Wrong about the 8+ (Crow tastes good)

[rushmore]

Ended up keeping my Verizon black 8+ Best Buy preorder since thought- try it out.

-Call quality is good
-Signal reception is better than the Note 7 (Note 7 was weak)
-Feel in hand even with case is good (slip magnet without)
-UI is good. See no big need for Nova, but wish the UI had landscape mode
-Camera is great and especially low light which can be iffy on some devices.
-Device start up is fast, even with a few hundred apps installed.
-Sound quality from 3.5mm jack is good
-Bluetooth and wifi seems reliable
-Display of course is great
-Battery life (for my use) is even better than the Note 7, which was good. Fantastic.
-The chipset is a huge increase from the 820/821 with less heat
-Best device yet for game emulators since along with the much better performance, the wider display gives more room for virtual buttons on sides.
-The performance tweak and display options are better than any previous device.

Side notes:

Bixby is a work in progress (that's being nice). I disabled it, so no more accidental button presses or swipes.

The "AKG" buds are decent and better than the usual free ones, but my mid line Klipsch and Sony buds seem better.

As mentioned, battery life so far seems fantastic. I can not tell the display difference between 1080p and 1440p, but 1440p appears to be around a 15% hit on battery life for my use.

Amazing device in spite of Bixby.

Update: Added line about camera.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I've disabled Bixby too. Mostly because I am not big into voice assistance for other than hands free driving type stuff. Otherwise a really good phone. Now that people have gotten their phones, I'm seeing less and less complaints about the FPS location. I think once they actually used it, they've since realized it's not as bad as it seemed. Most of the negative reviews of the FPS location is just regurgitating other reviews there were done prior to it being available with no real world usage stats to go on.

 

[Rumline]

Great summary, rushmore. I agree on all points. Glad you are liking the phone!

I agree the FPS placement isn't terrible, but in the center below the camera would be just that much better.

 

[ClintRo]

The FPS works great.... Location is still not ideal but workable. I don't use it much since I have the S2 with smart lock.

 

[anon(5630457)]

I'm using 1080p on my S8+ just for battery life purposes. I don't notice the difference between FHD and QHD, tbh.

 

[Almeuit]

I also kept mine 1080 default. Don't feel I need to crank it up.

 

[TylerLV76]

Disabling bixby through package disabler screwed up the edge lighting for me. Had to reenable bixby to get it working again.

 

[rushmore]

Samsung just wants to get on the same data mining playing field of Apple and Google, but trying to force it. Their approach with Bixby seems like tone def marketing.

 

[bhatech]

I also kept mine 1080 default. Don't feel I need to crank it up.

I'm using 1080p on my S8+ just for battery life purposes. I don't notice the difference between FHD and QHD, tbh.

I had mine at FHD initially but cranked up to QHD and honestly didn't see difference in my battery life. You should give it a try one or two days and see if it makes any difference.

 

[rushmore]

I had mine at FHD initially but cranked up to QHD and honestly didn't see difference in my battery life. You should give it a try one or two days and see if it makes any difference.

If you do not game much or use GPU heavy apps, it should not make much difference.

 

[bhatech]

If you do not game much or use GPU heavy apps, it should not make much difference.

Yep not much of gamer here

 

[SugarMouth]

Ended up keeping my Verizon black 8+ Best Buy preorder since thought- try it out.

Do you notice unintended touches or your palm selecting apps?

 

[Ecm]

Ended up keeping my Verizon black 8+ Best Buy preorder since thought- try it out.

Good summary. But, special kudos for admitting your first impression was off base! Very few people will admit to being wrong.

 

[Jazzamuffin]

I've disabled Bixby too. Mostly because I am not big into voice assistance for other than hands free driving type stuff. Otherwise a really good phone. Now that people have gotten their phones, I'm seeing less and less complaints about the FPS location. I think once they actually used it, they've since realized it's not as bad as it seemed. Most of the negative reviews of the FPS location is just regurgitating other reviews there were done prior to it being available with no real world usage stats to go on.

How do you disable it?

 

[burrzoo]

Disabling bixby through package disabler screwed up the edge lighting for me. Had to reenable bixby to get it working again.

Get the BxActions app in the Play Store. Developer is here on XDA. He just updated it so it once again works after the latest carrier software update plus enhanced it to be able to Remap the Bixby button.

 

[Almeuit]

Yep not much of gamer here ??????

I am .. but not on my phone. I have my PC for that ;D.

 

[rushmore]

Good summary. But, special kudos for admitting your first impression was off base! Very few people will admit to being wrong.

Even the FM radio works. Warmed the heart.

 

[rushmore]

How do you disable it?

Package Disabler. There are six items that need disabled. Five have Bixby as first word and one is Help Bixby.

 

[Jazzamuffin]

Get the BxActions app in the Play Store. Developer is here on XDA. He just updated it so it once again works after the latest carrier software update plus enhanced it to be able to Remap the Bixby button.

Awesome sauce

 

[Viscomi4444]

Damn I totally forgot about warmth. My note7 got hot quite a bit but I haven't even felt this get warm.

I do notice Samsung finally fixed their WiFi problem. The S7 edge, note7 has horrid wifi connection but the s8+ has the best wifi connection I've ever had on a phone by far.

As soon I received my phone, I switched the display to WQHD+. I knew it wouldn't take much of a hit on battery life from past experience on the note7. Try telling that to anyone on youtube and you'll start and argument.

I get over 8 hours screen on time.