TOP S8/S8+ FEATURES YOU MUST KNOW
1. Customize the Navigation Bar
The great advantage of the S8's Infinity Display is the fact that it has an on-screen navigation bar that can now be fully customized to better suit your individual tastes. This has the added benefit of helping newcomers to the Samsung ecosystem better adapt to their new phones when switching to an S8 from another Android device, which probably had different navigation layouts.
To try it out, swipe down while in the home screen to expand your notification tray. From there, tap on the cog-shaped icon to get to the main Settings menu, then select "Display," and choose "Navigation bar" on the following screen.
Next, tap on "Button layout," and from here, you can select either Back-Home-Recents or Recents-Home-Back, depending on which you're accustomed to. You can even toggle the home button's wake feature on or off to better suit your preference.
2. Adjust Screen Resolution
The Galaxy S8's QHD+ AMOLED panel is arguably the most advanced screen put on a smartphone to date, and it's nothing short of stunning. By default, the screen is set to a what seems like outdated 1080p, probably to help reduce power consumption.
The resolution is adjustable, though, so you can head over to the Display menu in Settings, then choose "Screen resolution" to tweak it and reveal the true potential of the S8's epic display. If you want the sharpest possible setting, go with the "WQHD+" option.
3. Make the Fingerprint Sensor Easier to Use
The S8 now comes with equipped with extra security features, most notably its iris scanner and facial recognition. Unfortunately, the most reliable sensor is still the tried and true fingerprint scanner, as the newer sensors aren't fully reliable as of yet. The iris scanner has been found to have trouble reading eyes in bright light, while the facial recognition feature has been shown to be fooled by photos. As of now, we highly recommend using the fingerprint sensor as a primary way to unlock your phone until Samsung irons the kinks out with the other options.
However, the fingerprint scanner's location has been a point of contention for many, as its placement off-center beside the rear camera lens has many people feeling like it's hard to use. What you might not realize, though, is that it isn't so bad if you take a couple of tips into consideration.
First off, be sure to save your index fingerprints at least twice to have it read more reliably, whether you're right- or left-handed. Lefties will have an easier time locating the sensor, as their index fingers will more naturally place on the sensor. For right-handed people, though, it can be a little more of a challenge.
If you're right-handed, we recommend saving the fingerprint on your middle finger in addition to the index, as we found that it aligns with the sensor better. Using your middle finger also carries less risk of smearing or blocking the camera. A simple but effective tip is to use your index to feel for the rear camera's perimeter and use your middle to jump over the camera to access the sensor. It takes a little getting used to but is a great way to access the fingerprint scanner once it becomes second nature.
4. Use the Screen Mask Feature for Quicker Iris Scanning
The one big drawback of having a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is it takes away the ability of merely placing a finger on the phone while its rested. The extra step of having to physically pick up the device in order to unlock it using fingerprints can get annoying very fast.
A solution for this is to use the S8's built in iris scanner as a secondary way to unlock your S8 when its stationary. We recommend taking advantage of the S8's screen mask that can be found Within Iris Scanner under Lock Screen And Security page in the phone's settings page. The goofy masks actually serves to help you align your eyes to the phone to enable you to unlock it much quicker, as it takes out the guessing game in aligning your eyes to the scanner.
5. Tweak the Built-in Equalizer
The Galaxy S8 now has built in equalizers that you can adjust to fine tune your audio experience. To access this nifty feature, head over to the "Sounds and vibration" menu from Settings. There are advanced and basic modes for adjusting the S8's equalizers, so pick the layout that best suits your experience level.
Once you've found this menu, it would be a good idea to start playing some music so you can hear the difference. When you've got that going, experiment with as many settings as possible to tailor the phone's audio output to your tastes. There are even presets that you can choose from to optimize audio quality, depending on what genre of music you're listening to.
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