Are you somebody who wants to buy a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 at half the price of the original? Well, this is the perfect article for you.
We will discuss everything that needs to be addressed and help you make the right choice for yourself.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Overview
Samsung Galaxy S series is the best that Samsung has to offer. These phones are manufactured and priced like flagship products. As a result, Samsung fanboys get too excited whenever a new S series phone is launched by Samsung.
The S series of Samsung phones is said to be one of the most sought-after by the company. Phones in this series are usually ‘better’ in terms of features and hardware. As a result, the release of these phones is shrouded with hype and excitement.
The S8 series was received with equal love and hype. However, that was in 2017. Seven years have passed since then.
Therefore, things would be slightly different if you were planning on buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 product.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Lineup
The S8 series featured two distinct phones. These include the base variant of the S8 and the S8+. Both phones were terrific in their own respect. For the first time, Samsung decided to make some significant changes over its predecessor.
Several critics pointed out that the phones of the S8 series demonstrated some fantastic upgrades over the last generation.
Some of the most notable changes were a bigger screen, a taller aspect ratio, iris/face recognition., a virtual assistant called Bixby, a wireless charging docking station, etc.
All of these additions made these phones famous and one of the best sellers of their time.
Technicalities
The S8 duo was Samsung’s flagship duo for the year 2017. These phones were lauded for their performance, power, and finesse.
However, that has been a while. Therefore, if you are planning on buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8, you need our help.
This section and the following subsections will educate you about the different technical aspects of the duo. This should help you make the right choice and compare the phone effectively with the newer generation of S series phones.
But before we delve deeper, we need to clarify that age affects a lot of components and aspects of a phone. Hence, the figures we list here may not be 100% accurate.
With that note, let us dive right in and see what you must expect from a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8.
Design
Design is one of the most important aspects of any S series phone. Samsung understands the importance of a well-designed cellphone, and this can be seen in each generation of phones.
We do not know about you, but we at TND love a phone that is aesthetically pleasing. Thankfully, the designers of the S8 and S8 kept this requirement in mind and designed the phone to be one of the best-looking phones.
For the first time, samsung decided to remove the navigation bar. This radically changed the design language.
Thankfully, the experiment worked in Samsiung’s favor, and the phone was lauded as one of the best-looking phones in the industry.
Display
Both Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ feature a 1440p OLED display. This was the gold standard of display at the time of its release. The display came with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio that was prominent in most other phones of that generation.
Both phones featured a similar display array. However, the sizes of the display are different from each other. The S8 came with a 5.8-inch panel, while the S8+ features a 6.2-inch panel.
The overall display array is well structured and is known for its true-to-life color gamuts. Therefore, this phone comes with a well-designed display that is at par with the current standard.
Chipset
A chipset is the heart and mind of a cellphone. A phone without the right chipset is just futile. As a result, samsung adorned their prized eight-generation S series phones with some of the best and most prominent hardwares.
Samsung released their S8 phones with an octa-core Exynos 8895 System-On-Chip and 4 GB of RAM. However, the brand decided to release a different variant for the Asian market featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 instead.
Either way, both these chips are well-designed and can produce significant performance figures as per 2017 standards.
Unlike newer phones, the S8 series was only launched in a restrictive storage variant. This can become restrictive by today’s standards.
However, if you plan to increase the overall storage of your refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8, you can do so by adding a microSD card.
Camera
The camera has been one of the most critical aspects that play a huge role when it comes to marketing and selling the phone effectively. Unlike today, phones back then used to have a simplistic camera array that had limited features.
However, the S8 series was something different. The camera module of the S8 series was unique as it was much more potent than most other generic camera arrays. The 12-megapixel camera setup of the phone really makes it a great phone to take pictures.
The best part about the S8 camera is the professional mode. Therefore, you can easily take your all-new yet refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 to take professional photographs.
Batteries
To be honest, the discussion about batteries in refurbished phones is one of the most complex challenges out there. This is primarily because batteries are the fastest-depreciating assets. Several studies claim that batteries lose around 40% to 50% of their vitality in the first year of usage.
Hence, you need to understand that a phone manufactured somewhere around 2017 would not show a similar figure to a modern-day battery. Therefore, you must take every information provided here with a slight grain of salt.
The S8 duo comes with 3000 mAh and 3500 mAh batteries. As per Samsung, these batteries were designed to retain around 20% more charge than the others.
The battery setup was capable of fast charging but lacked the ability to charge itself or others wirelessly.
Storage
Storage is a seminal aspect to discuss when it comes to older phones. A phone with proper storage space is just useful. Thankfully, Samsung only added the best when it comes to optimal storage.
The S8 duo was released with a humble stats figure of 128 GB ROM and 6 GB RAM. This figure needs to be stronger for current standards. However, this storage opinion was quite beefy and hefty for a phone.
If you are planning on buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8, you need not worry about the restrictive storage option. In fact, you can quickly increase the storage option by adding micro SD cards to your phone.
Connectivity
Older phones act up from time to time when it comes to connectivity. However, expect your refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 to go with a decent connectivity array.
The phone is fitted with advanced Bluetooth and Wi-Fi systems. Therefore, expect quick responses while surfing the internet.
The duo comes with the advanced LTE network support. Therefore, your refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 will be able to handle 4G connectivity. However, you might face some issues when switching from 4G to 5G.
All in all, you will be sorted for a few years to come.
Software
Samsung Galaxy S8 was released back in 2017 and came with an Android 7.0 Nougat OS. This operating system was revolutionary and had the capability to push the S* duo to its beastly limits.
The OS was well-designed and offered users the option to choose and modify their interface. Apart from Nougat, the phone also featured software like Samsung Experience, AI assistance known as Bixby, and a more nuanced voice-to-text array.
The software is integrated with the phone’s hardware. As a result, you will be able to use the hardware slide to slide things with ease and comfort.
General Reception
This section might deal with something other than the phone’s direct technicalities. However, understanding the general reception is crucial for understanding how the phone was received and the problems that one might face while using a Samsung Galaxy S8.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 was a very well-received phone, and there were some significant changes from its previous generation.
For the first time, S8 series phones did not come with a dedicated navigation bar. This was a massive departure from the earlier design language.
Several critics claimed that the S8 phones were practically flawless. In fact, studies have shown that phones are considerably faster than most other phones, such as Google Pixel, LG G6, or even iPhone 7.
However, this was a different era. It has been seven years since the phone was released and at least five years since the production stopped. As a result, it is highly likely that you will need some major help with using the phone.
Common Refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 Problems
Buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 is infinitesimally more challenging than purchasing a first-hand phone.
This is primarily due to the fact that most refurbished phones are old, can come with their own problems, and cannot be easily fixed due to parts availability.
Hence, it is better to be prepared than sorry. As a result, this section is all about understanding the different problems that you might encounter while using a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8.
But before we delve deeper, I want to point out that it is not easy to anticipate the kind of problems you might be facing with your refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8. Therefore, you have to be patient.
- Facial Recognition: Samsung Galaxy S8 was one of the first phones to integrate biometric sensors into their devices. However, it is safe to say that these sensors act up from time to time. As a result, you might encounter false negatives as well as positives while using facial recognition software.
- Iris Recognition: Another major problem that you are bound to face is the Iris Recognition software. It is remarkable that the brand decided to include something so unique. However, it can be an unoptimized mess at times. Hence, you might face some issues while using this feature.
- Red Tint: Samsung S8 features an excellent display setup. It has the ability to play videos at 1440p with ease and without stuttering. However, some users noted that old or refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 tend to get a red tint on their display. This tint is usually due to a faulty display array or something hardware. Therefore, the only way that you can fix this issue is by taking the phone to a professional who can help you.
- DQA: DQA or Device Quality Agent was a revolutionary software whose primary aim was to monitor device health. This is an essential feature that was supposed to help users to understand the status of their devices. As a result, it has the ability to bypass commands. However, users claimed that as devices grow older, the application starts malfunctioning. This is a software issue and can be solved by resetting your phone.
- Software Update: This is a widespread problem that most users have pointed out. However, refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8 users claim that their device tends to become slower and unresponsive. In extreme cases, these problems can escalate and render your device frozen and useless. Therefore, the only way you can fix this issue is by hard resetting your phone.
The Closing Thought
In Summation, that is all there is to know about buying a refurbished Samsung S8. If you are someone who wants to buy older phones at half the price in order to save some cash or does not like the fast fashion mentality of brands, then buying a refurbished S8 is the right way to proceed. Keep following our page for more such content.
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