WIRunner

You should see the insanity that is happening on the T-Mobile Reddit page. People are tracking UPS planes in hopes that their phone is on it. (Even though they haven't had an origin scan, only a label created scan.)

I am looking forward to getting mine. It should be here tomorrow. (And I'm not planning on stalking the Bangor airport for the UPS flight.)

Points Scrounger

I lived for three semesters in the shadow of the Bangor Airport (Orono transfer students got put at Bangor Community). Was at my store yesterday to sort out a billing issue, finding the staff psyched for the first phone arrivals - the manager was waiting like the rest of us for his own phone.

el aye

Good luck guys! I upgraded S6>S7 but don't see major compelling reasons to upgrade right now (unlike the re-addition of microSD slot from 6 to 7), and not sure I would be able to get past the fingerprint scanner location (really Samsung?!). Read some initial reviews saying the software is top notch though, so that's pretty sweet. Looking forward to the S9 with integrated fingerprint scanner under the screen

LordHamster

If it had stock android, I'd be all over it. I refuse to buy a phone with Samsung's bloatware on it. I guess I'll have to wait for the Pixel 2

murtaza12

With the exception of Samsung Direct pre-orders, the pre-orders from carriers have started shipping and some have even been delivered already.

Anyone here got theirs yet?

msm2000uk

Mine, from Vodafone UK, is meant to be delivered today.

M

SRQ Guy

Touchwiz ain't what it used to be, but it does still have bloat and some lag. Good Lock addresses many of Touchwiz's shortcomings, IMHO.

That said, the better cameras and better screen make it a tough decision and pull me back to Samsung.

But then Samsung steps in again and locks down the Bixby button...

And then of course on AT&T I can't use Wifi Calling or VoLTE without an AT&T branded device...

It will be tough to choose between Pixel 2 and Note 8 this fall.

WIRunner

Mine got here yesterday afternoon. I've had mixed feelings about it so far. First off, it is very pretty. Hold it up to an iPhone (take your pick which one) and they suddenly look very outdated. Touchwiz isn't as bad as it was on the GSII through V. But I still prefer HTC's Sense, theirs is a bit cleaner. Bixby is pointless. Without voice working, there's no reason to have it on the phone, Google Assistant works great, and the two are redundant. The camera is very good as well. It is very overcast today, otherwise I'd snap some photos (but no one wants to see a dreary and damp golf course.)

Aside from the Bixby and finger print scanner issues, my biggest complaint is that it is *VERY* slippery. I've had a few times where it seemed like the phone was going to pop out of my hand. It isn't particularly comfortable to hang on to either. I've been using an HTC 10 (again) for about a month and the devices are about the same size, the HTC is easier to hang onto. Not sure if it is the way that they chamfered the back, or if the metal isn't as slippery as the glass (probably this.)

So far, I enjoy the phone. I've used better feeling devices, but nothing this pretty. I'm planning a trip to Portland, and will be returning it at that time. (Verizon is putting a site up across the street, so I'm porting to them.) The flat sided LG G6 looks like it will do 95% of what the GS8 does, less the poor scanner placement, and no Bixby.

Edit: Forgot to mention. I've got the pink screen issue. It isn't the full display that is pink. The very top, about the size of the status bar, and the bottom 1/4 have a very pronounced pink hue. Tinkering with the colour settings doesn't fix this, it just changes the level of pink that is there.

If you didn't know it had touchwiz on it, you'd think it was stock android with an icon pack on it. The amount of Samsung bloatware is about the same as that of T-Mobile. (I actually find T-Mo's more annoying. Aside from My Account and Visual Voicemail, I'm not going to sue the rest.)

The Bangor campus is now an extension of the Augusta campus. Oddly Machias is going to be an Orono extension, I guess the saying "you can't get there from here" applies to the college level as well.

The fingerprint scanner is horrible. It is in a terrible position, and doesn't seem to work very well either. I frequently get an error message. I've added my index finger 4x with different grips hoping it would help. It hasn't. The iris scanner works well, even with groggy morning me.

Mine got here yesterday. Ordered it on the 2nd from T-Mobile.

Points Scrounger

I'm picking mine up later today. Hope I have better luck with the fingerprint recognition! My two concerns were that my old phone suffers from annoying-enough ghosting/burn-in, as well as the G6 camera sucking big time. Not really interested in anything to do with Bixby. As for slippery, the $10 case I ordered from Amazon will arrive today as well.

wco81

Burn-ins?

Your phone has permanent burn-in? OLED screen?

Points Scrounger

Yup, after less than two years. I find it annoying and was concerned about the trade-in value, but the store staff indicated it wasn't bad enough to affect that.

msm2000uk

Just finished setting my S8 up - I like it, albeit it's slightly annoying that certain Apps don't fill the screen fully, meaning black boxed areas.

M

elCheapoDeluxe

Meh. Another glass slab, how creative. I'll pass. Waiting for the KeyONE.

Points Scrounger

The fingerprint scanner on the back is more awkward, but seems to work OK in terms of recognition. I'm not as thrilled about the USB C connection feature, I understand that it's forward looking, but it makes all-but the included a cable with the phone obsolete for me without an adapter.

WIRunner

The fingerprint scanner has been about useless to me. The one in the iPhone 6s worked nearly flawlessly, and my old HTC 10 had a great one in it as well. I've had fairly good luck with the iris scanner. It has been faster to unlock for me than the finger print one. I am having issues with random reboots, freezing during things that should work just fine (It got stuck on trying to send a text message for about 5 minutes last night, then restarted.) I had a similar problem with the GS6 when it first came out, turned out to be an issue with WiFi calling, I've shut that off rather than have it on "Cellular Preferred", hopefully that will make the difference until I can return it. The overall feel is starting to come across as rushed. The GS9 should be a stellar device, then again with Samsung the "odd years" have been the bad ones, maybe the GS7 broke that cycle.

I'm fine with USB-C versus the micro usb connectors, I could never get the old ones plugged in on the first time.