Galaxy S8+ review: The future of Android is now

Watch the video at go.pcworld.com/ss8plsvid

SAMSUNG HAS FINALLY beat Apple at its own game.

While the Galaxy S has been regarded for years as the best Android phone money can buy (at least until the Pixel, go.pcworld.com/pixelrev, came around), it’s always existed in the iPhone’s lengthy shadow. Even with a higher market share, a dominant OS, and a years-long lead on features like screen size and water resistance, the Galaxy S has stayed just out of reach of the iPhone zeitgeist. No matter how much it tried to create its own end-to-end experience, Apple fans saw it as a copycat and Android enthusiasts lamented its aggressive TouchWiz interface overhaul.

All that has changed with the Galaxy S8+ (go.pcworld.com/ss8pls). With a stunning design that absolutely needs to be seen and a harmonious integration between hardware and OS, the Galaxy S8+ is the first phone in a long while that truly changes the conversation and resets our expectations. It might be a touch hyperbolic to compare it to the original iPhone, but it’s hard to deny that the S8+ is a watershed moment for modern smartphones, despite the tragic and confounding placement of its fingerprint sensor. After years of barely-distinguishable rectangles jammed with features of dubious usefulness, Samsung has brought something entirely new to the table.

And when the iPhone 8 comes out in September, people might not look at it quite so admiringly.

Most of what you read here also applies to the smaller Galaxy S8, which we reviewed (go.pcworld.com/ss8rev).

The Galaxy S8, center, has a 6.2-inch screen, but is about the same size as the 5.7-inch HTC U Ultra (left) and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus (right).

Galaxy S8+

AT A GLANCE

With a gorgeous 6.2-inch display and a design that needs to be seen, the Galaxy S8+ truly changes the smartphone conversation.

PROS

• Amazing, brilliant, eye-popping display.

• An incredible design that makes a 6.2-inch screen feel like a 5.7-inch one.

• Camera offers nice refinements over the S7, especially for selfies.

CONS

• Fingerprint sensor is in a horrible location.

• Bixby isn’t very useful or compelling.

$850

No matter which color you pick, you’ll be getting a black front plate with the S8+.

Impossible dream

If I didn’t know better I would have though Samsung sent me the wrong phone. The S8+ doesn’t look or feel anywhere near as big as it is, with a screen that makes other phablets seem small by comparison, despite a much smaller frame.

Even after using it for several days, it’s still hard to believe that the S8+ has 6.2-inch display. At 159.5mm tall, it practically defies logic. Consider this: it’s smaller than the HTC U Ultra, and only a few millimeters taller than Galaxy S7 Edge, Pixel XL, and LG G6 but somehow adds a full half-inch of screen (and in the case of the Pixel and S7, nearly three-quarters