Here's Why You Should Stick With Your Samsung Galaxy S7 When The S8 Arrives

Well, we have some good news for you: you can offically pre-order the phone on Samsung Malaysia's website starting from midnight Tuesday, 11 April.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 goes for RM3,299 while its older brother, the S8+, will go for RM3,699.

Not only that, as a part of their special promotion, early birds will get a complimentary bundled package worth over RM900.

While it sounds like a pretty good deal, don't go racing in with your credit card in hand just yet.

Don't get us wrong, the Galaxy S8 is a stunning phone (we listed down the reasons why you should get it here), but after giving it a more thorough examination, we found that there are definitely reasons to stay on your current phone, particularly if your current phone is a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge.

1. The Infinity Display may be better, but not on paper

Of course, the biggest selling point of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is its gorgeous Infinity Display. Not only does it look good, but it’s also larger, at 5.8”/6.2” versus the S7’s 5.1”/5.5” options.

However, the resolution is unchanged at 2560 X 1440. On paper, the S8 has also got a slightly smaller ‘pixel per inch’ count. It’s between 5-7 PPI down depending on the model. Of course, a small number like this will not be detectable to the naked eye, but at least you can rest assured that you’re not getting a sharper screen with the S8. Plus, the S8’s odd 18.5:9 aspect ratio might make some content appear with black bars on the sides or tops.

2. One step back in terms of battery capacity

After what happened with the Note 7, Samsung has been really careful when it comes to pushing battery capacities. As a result, the S8’s battery is actually very conservative in this regard. The standard S8 comes with the same 3,000mAh battery as the S7 that it replaces. The S8+, on the other hand goes for a smaller battery capacity versus the S7 Edge. So if you’re getting the S8+, you’re actually going from a 3,600mAh battery to a 3,500mAh. There may be efficiency advantages brought on by the new processor and software, but hey, a bigger battery is a bigger battery.

3. Is that the same old camera we see?

Samsung says that the image processing in the new S8 has been improved, but the S7 is already considered a top performer in this category. So don’t expect to see a huge improvement for anything but the front facing camera. That’s because the main camera is still the same 12MP unit you find in the S7. Zero changes to hardware here.

4. Memories are priceless, but RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY is pricey

So, the S7 came with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Want to guess what we’re getting in the S8? Brace yourselves. It comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM - which is exactly the same as the S7. While you're paying a little bit more for the S8, you’re not actually paying for more RAM. Don’t get us wrong, 4GB of RAM is PLENTY for a modern smartphone. But that’s the thing, it’s plenty, so why upgrade from the S7? Save it for the S9 or S12.

5. No more 128GB internal storage option

Apple recently gave the iPhone 7 up to 256GB of internal storage. While this is possible with a microSD card expansion on the S7 and S8 phones, the S8 will only be sold with 64GB of internal storage. In some markets, the S7 came with 128GB. So if you went for that option, maybe hold on to it for a while. Because if you're someone who likes to take tonnes of videos and photos or download songs onto your phone for offline playing, 64GB of internal memory might not be enough.

We’re all for progress, but the USB Type-C cable is just not as universally available as micro-USB. So while S8 owners will be enjoying the higher data throughput and reversible head of the new USB standard, let’s see how smug they are when they need to charge up at a friend’s house (unless, of course, their friends also happen to own a S8).

Image: The Inquistr

7. Are you prepared to put data on your face and eyes into a device?