We all know that the biggest gripe most people have with the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ is the awkward location of the fingerprint scanner. While I think the 3,000mAh battery on the regular S8 is a much bigger problem, that is not the point of this article. It seems that The Investor from South Korea actually has a decent explanation for the strange decision by Samsung.

The under-the-screen fingerprint scanner revealed by Synaptics a few months ago was apparently funded mainly by Samsung. They were supposed to be a part of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ but unfortunately, the technology just wasn't ready before the mass production of the Galaxy S8 series of smartphone began. As Samsung could not place the fingerprint scanner on the front anymore and the middle of the back wasn't an option because the design wouldn't permit it, they had two choices. The first was to exclude the fingerprint scanner altogether, and the second one is what we are seeing now, an awkwardly positioned fingerprint scanner right beside the camera. Additionally, this could also be the reason as to why the S8+ doesn't feature the initially expected rear dual camera module. The whole affair makes sense too. Samsung is a market pioneer and industry leader; to think that they would simply opt for a stupid location for the fingerprint scanner voluntarily is a silly concept in itself.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

For the first time ever, Samsung has removed its iconic physical Home button from the bottom of a smartphone manufactured by them, i.e. the Galaxy S8 (and the S8+). What does that mean for you as a user?

No Fingerprint Scanner in Front

The rather awkward position of the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the two S8 smartphones is a result of the physical Home button being replaced by the virtual on-screen one. While Samsung should have definitely placed the fingerprint scanner in the middle of the back, it would have been better if they simply opted for an under-the-screen ultrasonic scanner instead.

Less Screen Real Estate

For the first time ever, the display on the smartphones will have to sacrifice a bit of screen space at the bottom to make room for the on-screen buttons. Although, given the extra-long nature of the two displays, that shouldn't really be a problem.

Pressure Sensitivity

The Home button, capacitive as it maybe, is pressure sensitive by nature. What it means is that you can now touch it to feel a vibration or tactile feedback, not unlike what we are used to seeing on the latest iPhones. Also, a bit more pressure or "hard pressing" as Samsung calls it may bring up more options.

The move was made to make way for the near bezel-less design that Samsung is going for with the S8 and the S8+ and it seems like a good one, even though there might be a few problems here and there. Even the Samsung logo was moved to the back, which actually makes the infinity display look even better.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ showcase an arguable design choice when it comes to the location of the fingerprint scanner. If you are a lefty, reaching it will be tough on a regular basis and even if you are a righty, you may end up smudging the camera lens much more than you may like to. However, as it turns out, the facial recognition feature is blazing fast in unlocking the phone on both the devices. While this does make up somewhat for the oddly positioned fingerprint scanner, the feature isn't as secure as we would have liked it to be.

The lack of security in using the facial recognition system was made apparent by a Twitter video uploaded by MARCIANOTECH (@MARCIANOPHONE). It seems that the Galaxy S8 smartphones are not impossible to unlock even when the face is different and that's not good news for a feature that Samsung has been advertising as one of the main attractions for the Galaxy S8. It is possible that Samsung will be able to fix it by the time the handsets are ready to be shipped to their customers, or maybe they can just release a software update later to take care of it. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Via

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

There is just no other way to put it, the Galaxy S8 is an absolute disappointment when it comes to battery life. While everyone was expecting the S8 and S8+ to have bigger and better batteries, as it turns out, Samsung has put in similar sized batteries from last year's S7 and S7 Edge into the S7 and S8+. While the S7 Edge's 3,500mAh battery did not disappoint us, the S7's 3,000mAh battery did. Considering the fact that the S8 has to power the much bigger display and a few additional pixels with the same battery capacity, it was a recipe for disappointment to begin with.

If you were hoping that the new 10nm chips (SD 835 and Exynos 8895) will make the S8 last longer, you are about to be seriously disappointed. According to the stats published by SamMobile, the Galaxy S8 will have an even worse battery life than that of the Galaxy S7. Check out the comparison yourself to see what we are talking about here. If these stats disappointed you and are making you reconsider your decision to buy the regular S8, we wouldn't blame you. The only good news is that if you are willing to buy the much bigger Galaxy S8+, you will probably not be disappointed as it managed to provide battery performance similar to what we saw last year from the Galaxy S7 Edge.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

It wasn't long ago when seeing a "Microsoft Edition" logo stamped on a Android powered phone by Samsung wasn't really something you would expect. However, things have now changed and Microsoft is out of the mobile game as a manufacturer. That doesn't necessarily mean though that Microsoft and Samsung still can't partner up and that's exactly what has happened with the Galaxy S8's launch.

Microsoft retail stores in the US will be selling a Microsoft Edition of the S8 and S8+. According to the software giant, "A Microsoft customization is applied to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ Microsoft Edition when the devices are unboxed and connected to Wi-Fi." In addition to the Office tools already bundled into every regular device, this edition will also come with Cortana and Outlook.

If you are wondering what visual changes the Microsoft Edition Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be sporting, know that there will be none. It won't even cost you anything extra to pick it up. If you want, it is available for pre-order right now in America.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)