Where to start with a Samsung Galaxy S phone launch? These phones aim to be the very best on the market and in recent years, they’ve arguably succeeded. But Samsung has always had a habit of hyping them through the roof and sending them to market laden with gimmicky features that can range from I-can’t-believe-they-invented-it to utterly terrible. And yet last year’s Samsung Galaxy S7 ended up being our Phone of the Year (once the price had dropped) and is still a great buy.

Samsung shovels in the features (as usual) but at least the important ones are good... Very good. It's not cheap but it excels where it matters and that camera is outstanding. It's the best phone you can buy.

Very pretty; Very fast; Superb camera;

Bixby virtual assistant is a joke; Average battery life;

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is superb, then. It’s a massive leap forwards in design terms compared to the S7, and is head and shoulders above every other phone in this regard. You won’t want to stop looking at it. It works brilliantly too, thanks to Samsung’s new focus on user interface design. It’s powerful, easy to use and if you like your software as stock as possible, this is Samsung’s purest Touchwiz attempt yet. The misplaced fingerprint sensor is the only mark against it, and even then it’s mitigated by the addition of iris and face scanning. And then there’s its growing ecosystem of accessories such as the Gear 360, the new Gear VR with controller, and the DeX desktop dock. All of them help make it a powerhouse that will expand your experience beyond mobile. At £689 SIM-free, the S8 is by no means cheap compared to the £650 LG G6 and £599 Apple iPhone 7. But its premium style and flawless performance are such that it doesn’t feel overpriced. Of course the elephant in the room here is the Note 7, and I’m sure there are those of you who’ll be waiting until the S8 has been in people’s hands for a few months before committing. But come on, surely Samsung isn’t going to make the same mistake again - this phone will have been tested and tested and tested again, and it’ll be truly astounding if it suffers the same fiery fate as its unfortunate smartphone sibling. I certainly didn’t experience a single problem with it in my time testing it. What you’re left with here is a brilliant smartphone experience, wrapped in one of the sleekest designs ever. If you’re looking for a smartphone that nails every aspect of everything you could want in the palm of your hand, this is it. Get the Samsung S8 (64GB) SIM free here for £689 or on contract here

It’s the most beautiful smartphone ever; Ridiculous power, put to good use with DeX; The camera is amazing, as always;

Bixby’s full talents not available at launch; Not all apps are optimised for its 18.5:9 aspect ratio; That fingerprint sensor position is not great at all;

Still an excellent phone with a great camera, lovely design and a fantastic display. It's not the Samsung flagship anymore, but don't let that put you off.

Awesome display, A phone that feels like the future, Stunning camera, It’s actually innovative

Awfully placed fingerprint sensor, Bixby is a bit of a dud

Samsung Galaxy S8: The Samsung Galaxy S8 was the best phone of 2017, but is it still top dog?

Incredible camera, Brilliant display, Sumptuous design

Expensive, Awkward fingerprint reader placement, Battery isn't as good as Galaxy S7

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the first of what is effectively a new class of Android smartphones. Extra large display, excellent camera performance, large battery, cutting-edge design/materials, next-generation performance, and networks: these are the attributes of the Galaxy S8, and they all contribute...

Stunning design, extra large display, Excellent photo experience, Fastest Android hardware and networking, Stunning design, extra large display, Excellent photo experience, Fastest Android hardware and networking

No support for wide-angle photography, No support for wide-angle photography

The Samsung Galaxy S8 takes Samsung's infinity screen concept into new territory, with an enormous 5.8 inch quad-HD dual-curved display packed into a compact handset. Brimming with market-leading features, the Galaxy S8 is the best-looking and arguably the best-equipped phone on the market in 2017,...

Deal update: Amazon Prime Day has delivered a huge saving on the Samsung Galaxy S8, meaning you can now pick up the SIM-free handset with a 64GB Micro SD card for just £429 . The original RRP of this package was £645.99, so you’d be saving a significant stack of cash.

While it's a shame that picture and sound quality haven't been upgraded, the iPhone 13 was great in these regards and the iPhone 14 is, too Excellent display Admirable headphone performance Solid build quality No upgrades to picture or sound Familiar design Notch is still present

The Samsung 2017 flagship, compact edition. Can the Galaxy S8 make even the die-hard fans of the big-screen experience consider converting? Think about it - you get so much screen in a phone that's practically as wide as a iPhone 7.

We test out the camera, Bixby AI assistant, Android software and compare it to the iPhone 7 Plus in our full review of the S8

A super-fast, frustration-free phone for everyday use; Stunning design and build quality; Sharp edge-to-edge screen puts the focus on content

Extremely low-light camera performance in auto needs improving; Iris scanner is hopelessly fiddly; Bixby is incomplete and can't compete with Google Now and Assistant