Samsung Galaxy S7 vs S8 – is it worth upgrading?

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ undoubtedly look stunning and are definitely one of the fastest smartphones out there. After the Note 7 fiasco, the Galaxy S8s were the most anticipated upgrade from Samsung. With thousands of Samsung fans willing to throw in their money for the latest offerings, you should know best before taking the plunge too.

The positive side:

The Galaxy S8s are undoubtedly the best in design and Samsung has done a marvellous job on the entire looks — starting from the Galaxy S6 Edge. With the S8 now almost bezel-less, the display almost seems to wrap around the device from the sides. The large displays on the two devices still manage to retain the entire phone’s size to normalcy. The phones don’t seem too large at all. Samsung has managed to squeeze in a 2K panel within a 5.8 and 6.2-inch panel and the entire phone (6.2-incher) is just a tad larger than the larger iPhone that stands at just 5.5 inches.

The S8s run on a beastly Snapdragon 835 SoC — the fastest mobile processors out there. Clubbed with 4GB of RAM and an Adreno chipset, the devices can perform at its best against any other flagships out there.

With a waterproof body, marvellous design, a powerful hardware, a 2K HDR Super AMOLED display and one of the best cameras onboard, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is definitely worthy of every penny you spend on it.

The downer:

Yes, we do say it is worth every penny you spend on it, but it is still extraordinarily expensive to consider a tiny electronic personal device for the price point of $750 and above. Again, we may mention that the price is justified, but are you ready for the cost of repairs? Cracking the display could set you back almost half the price of the device itself. The almost all-screen body can’t afford to handle drops. So if you are clumsy on that front, we would advise you to think twice about your investments.  

The confusion in between: The Galaxy S8 is not only about hardware. It is the software that is packed within that also makes up for its cost. Bixby, the Korean tech giant’s own artificial intelligence (AI) that hopes to contend rivals Siri and Google Assistant, is something that needs testing at this phase. Siri and Assistant have presently proven themselves. But simply opting for the S8 for Bixby is no reason for the price you will pay. And since the S8 does run on Android 7.1, Google’s Assistant will be there either ways and will reside side by side on your S8. If you already own an S7, you already have Assistant on it, which could be no reason for an upgrade if you are looking at Bixby.

Your existing Samsung Galaxy S7 is still good enough to survive another two years (since we assume you are already hooked on to an S7 and are considering upgrading to the S8). The Galaxy S7 still stands as a contender to the iPhone and Pixel and still runs a powerful enough hardware with almost a similar design as of the S8. It still features a similar 2K AMOLED display and a superior camera to keep you satisfied.

To give you a brief inside look at the difference between the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S8 models in terms of specifications, check out the table below.

So let’s get the differences:

What you will get is definitely a superior phone over the older model. While some things stay almost similar — battery, display, camera, RAM, storage, storage expansion, Operating system, Network connectivity, IP68 rating, payment options, and a few more. However, what you are in for sure is a future-proof phone (at least for next two years), a superior biometrics with face recognition, a faster processor, a superior display panel, a new AI, a tad larger display and yes, a brand new design. So taking the above details into consideration, you should be able to judge by yourself if the S8 is worth the upgrade for you. If you own a Galaxy S6 or any other two-year-old device, then it makes sense if you are thinking of the switch.

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