X
Tech

DisplayMate analysis: Samsung Galaxy S8 earns first ever A+ grade as best performing smartphone display

Samsung has been setting the bar for smartphone displays for years and the new Galaxy S8 once again shows that Samsung is focused on making your screen experience the best ever.
Written by Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
samsung-galaxy-s8-gear-vr-gear-360-dex-bixby-17.jpg

There is no dispute that Samsung makes a fantastic smartphone display, with recent reports stating even Apple ordered 70 million for its next iPhone. Once again, Dr. Raymond Soneira spents several weeks with the latest Samsung flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S8, and posted his Galaxy S8 display shoot out.

I seem to be a broken record here by writing every six months that the latest Samsung flagship has the best display on a smartphone and once again Samsung raises the bar. The Galaxy S8 has a new aspect ratio, a larger display, flexible OLED with a Gorilla Glass 5 panel on top, multiple screen modes, and highest brightness in ambient light of over 1,000 nits.

One aspect of display technologies that drives me crazy on LG phones is the flawed auto-brightness settings. Dr. Soneira recommended that smartphone manufacturers consider front and rear ambient light sensors and following the Note 7, the Galaxy S8 is the next phone to add this functionality to ensure the best user experience.

The Galaxy S8 is the first Smartphone to be certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium, but the LG G6 also is certfied with HDR10 via Dolby Vision. You can stream and enjoy HDR content from services like Netflix and Amazon, with more HDR content likely coming soon.

Dr. Soneira states, "What is particularly significant and impressive is that Samsung has been systematically improving OLED display performance with every Galaxy generation since 2010, when we started tracking OLED displays." It's clear that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus have fantastic displays and with dual curved edges the phones look great in advertisements and in person.

Samsung seems destined to break records in display technology with each major flagship release. This year we see Samsung set the following records:

  • Highest Peak Brightness (1,020 nits).
  • Highest Contrast Rating in Ambient Light (227).
  • Highest Screen Resolution 3K (2960x1440).
  • Highest (infinite) Contrast Ratio.
  • Lowest Screen Reflectance (4.5 percent).
  • Smallest Brightness Variation with Viewing Angle (29 percent).

Make sure to read through the entire article to view all of the details of the advanced testing conducted by DisplayMate.

Samsung's latest smartphone and accessories, in pictures

Editorial standards