iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8
The iPhone 8, unveiled in September 2017, is the 4.7in edition of Apple’s newest smartphone generation, and while it lacks the more drastic design changes of the soon-to-launch iPhone X it boasts a range of new features and spec upgrades. The Samsung Galaxy S8, meanwhile, came out in March 2017 and has been one of the dominant Android handsets on the market ever since.
We decided to put the 8 and the S8 head-to-head, and help you decide which offers the best combination of design, features, tech specs and value for money. If we are able to help you reach a decision, we’ve got articles rounding up the best iPhone 8 deals and the best Samsung Galaxy S8 deals.
Design
Whenever we discuss the iPhone 8’s design, we find ourselves talking about the past. This is because it is, essentially, a backward-looking design, one that is in many ways unchanged from the iPhone 6 launched in 2014.
Changes have been gradually added over those years, such as the Home button switching from a moving to a solid-state component in 2016, and the new glass back this year. But it’s all moved at a rather glacial rate.
The S8 is another matter altogether. Our colleagues on TechAdvisor said it “makes its predecessor [the Galaxy S7], and other phones, look dated”. It has minimal bezels, with a screen-to-body ratio of more than 93 percent and a pressure-sensitive Home button built into the screen.
The 8 is smaller than the S8, although the S8 has a significantly bigger screen (5.8in to the iPhone’s 4.7in) so this is to be expected. Samsung’s phone is about 10mm longer, 1mm wider and 0.7mm thicker. The iPhone is also 7g lighter – hardly noticeable.
(Note that the iPhone 8 is very slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor the iPhone 7, so if that’s your priority you might like to consider saving some money and getting last year’s model.)
- iPhone 8: 138.4mm x 67.3mm 7.3mm; 148g
- Samsung Galaxy S8: 148.9mm x 68.1mm x 8.0mm; 155g
Headphone port
Note that the iPhone 8, like the 7-generation headsets last year, hasn’t got a headphone port. On the plus side, it comes with a pair of Lightning headphones and an adaptor so you can use older headphones with it. The S8, on the other hand, does have a headphone port.
iPhone 8 in pictures
Here are some pictures of the two phone so you can make up your own mind about their aesthetic qualities.
Samsung Galaxy S8 in pictures
So although the rumour mill got virtually every other detail correct, as we’ve now become used to, there was at least one surprise when Apple took the wraps off during September; the lead model was, in fact, the iPhone X
Most of this year, actually well into last year too, we’ve been hearing and writing of Apple’s 10th anniversary edition iPhone; for the vast majority of that timeframe it was rumoured as the iPhone 8. Although there were one or two little snippets that hinted at the actual name it launched with, the overarching narrative – time and again – was that it would be the iPhone 8.
The iPhone 8 was also released, however, but instead this is the name of what was rumoured as the iPhone 7s (and iPhone 7s Plus – which is the iPhone 8 Plus), an iterative update on last year’s iPhone 7 series which, for the first time in our memory, has dropped the “S” moniker to round things off nicely.
Following on from the hype for that long period of leaks and rumours, analysts are positively frothing at the mouth about Apple’s incoming iPhone X, which represents the first, ground-up redesign of the phone since 2014’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Essentially, Apple is doing a Pro version of its iPhone, just as it has done inside its iPad lineup. This Pro model, the iPhone X, will feature more advanced technology and cost a lot more.
The iPhone X was the main event at Apple’s launch on September 12, as it is the first redesigned iPhone since 2014’s iPhone 6. The iPhone X features a brand new design, OLED display, improved imaging, and, importantly, no TouchID.
The iPhone X will use facial recognition to unlock and pay for items. Apple wanted to add TouchID to the display, but apparently, this was not possible, so the feature has been nixed completely.
That decision might be costing Apple in unforseen ways, however, as the rumoured supply shortages due to components appears to now be a reality. According to the WSJ, Apple’s Face ID camera tech requires two core components which work together, and one of these components is only being produced in the tens of thousands per day at its Asian manufacturing centres.
