2-Wk vacation with S8 and iPhone X

[tuscanybay]

Just came back from vacation carrying two phones, one with my usual sim to receive work calls, and another to house a foreign sim for cheaper local LTE packages.

First my rant.

The finger print reader is REALLY TERRIBLE on the S8, especially when my finger tips are dry in Winter weather. It simply does not work. It is so bad that I couldn't even re-register new finger prints. Face recognition was better but don't work in dark lighting.

My iPhone was 100% reliable in unlocking with face ID even in pitch dark. Likewise, I was able to unlock my iPad mini with touch ID after leaving it unused for weeks.

The S8 print reader was not just bad, it was just completely unuseable!! So much worse than the one in my previous S7.

Shame on Samsung for putting in such poor quality part in the supposingly improved S8.

Now my praise.

There were lots of chances for photos, and the picture quality was definitely better with the S8, even the iPhone X cost twice as much (dual lens, portrait mode, blah, blah...). The S8 really excels in low light conditions, such as night time shots and fireworks photos.

In the past, I hated having to manage photos taken with two phones when sharing them with family during the trip. But Google photos, installed on both mine and all my family's iPhones, made it really easy this time. Once shared, they don't even notice which phones the photos were taken with. The best part? Unlimited cloud storage with Google, and the shared photos don't take up any cloud quotas on my family's phones. Even for videos too!

A big thumbs up for Samsung and Google.

Another big convenience with my S8 was the hotspot (LTE sharing) is constantly on. Every family members' iPhones could connect and disconnect as they pleased. On the other hand, hotspot on the iPhone will turn off automatically when no one is connected. Good for saving power but it's inconvenient to re-activate repeatedly.

Bottomline is, both Apple and Samsung need to work harder to improve their phones. If their competitors could do it, so could they.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

The location of the FPS on the S8 is not ideal for most people, but otherwise it's a good FPS in my experience. I've had experience with 4 different S8+ devices and never had the problem of it being terrible. It's instant and works every time, whether my fingers are dry or not. Now, if they're wet, that's a different story. You likely have a defective unit and I would probably see about having it switched it. Sounds like great feedback for manufacturers to look at though.

 

[mary beth hale]

I have no problem with FPS placement but completely understand what tuscanybay is referring to re: dryness. When my fingertips get chapped and sand-papery from cold and furnace heating, the FPS recognition/reliability degrades considerably.