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The first major Galaxy S8 problem concerns the phone’s most important feature

Updated Apr 18th, 2017 7:03AM EDT
Galaxy S8 Red Display Issue
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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The Galaxy S8 will finally reach buyers later this week, but some users have already received their units and discovered the first major issue of the phone, a problem that affects the most important feature of Samsung’s new flagship handset.

According to a report from The Korea Herald, the Galaxy S8’s display has a reddish tint. The Infinity display of the Galaxy S8 is one of its best features, one that’s currently unavailable on other devices. Sure, the LG G6 also has an high-resolution edge-to-edge display, but Samsung went for a curved OLED display rather than a flat LCD screen. The Galaxy S8’s screen is currently graded as the best screen out there by some experts, and the iPhone 8 is expected to also feature an OLED screen made by Samsung.

The Herald explains that the reddish tint issue might be caused by the color balance of the screen. However, customers who already received the handset say the reddish screen did not improve after correcting the color display settings.

“The reddish tint may be caused by a color balance problem after Samsung used deep red AMOLED to strengthen the red,” an unnamed industry watcher said.

Samsung developed deep red OLEDs to prevent any color issues with the phone. The report says the OLED panel in the Galaxy S8 uses two subpixels, including red-green and blue-green.

“It is not a quality problem, and it can be adjusted with the phone itself. If the color still appears to be reddish, customers can change it at the service center,” Samsung said.

The Galaxy S8 isn’t widely available for the time being, but plenty of people already received test units ahead of the phone’s launch. A bunch of YouTubers have gone ahead and put the phone through a variety of tests, but they have not signaled out this particular issue with the phone.

It’s unclear at this time how widespread the red tint issue is, and whether it can be corrected via software. That said, it’s not unexpected to see some issues with new phones, and it’s likely Samsung will fix any problems. After all, the last thing Samsung wants is having to deal with any quality issues with the handset.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.