IDG
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ might have the coolest displays we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot if they don’t perform as well as they look. Thankfully, DisplayMate got to run them through their usual paces and spoiler alert, they’re fantastic.
Samsung has always had some of the best displays in the business, but DisplayMate concludes in its traditional shoot-out that the S8 is “the best performing smartphone display” it’s ever tested. From the brightness to the color gamut and reflectiveness, Dr. Raymond M. Soneira says the S8 is the “most innovative and high performance smartphone display that we have ever lab tested, earning DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.”
Among the points DisplayMate highlights are the S8’s new and accurate full DCI-P3 Color gamut, the same one that you’ll find in quality 4K TVs, and its HDR capabilities. It also found that the native color gamut of the S8 is even larger than the S7, resulting better on-screen colors. Additionally, the Galaxy S8 is up to 10 percent brighter than the Galaxy S7, and up to 19 percent brighter in high ambient light with automatic brightness turned on.
The lengthy report notes that the S8 showed improvements in just about every lab test when compared to the S7, and as such, it set a bunch of records, including:
- Native color gamut
- Peak brightness
- Contrast rating in ambient light
- Screen resolution
- Contrast ratio
- Screen reflectance
- Viewing angle
Of note, DisplayMate commends Samsung’s resistance to going up to 4K, saying there would be virtually no discernible difference to human eyes on a smartphone. It also praises its power efficiency and super-dimming mode, which allows the brightness to be set to 2 nits while still maintaining high-quality color and picture quality.
Seeing is believing: We knew the Galaxy S8 displays looked good to our eyes, but we didn’t know they were this good. Samsung has always put a ton of effort into making its screens as accurate and bright as possible, but the S8 truly raises the bar for what we expect in a smartphone display.
