Galaxy S8....anyone get one?

[Arcadian]

Full disclosure, mine is on order, and I'm upgrading from a S4. (I don't mind the S4 but there are apps I need for work) However like everything else, I thought it would be cool to get first hand feedback from people.

 

[redwood66]

No but I just bought two new S7 Actives and an S7 Edge. If I had known that ATT was going to do the buy one get one on the S8 I would have waited. We just ported our numbers from Verizon to ATT because of the new unlimited data plans and a discount on our Directv bill we already have.

Did you get one? Do they have an SD card slot?

Oops it looks like you are asking about it. Sorry.

 

[redwood66]

I will tell you I love the S7 Edge coming from an old S5. My son has an S4 and this S7 Edge is light years faster so it seems the S8 would be even more so.

 

[Arcadian]

I haven't got mine yet but should be here Tuesday. I could have done with 2 but the Mr is a diehard apple head. My S4 can't take some of the stuff I need to do testing for, so its a necessary upgrade. And the S8 does have additional storage slot which takes an additional 256GB.... I got the Samsung 128GB Pro card because (which is all I could find). 64GB will not be enough space...lol and thats really quite sad!!

 

[asscherisme]

I am getting my daughter one for her high school graduation gift next month. She has no idea and is gong to be SO excited! I have never bought her a fancy phone or the latest phone. I have the S7 and I love it.

 

[Arcadian]

@assherisme, she may well enjoy it considering its one sexy phone! There's so much choice on the Android platform though. there's a great little company called OnePlus which makes some exceptional phones for a lot less, which gave me great pause. Their oneplus3 has amazing specs (seriously 16mp camera front and back, 6gb memory, dual sim, AND unlocked for under 500 dollars)....because even though I like and am used to samsungs...they really have some very nice hardware. alas, the evil empire got me again. Could still be a consideration as the reality is, I just need Nougat to program with.

 

[PierreBear]

I have the S7 Active version and have been happy with it! I feel like the odd duck around my friends as everyone has the iphone. Glad to know there are other android users out there. Though I'm pretty sure I don't use the phone to it's capacity. Hope you have fun with your new toy!

 

[redwood66]

@assherisme, she may well enjoy it considering its one sexy phone! There's so much choice on the Android platform though. there's a great little company called OnePlus which makes some exceptional phones for a lot less, which gave me great pause. Their oneplus3 has amazing specs (seriously 16mp camera front and back, 6gb memory, dual sim, AND unlocked for under 500 dollars)....because even though I like and am used to samsungs...they really have some very nice hardware. alas, the evil empire got me again. Could still be a consideration as the reality is, I just need Nougat to program with.

HA! No - Apple is the evil empire. I have a Macbook Pro and a ipad mini, hardly use them. Would never have an iphone. I like my Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablet too but it is old and slow. I wish I could justify getting a new one.

 

[Arcadian]

Well red, samsung isn't far behind.

They've done some not so nice things to the android base. Most recently the last update effectively killed the ability of remapping the bixby button. There's been a couple of work arounds though..yeah already!! But in the name of keeping people safe (so they say) they're doing really weird stuff. And, kinda negating what android is all about.

But basically if you're in the US they basically locked the phone so far down you can't root it without killing samsung pay. From what I understand right now, if you've got snapdragon, you're looked out of root, if you flash a rom you'll likely end up with a very pretty but expensive paperweight. Exynos versions of the phone easily rootable (some countries you can't lock a phone down that far) but those are international phones. Samsung pay from what I'm told isn't that big of a deal. Of course rooting also voids warranty. (but thats a little thing really).

I currently have a tab3 for testing. I bricked the last one... The next will have to take care to not do that

There's a lot of other things that are happening but I don't want to create a book...lol but interested technical folks should drop by xda-developers.com for info.

 

[redwood66]

I rooted my old Motorola but not for any kind of developer things. I live in a rural area with no viable internet connections except satellite. Up until last month I had been nursing 2 grandfathered unlimited data plans from Verizon since 2009 and up until three years ago I had to root to tether to my PCs in the house with PDAnet. Then Verizon "allowed" us to pay them $30 extra per line per month to tether unlimited. To get internet I have had all kinds of different variations from one of the first 3G USB modems plugged into a Cradlepoint router for wifi to the rooted Motorola to paying almost $400 a month to Verizon for our cell phones that provided wifi. In January I signed up for the Wireless Home Phone and Internet device at ATT because they had a deal where you could get 250GB per month for $60. It works great and when they came out with the Unlimited Plus plans I dumped Verizon and signed up everything at ATT which saves us about $150 month - now I have unlimited on the device also. I am so glad to have a stable option now after all these years and I got a home phone landline with the ATT device which I have not had in 8 years.

 

[CJ2008]

Does anybody understand how that buy one get one works? is it that you pay the full price for both phones in installments and then get credited $850 at the end?

I tried to read the Offer details but I'm not understanding. Did anybody do it that can say how it actually works?

DH and I are so weary of the "Next" plans.

 

[redwood66]

I signed up for the BOGO on my S7s and it is my understanding that you have to trade in an old device and then you will get credits each month for the monthly price of one of the phones. I am hoping to have this all worked out next month at least.

Excerpt:

Bill Credit: Applied in equal amounts to device on the new line over entire agmt term & will not exceed $750 for S8 or S8+ and will not exceed $595 for Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, and S7 Active.

 

[CJ2008]

thanks Red.

so is it kind of like this...

OK so say you trade in an S7
then you get 2 S8s
so do you pay for ONE of the S8s full price?
and then they then credit you back the amount that they ascribe to the S7?

Am I getting it?

 

[redwood66]

thanks Red.

so is it kind of like this...

OK so say you trade in an S7
then you get 2 S8s
so do you pay for ONE of the S8s full price?
and then they then credit you back the amount that they ascribe to the S7?

Am I getting it?

It seems like it will be the $25 (or however much) per month for one S8 (or full price if you pay outright) and then you get the $25 credit for the second S8 monthly until it is paid off with no interest accrued. I am not sure about your trade if it is not paid for in full already. My trade ins were old phones that were already paid off long ago. I took my Verizon S5s and sold them on Swappa because it was more $ to me than ATT would have given me for trade in.

 

[CJ2008]

Thanks again red.

I'm pretty sure DH bought his S7 outright or that he doesn't owe anything on it.

I had never heard of Swappa, I have to check that out. We have a few phones laying around here. I've had some luck selling on Craigslist but always good to have options.

 

[redwood66]

Thanks again red.

I'm pretty sure DH bought his S7 outright or that he doesn't owe anything on it.

I had never heard of Swappa, I have to check that out. We have a few phones laying around here. I've had some luck selling on Craigslist but always good to have options.

Ooh if you have a paid off S7 do not trade that in and use your other old phones as long as they qualify. I traded 2 S4 minis and a Droid Mini. You can get a pretty penny for the S7 on Swappa if it is in good shape. I guess it will depend on how much ATT will give you for the S7 as a trade.

 

[CJ2008]

Oh. I see. Good point. I'll let DH know.

Thank you

 

[Arcadian]

So, I got mine. Pretty gorgeous, but I'm having a small activation issue which will be cleared up if the email ever gets here...

So the cheapo case I got doesn't fit, which was a standin for the otterbox when it gets here, but no biggie. Just a reminder that all cases are not created equal. Otter box is scheduled to be here tomorrow.

I also got the VR experience stuff too. Have not tried it, so don't necessarily know what to expect

I will keep the S4 as a phone to use when I travel internationally. Its already unlocked so would only need to add whatever country's sim to it.

 

[redwood66]

Cool! It is a sexy phone. I might be a funny old lady but that VR stuff scares me a bit. LOL.