Samsung’s Galaxy S8 will soon celebrate its first birthday and what a year it has been for this flagship phone.
Launched in April 2017, the S8 is one of Samsung’s most successful smartphones and it continues to lead the field with a number of innovations.
So, with the device now almost a year old should you still consider buying one?
Here’s three reasons it should be top of your list and one big reason why you might regret taking delivery of this device.
THREE REASONS TO BUY ONE
IT’S AN AWARD WINNER
The Galaxy S8 picked up every tech gong last year and was universally regarded as the best smartphone of 2017.
It’s no surprise the S8 did so well last year with it featuring a truly stunning design that no other tech company has been able to replicate.
Its dual curved AMOLED display sweeps gracefully around both sides of the phone with this screen offering one of the best experiences on the market.
A fast processor, decent camera and good battery life all add to its appeal plus there’s the usual wireless charging and water resistant design.
There’s a lot to like about the S8 and very little that’s wrong with Samsung’s current flagship with our only real criticism coming in the shape of the odd placement of the fingerprint scanner.
ITS PRICE HAS PLUMMETED
If you’d rushed out to buy the S8 when it launched you would have faced a SIM-only price of £679 and contracts starting from around £40 per month.
Now that the phone is almost a year old prices have tumbled meaning there’s plenty of bargains to be grabbed on this flagship.
Amazon is selling the S8 for a ludicrously low £503.50 and even Samsung has recently reduced the price by £50.
Contract prices have also taken a tumble and it’s now possible to pick up the S8 for as little as £23 per month.
Here’s one S8 deal at this low price: Galaxy S8 with 4GB of data plus unlimited calls/texts • £23 per month plus a £199.99 upfront fee.
IT STILL HAS A HEADPHONE PORT
Unlike many flagship devices, Samsung has kept the headphone port on the base of the S8.
It may sound like a small feature but there’s a huge amount of users who have been upset by the decision by firms such as Apple, HTC and Google who have rid their devices of this useful socket.
If you’ve splashed out on an expensive pair of headphones using adapters to plug them into your smartphone can be hugely frustrating.
And this might just give the S8 the edge over devices such as the iPhone or Pixel 2.
ONE REASON WHY BUYING AN S8 IS A BAD IDEA
There’s one very big reason not to buy an S8 and it’s all down to some recent news from Samsung.
The Korean technology firm has just revealed that its next generation Galaxy S9 will launch in matter of weeks.
The S9 is expected to bring a host of improvements to its predecessor including a much faster processor, improved camera and new design which will see the fingerprint scanner moved to the middle of the phone and away from the camera lens.
The S9 is also expected to have a much longer battery life and offer the ability to get 50 per cent charge in just 15 minutes.
And, if you fancy the S9+ there’s even more reasons to avoid the S8 as this larger phone looks set to feature a dual-lens camera which will be able to add DSLR-style depth field effects to your photos.
The S8 is always going to be a great phone but don’t forget, if you buy it now it will superseded in less than a month by the Galaxy S9 – a device that looks set to make the world’s best phone even better.
The Galaxy S9 will be unveiled on February 25 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and express.co.uk will be in Spain to bring you all the latest news.