d have said the
regular S8 is as much smartphone as anyone needs, offering great one-handed use
and a price that’s at least $100 less dear. But I’ve just wrapped up a busy week
with the Galaxy S8 Plus, and I’m no longer sure about that. This handset, in
spite of its vast screen, is one of the nicest and most comfortable phones I’ve
reviewed in recent times.
Other than its larger size and battery, the S8 Plus has
the same design as the regular Galaxy S8. With the additional branding, that
might lead you to think that Samsung designed the smaller phone first and then
scaled it up — a la Apple and its iPhone Plus variants — but I get the feeling
that the S8 Plus was the original vision that Samsung was aiming for. This
company is famous for pushing phones to ever bigger sizes, and I just find the
ergonomics of the S8 Plus to be too good to have been a happy accident.
The 6.2-inch diagonal measurement of the S8 Plus is a
little beguiling, as the phone’s elongated shape breaks our usual method for
comparing screen sizes across brands and models. But, suffice it to say, the
display is large by anyone’s standards. And large displays have always required
two hands for safety, except now, apparently, they don’t. I’ve used the Galaxy
S8 Plus just as I would a Google Pixel, a OnePlus 3T, or a Galaxy S7 Edge:
one-handed. Yes, reaching the top of the S8 Plus to pull down the notification
shade requires a readjustment of my grip, but the phone’s sides are so nicely
contoured that I do that switch unconsciously and with little effort.
Samsung has placed the S8 Plus’ power button at the
perfect height for my thumb to naturally rest on top of it. The company’s Bixby
button, sitting opposite but a little lower, is less convenient for me to reach
in spite of the difference being only small. I don’t mind this, since I doubt
Bixby will ever prove useful to me within this phone’s lifespan, but that small
distinction is notable for how well it illustrates the small margin for error
when designing a phone’s ergonomics. On the left, my thumb sits idle between
the volume rocker and Bixby, whereas on the right it’s positioned ideally to
unlock the phone or launch the camera. Given the distinct averageness of my
hands, I’d describe this as a winning design for the majority of potential
users. And that’s still very rare for any phone with a large screen.
GOOD DESIGN AND ADVANCED SCREEN TECHNOLOGY LEAD TO A
BEAUTIFUL DEFIANCE OF USUAL EXPECTATIONS
Those of us who survived using the Galaxy Note 7 before
its recall fiasco last year might have seen this coming. The Note 7 introduced
the symmetry between front and back — all the edges of the glass on the front
curve backward to meet a mirrored curve from the rear glass — that the Galaxy
S8 devices now carry as their signature look. It made for an absolutely
delightful design with the Note 7, which was a pleasure (and a little bit of a
luxury) to just hold and play around with, and it’s at the heart of the S8’s
appeal. Provided Samsung has put the Note 7’s battery woes behind it, the S8
and S8 Plus design is undoubtedly the pinnacle of this company’s hardware
engineering to date. It completely rectifies the ergonomic headache of 2016’s
Galaxy S7 Edge, which also looked gorgeous, but had edges that invited
accidental touches from a user’s gripping hand. Both S8s have the proper palm
rejection, and though they look slick and shiny, neither is slippery or easy to
drop.
The one major shortcoming of the Galaxy S8 Plus happens
to be shared with its smaller sibling: both have the appallingly misplaced
fingerprint sensor on the back, sitting just to the side of the camera. Trying
to use that thing as your everyday unlocking mechanism is a nightmarish
proposition on both phones, which I’m willing to forgive only because of the
excellent iris scanner that Samsung provides as an alternative.
I can’t tell you that the Galaxy S8 Plus is ergonomically
better than the smaller Galaxy S8. Putting the two side by side, you’ll
probably conclude that the smaller phone is easier to handle. But that’s to be
expected. My point here is that, for its size, the S8 Plus is more impressive
and defies more expectations than its regular counterpart. Google’s Pixel XL,
Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, Huawei’s Mate 9, and even Xiaomi’s Mi Mix — which also
has a bezel-starved display — all feel like oversized bricks compared to the S8
Plus. Hell, even the smaller Google Pixel is made to look like an unrefined
slab of whatever compared to Samsung’s distilled, palm-friendly design (though
I still favor the Pixel for its superior camera).
The choice between S8 models should come down to how much
you value having a larger screen and a longer-lasting battery. If it’s more
than the price premium Samsung or your local carrier charges, go ahead and
supersize your next phone. The traditional downgrade of ergonomics as you move
up in size class just isn’t apparent with the Galaxy S8 Plus.
Comments
Post a Comment