Category: Samsung Galaxy S8

After halting the rollout last week due to some boot looping issues, Samsung has re-released the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8.  The new build is version G950FXXU1CRB7 for the S8 and the S8+ is getting build G955XXU1CRB7.  Both builds are just over 500MB in size and it is currently rolling out in Europe.

The South Korean company ended up stopping the update rollout last week due to some users reporting that their phones were boot looping or randomly rebooting.  The company quickly reworked the build which early reports suggest that the issues have been resolved.

In an unexpected move, it looks like Samsung has pulled their Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup.  The update to the latest version of Android began rolling out to beta testers in Europe last week but according to SamMobile, the build has been pulled from Samsung’s update servers.

The news likely means that a show stopping bug or other install issues was discovered after the limited rollout began, forcing the South Korean company to halt the updates to prepare a new build to address the issue.

For readers who have their Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus in the company’s Android Oreo beta program, you have a second beta build coming your way.  The new beta is build R16NW.G955FXXU1ZQLE and is just over 600MB in size.  The updated beta has been released but it could take a few days before all beta testers see it on their phone.

This new build contains a significant number of bug fixes and performance improvements over the first beta and seemingly nothing on the device was left untouched.  The new beta addresses issues with Bluetooth connectivity, smart device connectivity, Bixby issues, profile issues… it goes on.  This update should also address general unresponsiveness of the device in all situations and uses.  It isn’t uncommon for manufactures to offer a lot of updates to things in their 2nd beta builds and this one certainly is no exception.

The release team at T-Mobile has been quite busy it would seem preparing updates for multiple Samsung Galaxy devices on their network.  Late yesterday the carrier released multiple updates for Galaxy devices, bringing overall improvements as well as the December Android Security Update patch to them.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are the first ones to get updated. The S7 will be receiving build G930TUVS4BQL2 while the S7 Edge will be getting build G935TUVS4BQL2.  For both devices, the OTA updates are less than 50MB and is primarily the December security patch although there could be some undocumented improvements brought to the devices.

As part of their Black Friday sale, Samsung has dropped $150 off the unlocked variants of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus through their Amazon Storefront.  These are the unlocked variants of the phones and they have 64GB of onboard storage which can be expanded.

Samsung Galaxy S8 – $574.99

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus – $674.99

These are by far the lowest prices on the Samsung flagship phones since their introduction earlier this year.

The 5.8″ Galaxy S8 is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor running four cores at 2.3GHz and the other four running at 1.9GHz.  It is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD card.  The display renders at 2960 x 1440 QuadHD with an impressive 571 PPI.  Powering all of it is a 3000mAh battery which is charged with inductive charging.

If there has been once consistent complaint from owners of the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the Note8, it has been the dedicated Bixby button.  Bixby is Samsung’s personal assistant and it was rolled out well after the Galaxy S8 was released.  While Samsung did a fair amount of hyping of the AI-based assistant, it somewhat fell flat and users almost immediately began trying to figure out how to remap the dedicated button for the assistant on the phones.

Samsung squashed most of those but have finally given into customer demands.  There is a new update in the Galaxy App store that should roll out to all S8 and Note8 owners that will disable the button.

Note that this will disable the button.  You still can’t remap it, officially at least.  Samsung won’t let you remap the button to say Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.