As trends of previous years have slowly been accumulating into hardware standards, 2017 shows great promise in the technological industry. In commencement of the new year, on Apr. 21, tech company Samsung released a new flagship phone, the Samsung Galaxy S8, sporting a screen unprecedented in both size and proportion, the “Infinity Screen”, as literally its biggest selling point. With this bold move, it is clear that Samsung is taking a step in defining the future of smartphones with a simple motto: larger screens and smaller bezels.

Although the Samsung’s S7 Edge had already marked an incredibly bold step in redefining the shape of a phone’s body, the S8 has undergone a significant redesign while retaining the familiar Samsung standard. The ultra wide 18.5:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display covers over 80% of the phone’s face, leaving only slivers of bezel at the top and bottom. In addition, the phone touts new features following recent trends, such as pronounced rounded corners, signature curved edges, wireless charging, unbeatable camera quality, and more. Above all, it no longer explodes.

However, while the phone’s gorgeous display definitely has given in the most beautiful design to date, Samsung still has much room for improvement. At 5.8 inches, the S8’s screen already outclasses larger designed phones, such as the iPhone 7 Plus. Thus, the S8 Plus variant’s screen size of 6.2 inches may feel too large for some people’s taste. Samsung’s infamous software has also left a slightly noisy modification of the Android operating system, with a new proprietary replacement for the Google Assistant called Bixby, designed to allow users to control every feature of their phone with their voice alone. While on paper the premise is promising, Bixby comes nowhere close to Google Assistant in almost all aspects.

With its revolutionary design, the Galaxy S8 has been the epitome of a powerful daily driver packed into a modern, sleek body. While it may suffer from questionable software and a few other quirks, it has set a new standard for all smartphones in a new year. With more phones set to launch this year, including the iPhone 8 set to celebrate Apple’s 10th anniversary, critics and consumers alike will be looking forward to what the industry has yet to offer.