There are some missing features of Galaxy S8 that may annoy you, although Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are surely one of the hottest flagship smartphones in 2017 based on specs and new features.
Actually, the sales number of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will surely beat all other Android phones. But this does not mean Galaxy S8 and S8+ are perfect or the best.
You may notice that some important features are missing in Galaxy S8 and S8+. These missing features of Galaxy S8 may be relevant to some users.
So, we hope this list of the top 8 missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+ can help you make the decision before pre-ordering the phone.
As a reaction to the failure of Galaxy Note 7 battery, Samsung is extremely careful with Galaxy S8 and S8+ battery.
They apparently did not push the design and engineering limit for a bigger battery for S8 and S8+. And if Galaxy S8 battery fails again, Samsung will probably be in the death spiral in smartphone market.
The result is the smaller battery.
It is so small that you should concern about the battery life, although Samsung claimed similar battery life as Galaxy S7.
As a comparison, the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 has a 3000mAh battery, whose capacity is identical to that of the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7.
And the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ has a 3500mAh battery, which is even smaller than that (3600mAh) in the 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 edge.
The new 10nm processor may help save some battery. But the screen, which is bigger now, usually is the major battery drainer. There are no new technologies in the Super AMOLED screen for battery saving.
So, not only heavy users, but also many moderate users, need to concern about the battery life of Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Samsung is usually good at industrial design and sometimes is a good follower (copycat?) in design .
But for Galaxy S8 and S8+, the location of fingerprint sensor is both strange and wrong.
The fingerprint sensor is so close to the rear camera that almost all owners will occasionally tap on the camera inadvertently as show in the layout of Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Placing fingerprint sensor in the back is not new. All other Android vendors did it correctly by placing it far from the camera sensor.
Of course, some reports indicated that the location of fingerprint sensor in Galaxy S8 and S8+ is the last-minute decision.
Samsung originally planned to place the fingerprint sensor under the touch screen as evidenced by the awkward and whizzy (but half-baked) home button. But it seems the technology was not ready and they have to find a location for fingerprint scanner without changing the design too much.
The question is that why Samsung does not have a plan B for such an important and basic feature.
Anyway, the inconvenient location of fingerprint sensor is one of the major design flaws of Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Samsung Bixby is Samsung’s artificial intelligence (AI) interface for Galaxy S8 and S8+ (and other Samsung phones).
As explained in new features of Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung Bixby mainly works locally on the phone and offers additional ways to interact with the phone.
So, it is a good compliment to Google Assistant, although further polishing is needed.
The problem is the dedicated button for Samsung Bixby. Many owners will press it inadvertently when they want to press other buttons.
A physical button for camera will be more useful.
To make it worse, Samsung replaced the un-welcomed briefing screen with Bixby home, which is in the leftmost panel of your home screen panels.
Bixby home is another rubbish feature that discredits Samsung Bixby. Many owners will try to disable it, although some may want to use Bixby.
You may follow this guide
to hide or remove Bixby Home from the home screen of Galaxy S8 and S8+.If you want to completely disable Bixby button in Galaxy S8 and S8+, please follow this guide.
We all know Gear VR, which is decent.
But Daydream VR,which is part of stock Android Nougat, does have its advantages. Especially, for owners or homes who also own some other Android phones, Daydream VR support matters.
Samsung also updated Gear VR with a remote control, which is similar to Google’s Daydream viewer.
Obviously, Galaxy S8 and S8+will never support Daydream VR. Samsung want to lock you in its own Galaxy land.
But do you want to be locked there?
One of the exciting Galaxy S8 accessories is Samsung DeX.
You can instantly transform your Galaxy S8 and S8+ into an Android PC.
The only problem is its price. Samsung asks for $150, with which you can get an entry-level Chromebook capable of running most Android Apps.
The manufacturing and hardware cost of the docker should be less than $25. So, Samsung believes its software innovation is valuable.
But do you want to fork another $150 for Samsung’s innovation?
If Samsung priced it less than $100, I guess many more Galaxy S8 or S8+ owners will try it.
Now, Samsung turned off most potential buyers with a premium price tag.
This reminds me about the failure of ASUS’s Padphone, which can turn the phone into a tablet instantly and you can seamlessly continue the work on the large screen. It is convenient and innovative.
But the problem is also pricing. ASUS also asked a price which is similar to their own tablet, for the docker. The result is that it hurt both the sales of the phone and the fate of the docker.
Anyway, Samsung DeX is an exciting Galaxy S8 accessory. But the $150 price tag for the docker can only be swallowed by Apple fans. Android fans are smart in spending money.
Samsung upgraded the front camera in Galaxy S8 and S8+ with 8MP sensor and auto focus. Selfiers should be exciting about the new front camera.
But for the main (rear) camera, Samsung put an almost identical camera sensor in Galaxy S8 and S8+ as in Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
Of course, there are some firmware improvements and some tweaks here and there. And the new processor can also help a lot. You may check Galaxy S8 camera guides here.
Essentially, it is still a Galaxy S7 camera, which is one of the best smartphone cameras in 2016.
But now it is 2017!
Samsung finally ditched the two capacitive buttons in Galaxy S8 and S8+ and joined the mainstream of Android with software buttons.
But Samsung apparently still wanted to keep home button.
As mentioned above, very likely, Samsung initially planned to embed fingerprint sensor under the touch screen. This area also functions as the home button.
But it seems the plan failed and we got a awkward and half-baked home button.
To make it even more confusing, Samsung added the Bixby hardware button, which can also be partially a home button. When you press it (not hold it), you will be go to Bixby home, which is next to the normal home screen. You can go to home screen with one more swipe.
Since Galaxy S6, Samsung always launch a flat screen version and a curved screen version of Galaxy S phones.
But Galaxy S8 changed this.
Both Galaxy S8 and S8 are using a curved screen. There is no flat screen version.
So, users who prefer a flat screen were totally eliminated from Galaxy S8 family.
It is a bad decision. Instead of bringing more users, Samsung now simply asks you to take it or leave it.
Edge screen is cool for some owners, but not all.
If you want to share your thoughts on missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+, or if you have any questions on missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+, please let us know in the comment box below.
You may also check our Galaxy S8 guides:
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#9 Night clock is gone.
As night clock is mutually exclusive to always-on display (AOD) in S7, so it is not strange Samsung remove night clock sooner or later.
Yes, some owners may prefer night clock and do not want to use AOD.
What is the point to have a bigger screen on which one you cannot have the night clock on the bigger edge? :)
I hope they will bring back a night clock.
So far, I was more happier with S7 edge, than with S8.
P.s. The battery are way better on S7 edge.
Night clock is renamed edge clock as an option in the AOD
It's still there. Check the AOD settings
Yes, it is in the AOD settings, but you can longer have it set to a schedule. For example, on the S7 Edge I could have the large AOD set during the day and schedule the edge display AOD at night. This was very useful as I use my phone as my alarm clock and set the phone on my night stand. Hopefully this gets added back.
Thank you for sharing this.
Does the article author understand the English language? Do they know that adding an entirely new feature (the bixby Button) CANNOT be considered a "Missing Feature"? I have no problem with #1, and #4, All others are NOT MISSING FEATURES.
#2 - The fingerprint sensor is not missing, having it in a weird location does not mean the feature is gone entirely, so it is NOT a MISSING feature.
#3 - Samsung created an entirely new feature, and you list it as a missing feature? You missed the ball here as Bixby DOES have a missing feature, in the Voice Assistant, but this is not what you covered, somehow you list a new feature as a missing one.
#5 - This is an overpriced feature, not a missing one. It IS missing on ALL OTHER PHONES.
#6 - The camera is not missing, it was simply not upgraded to your liking.
#7 - The home button functionality is present, and I am not even sure how it is awkward, as you do not clarify this point.
#8 - Also missing is the Heart shaped, or perfectly circle cell phone. The S8 is a new design, if you truly want the S8 in a non curved screen display, look into a thing called the S8 active. (Sure you can say this is missing as it has not released, YET, but is under development)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
For the meaning of missing (see reference in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English), there are at least 4 entries (not just #4).
1. something that is missing is not in its usual place, so that you cannot find it
2. if part of something is missing, it is no longer attached or has been destroyed.
3. someone who is missing has disappeared, and no one knows if they are alive or dead.
4. not present or not included in something
As indicated in entry #1, missing can simply mean "not present in its usual place so that you cannot find it". It does not necessarily mean "not present". It may be just present in unexpected place.
For your comments:
#2. We did not state fingerprint sensor was not present. We stated the sensor is in an "unusual location". If you get used to fingerprint sensor in the front, or in the back but far from camera, this is a missing feature.
#3. We stated clearly Bixby button is not necessary (arguable). Most people will think the button is home button or power button. The place is simply not for Bixby button (arguable) because we do not need it. If it is a camera button, more owners will use it.
#5. You missed the point again. Many Samsung device owners expect affordable accessories. The high price tag surely means a missing feature for those owners. Actually Samsung also lowered the price for DeX through many distributors.
#6. Again, you missed the point. Did we state camera missing? We stated clearly that it is a 2016 camera as in S7. For people who expect better camera than S7 or expect dual camera sensors, it means a missing feature.
#7. If you want to wake up the screen by home button as in old device, you will know how awkward it is. BTW, I am not a fan of the hardware home button. But many long-term Galaxy devices owners want to have one.
#8. You missed the point again. We are comparing S7 and S8. About 1/4 to 1/3 S7 sold is the flat screen version of S7, although S7 edge was heavily marketed by Samsung in almost all regions. In some cases, they even do not mention the flat-screen version when marketing S7 edge. The point is there are sizable users who are still prefer the flat-screen. But in S8, Samsung did not offer flat screen option. This is a surely "missing" feature.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I really miss the signature feature from the S5 Galaxy phone....I found it quite useful when sending text messages because it allowed the receiver of the text to know who sent the text message even if you weren't included in their list of Contacts....Please bring it back!!!!
The signature counts to 140 character limit. Longer messages will be split and sent as multiple messages. Of course, when you receive them, they are combined again. If your phone plan doesn't include many text messages, you may find the signature wastes a lot of your message quota.