Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a rugged and durable version of the popular Galaxy S8 smartphone. Designed for those with an active lifestyle, this phone offers military-grade protection against drops, water, and dust. The shatterproof screen and reinforced body ensure that accidental bumps and falls won't result in a cracked display. With its 5.8-inch AMOLED display, powerful camera, and long-lasting battery life, the S8 Active delivers a premium experience. While it may be bulkier than the original S8, it's worth it for those seeking a phone that can withstand whatever life throws at it. The S8 Active is available exclusively through AT&T and comes at a slightly higher price point.

Design and Build Quality

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a rugged version of the standard Galaxy S8, designed to withstand the demands of an active lifestyle. Its design elements prioritize durability and robustness, making it a reliable companion for those who are prone to accidents or work in harsh environments. The phone features a reinforced metal frame and a hardened polycarbonate shell, providing excellent protection against bumps, drops, and scrapes. The construction of the S8 Active is solid, with a fit and finish that exudes quality. Despite its sturdiness, the phone still manages to maintain a sleek and premium look and feel. The back panel has a textured finish, offering a secure grip even in wet or slippery conditions. The S8 Active's form factor is slightly bulkier compared to the standard S8, but this is a necessary trade-off for its enhanced durability. The placement of buttons and controls is ergonomic, ensuring easy access and one-handed usability. The bezels around the display are minimal, maximizing screen real estate while maintaining a compact size. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active strikes a balance between ruggedness and style, providing a phone that can withstand the toughest conditions without sacrificing aesthetics or portability.

Display

The display of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is similar to the standard Galaxy S8, offering a stunning visual experience. It features a 5.8-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels, providing sharp and vibrant visuals. The aspect ratio of 18.5:9 offers a tall and immersive viewing experience, perfect for watching movies and playing games. The Super AMOLED technology ensures deep blacks, vivid colors, and excellent contrast levels. The color accuracy and vibrancy are top-notch, making images and videos look lifelike and vibrant. The brightness levels are impressive, allowing for easy readability even in direct sunlight. The outdoor visibility is excellent, thanks to the high brightness and anti-reflective coating on the screen. The touch responsiveness is smooth and accurate, ensuring a seamless user experience. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, providing durability against scratches and accidental drops. The pixel density is 568 pixels per inch, resulting in sharp and detailed visuals. The S8 Active supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) content, offering a wider color gamut and enhanced contrast. The viewing angles are wide, allowing for comfortable viewing from various positions. The S8 Active also features an always-on display, which shows useful information like the time and notifications without consuming much battery. Additionally, it offers a blue light filter and adaptive brightness for a more comfortable viewing experience. Overall, the display of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is impressive, providing an immersive and visually pleasing experience.

Performance

The performance of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is impressive, thanks to its powerful chipset and optimized system. The phone is equipped with a high-performance Snapdragon 835 processor, which delivers excellent CPU and GPU benchmarks. In gaming benchmarks, the S8 Active showcases its gaming capabilities, providing a smooth and lag-free gaming experience. The graphics scores of the device are impressive, allowing for stunning visuals and immersive gameplay.

The CPU benchmarks of the S8 Active indicate its strong processor performance, enabling seamless multitasking and fast app loading speeds. The phone ensures a smooth user experience with its efficient system optimization and thermal management.

In benchmark tests, the S8 Active excels in performance metrics, demonstrating its processor efficiency and GPU efficiency. Synthetic benchmarks showcase the phone's ability to handle demanding tasks with ease.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active delivers exceptional performance, making it a suitable choice for power users and gamers alike. Its chipset performance and gaming capabilities provide a top-notch experience, while its smooth user experience and lag-free performance enhance everyday usage. Whether it's multitasking, gaming, or app loading speeds, the S8 Active proves to be a reliable and high-performing device.

Software and User Interface

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active runs on the Android operating system, specifically Android 7.0 Nougat. This version of Android offers a smooth and user-friendly interface, allowing for easy navigation and customization options. Users can personalize their home screens, add widgets, and organize their apps to suit their preferences. The S8 Active also comes with Samsung's own user interface called TouchWiz, which adds some additional features and customization options.

In terms of pre-installed apps, the S8 Active does come with a few Samsung apps such as Samsung Health, Samsung Pay, and Bixby. While these apps can be useful for some users, they may be considered bloatware by others who prefer a more minimalist experience. However, it's worth noting that many of these apps can be uninstalled or disabled if they are not needed.

Overall, the software experience on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is smooth, intuitive, and customizable. The combination of Android Nougat and Samsung's TouchWiz interface provides a user-friendly experience that can be tailored to individual preferences. While there are some pre-installed apps that may not be essential for everyone, they can be easily managed. Whether you're a tech-savvy user looking to customize every aspect of your phone or a casual user who just wants a simple and intuitive interface, the software of the S8 Active offers something for everyone.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active boasts a high-quality camera that delivers impressive results in various shooting conditions. With a 12-megapixel rear camera, the S8 Active captures clear and detailed images. Its wide aperture and focal length allow for great depth of field and artistic bokeh effects in portrait mode. The camera also features optical image stabilization, ensuring sharpness and reducing motion blur in both photos and videos.

In daylight photography, the S8 Active excels at capturing natural colors with excellent dynamic range. Whether you're shooting landscapes or close-ups, the camera produces vibrant and true-to-life images. It performs well in indoor photography too, thanks to its low-light sensitivity and noise reduction capabilities. Even in challenging lighting conditions, the S8 Active maintains good image quality without excessive noise.

For night photography, the S8 Active offers a dedicated night mode, which enhances low-light performance and reduces noise further. This mode produces impressive results, allowing you to capture well-lit and detailed photos even in dimly lit environments.

In terms of camera features, the S8 Active includes HDR mode for capturing scenes with high contrast, panorama mode for sweeping landscape shots, and pro mode for manual control over settings like exposure and ISO. It also offers AI scene recognition, which automatically optimizes settings based on the subject or scene.

On the video front, the S8 Active supports 4K video recording, providing excellent clarity and detail. Video stabilization ensures smooth footage, even when recording on the move. Slow-motion video and time-lapse capabilities add creativity to your videos. The S8 Active supports various video formats, allowing for easy sharing and editing.

Overall, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active impresses with its image quality, versatility, and range of features, making it a great choice for capturing memorable moments in various shooting scenarios.

Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active boasts an impressive battery life that can easily last all day. With its large battery capacity, users can expect to enjoy a full 24 hours of usage before needing to recharge. The phone also comes equipped with fast charging technology, allowing for quick and convenient recharging when needed. Additionally, the S8 Active supports wireless charging, providing an alternative and hassle-free way to replenish its battery. Battery performance on this device is optimized to ensure power efficiency, making the most out of every charge. Users can also take advantage of battery optimization features to further extend battery life. With its reliable battery backup and capacity, the S8 Active ensures that users can confidently use their device without worrying about running out of power. Overall, the battery of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active offers great endurance and longevity, making it a reliable companion for all-day use.

Connectivity and Networking

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active offers a wide range of connectivity options to keep you connected wherever you go. It supports 4G LTE network compatibility, allowing for fast data speeds and seamless browsing. The phone also supports Wi-Fi standards, including 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, ensuring a stable and speedy internet connection when connected to a Wi-Fi network. Bluetooth version 5.0 is included, enabling you to connect wirelessly to other devices such as headphones, speakers, or smartwatches. NFC (Near Field Communication) is also available, allowing for quick and easy pairing with compatible devices or making mobile payments. The S8 Active features a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, providing a convenient and fast connection. It also supports wireless charging, eliminating the hassle of dealing with cables. The phone has a built-in GPS for accurate navigation and location tracking. Additionally, the S8 Active supports dual SIM functionality, allowing you to use two SIM cards simultaneously for added convenience. It also has a mobile hotspot feature, enabling you to share your phone's internet connection with other devices. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active offers a comprehensive range of connectivity options to enhance your mobile experience.

Additional Features

Comparison with Other Related Phones

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a rugged version of the popular Galaxy S8 smartphone, designed to withstand the rigors of an active lifestyle. When comparing it to related devices in the market, such as the iPhone 8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL, the S8 Active stands out for its durability and long-lasting battery life.

In terms of market positioning, the S8 Active competes directly with other rugged smartphones like the Cat S61 and the Kyocera DuraForce Pro 2. However, it also offers features and specifications that rival flagship devices like the iPhone 8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL.

When it comes to features, the S8 Active boasts an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, making it a great choice for outdoor enthusiasts. It also has a shatterproof screen, which sets it apart from other smartphones in the market. In comparison, the iPhone 8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL are not as rugged and lack the same level of durability.

In terms of performance, the S8 Active is equipped with a top-of-the-line processor and modem, ensuring fast and smooth operation. It also has a long-lasting battery, lasting up to 24 hours in tests, which is significantly better than the iPhone 8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL.

In terms of pricing, the S8 Active is priced at a premium compared to other rugged smartphones, but it offers a high level of durability and performance, making it a good value for money. When comparing it to flagship devices like the iPhone 8 Plus and the Google Pixel 2 XL, the S8 Active is competitively priced.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a unique offering in the market, combining the features and specifications of a flagship smartphone with the ruggedness and durability of a rugged device. Its long-lasting battery life and shatterproof screen make it a standout choice for those who lead an active lifestyle.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is a rugged and durable version of the popular Galaxy S8. With its military-grade protection, including a shatterproof screen and water resistance, this phone is built to withstand the elements and accidental drops. The long-lasting battery life and top-notch camera performance make it a reliable companion for those on the go. However, the bulkier design and higher price tag may not appeal to everyone. If you prioritize durability and need a phone that can survive in tough conditions, the Galaxy S8 Active is a solid choice.