The screens don't extend any farther down the phones' sides than the S7 Edge's display did, but the bezel surrounding them has almost completely disappeared. LG's G6 packs a similarly long 18:9 screen, but the S8 line's eye-catching curves and impressive precision give Samsung a distinct advantage. Like the G6, the screens on the S8 and S8 Plus are longer and narrower than usual, helping them fit more snugly in your hand.

This is especially true of the S8. I thought I'd prefer the Plus's large display, but there's something reassuring and alluring about this smaller body. For one, my hands never strained while reaching for the screen's far corners, and I never felt like I'd drop the S8 because my hand wrapped around it so well. (The phones' backs are made of glass, though, so they still slide around on tabletops.) That's not to say the S8 Plus feels too big. It's plenty comfortable to hold, although your thumbs will still get a workout reaching around the display.

Above the screens are improved, 8-megapixel cameras, and a Note 7-style iris scanner for hands-free unlocking. Most of the time the scanner is fast and frictionless. Often it didn't even show the guide to align your eyes with. Other times I had to open my eyes really wide and move the phone around until I either nailed the alignment or got frustrated and just punched in my PIN.

If PIN codes aren't your thing, there's also the fingerprint sensor on S8 line's back, next to the camera. In prior models, it lived below the screen. I didn't mind the change conceptually, but the placement needs work. The sensor is off center, and a little too easy to miss — I usually smeared fingerprints all over the camera before finding it. And what of that classic home button? It's gone -- your new home button is a pressure-sensitive spot on the screen that vibrates when you push it.

If you're not paying attention, you'd easily miss one of the S8 line's biggest additions: a small button below the volume keys on the phones' left sides. This is what you'll use to invoke Bixby, Samsung's homebrew virtual assistant. The button doesn't do much yet — you'll eventually be able to long-press it to speak directly to Bixby, but for now, it just brings up a screen with upcoming appointments, news and such. Even worse, Samsung has blocked attempts to remap the Bixby key for other functions, which has only pissed off potential power users.

There's a USB-C port on the phones' bottoms, and next to that? The headphone jack. We've seen companies ditching this classic port, claiming that it took up too much space. The S8 and S8 Plus are perfect repudiations of that line of thinking. Oh, and they don't get in the way of waterproofing, either. Both devices are IP68 dust and water-resistant, which meant they could lounge for up to 30 minutes in the ridiculous wine bath we poured.

The stuff inside the S8 and S8 Plus isn't exactly a surprise. Both US models pack Qualcomm's new octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipsets, along with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and Adreno 540 GPUs. That horsepower is paired with 64GB of internal storage, and you can add up to 256GB of additional space with a microSD card. In addition to the usual array of LTE and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac radios, the S8 and S8 Plus also pack support for Bluetooth 5.0, an updated version of the standard that promises faster data speeds and longer range.

As always, the S8 and S8 Plus are more alike than they are different. The biggest difference aside from the screens are the devices' batteries — the S8 packs a 3,000mAh cell while the Plus contains a 3,500mAh battery. Those of you with keen memories will remember last year's smaller Galaxy S7 also packed a 3,000mAh battery, and the S7 Edge actually had a slightly larger 3,600mAh — the biggest Samsung had used to date. Given the Note 7's nightmarish battery failures, it's no surprise the company didn't push the envelope on this front.

Samsung did an impeccable job designing and assembling these phones. You'll find a few touches that don't feel quite right, like the off-center USB-C ports, but it's clear countless hours went into making the S8 and S8 Plus feel seamlessly elegant. Sorry Apple, HTC, and the rest: For now, Samsung is the reigning king of smartphone design.

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