Despite all the hype surrounding the new iPhones, they aren't the only game in town. There are some new Android phones that are bigger and sturdier and definitely give Apple a run for the money.
AT&T sent me The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the Galaxy S8 Active to check out. Now I'm not the best tester, because I'm pretty tech inept. But in some ways that might be good, because if I can figure out these phones, you definitely can.
The neatest feature on the Note 8 is that you can write notes using a stylus. And you don't have to unlock the phone do so, just pull out the pen.
The S8 active is appropriately named because it’s for active people or klutz like myself. You'd have to drop it off a tall building to get it to break or crack.
Both phones have a feature called Bixby, which is Samsung's answer to Siri. And Bixby seems to have way better voice recognition.
Bixby is also an upgrade on OK Google, because it will operate the phones features like opening your contacts or photos.
And every time you use Bixby you can get rewards points to redeem for gifts. But you have to acknowledge that you found the information you were looking for by hitting the “Great” icon right away. Because it disappears quickly and you won’t get points.
The battery life for the Active is 10 hours and 57 minutes.
For the Note it is only 7 hours and 50 minutes.
But the Active takes longer to charge, at 120 minutes versus 102 for the Note.
Let's face it though, the camera is what catches most people's eyes. Since the quality is different when taking a straight photo versus a selfie, we took them both ways. We thought the difference was minimal.
But the irony of our tests, the whole story was shot with an iPhone.
Here are the specs for both phones:
Here are reviews:
AT&T is offering the following deals for the Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ or Galaxy S8 Active for a limited time:
-BOGO: must be a DIRECTV (or U-verse TV) customer; one of the two lines must be a new line.
Details here: https://www.att.com/deals/buy-one-get-one-offer.html
-Get a Samsung Gear S2 for 99-cents or the Gear S3 for $49.99 on a 2-year agreement when you purchase on AT&T Next.
-Get $300 in credits when you purchase a Samsung Galaxy Note8 or Galaxy S8 Active and trade in an eligible smartphone.