Samsung Galaxy S8: How does Maple Gold REALLY look?

Annoyed by the lack of information and pictures online when I was trying to choose the right colour for me... and no other colour except black, on most in-store displays... here's this post:

What does the S8 Maple Gold look like in real life? 

Before you get excited (or disappointed), please remember that the availability of your colour choice also differs by country. I made a short list of those countries here.

Here's what Maple Gold looks like according to the Samsung company website.

I'll post some pictures and let you judge for yourself. Naturally, colours vary according to your computer resolution and my editing; this is just meant to give you a better idea. Please note I had to blur my serial code information, and I wasn't going to take the sticker off because I just unboxed it... I like to savour things behind the scenes!

Personal commentary after the pictures.

Next, I decided to do a comparison with the iPhone 6, to add context / frame of reference.

And with a cotton pad (white) international currency (U.S. quarter, Singapore $1 and $0.50, South Korea ₩1000)

As you can probably see for yourself, the Maple Gold looks much closer to a silver under different lighting. I would even say it's closer to a dark taupe, or light brown, and the metallic surface varies between the shades below, under normal conditions without direct light:

Personal commentary:

I'm pretty disappointed, actually. The iPhone gold definitely wins on this one, and has a more sophisticated sheen (definitely different materials). I was really hoping the gold would be brighter and warmer, like one of my favourite clutches from Japan:

I know Samsung branding is just different, but this colour is really understated. I'm very annoyed by the news reports I've been reading from (presumably) Western journalists, who described the gold as 'gaudy.' It's highly unlikely they even saw the phone in-person. Instead of typing every expletive originally in my thought process, I'm just gonna put this here:

If there are any non-Asian readers out there reading this, right now... in case you didn't know:
Gold is a popular colour in Asia because it represents wealth, prosperity, luxury, and prestige to many people in the Sino-sphere - it's practically a part of Chinese heritage. In recent times, silver has grown more popular. Especially with the younger set, and as globalization influences the East Asia region. They're both 'classy' colours today, and I just think that should be respected instead of mocked or jeered at.

Samsung Galaxy S8 2 Nano-Sim cards

I just unboxed my treasure (the Samsung Galaxy S8) a few hours ago, and thought I'd share two pictures from the Quick Start booklet it came with.

I heard from this Youtube channel that the phone would come with two Nano Sim cards OR an SD card, and I was super confused... I just wanted to know if this capability was region-specific or not, because it would be great for international travelers / residents like me.

Unfortunately, I can't confirm if it is region-specific, but, it seems like all the phones come with TWO slots, and those two slots can be fitted with:

A) a nano-Sim card

+

B) a second nano-Sim card
B) an external microSD card

You can only CHOOSE two, but the design is ingenious enough that it accommodates WHICHEVER option you choose.

It's better explained in the pictures below:

Hope this helps someone and thanks for reading~

Samsung Galaxy S8 Colours by Country

Hey guys,

I'm sure the information on the Samsung Galaxy S8's colours / colors according to country are available on someone's spreadsheet somewhere in the Samsung HQ. But I haven't been able to find much information about it online, so I thought I'd share this for anyone else who's an international traveler / resident like me.

As International Business Times has mentioned:
"Samsung has confirmed that only three color options will be available in the U.S.: Midnight Black, Arctic Silver, and Orchid Gray. While U.S. consumers will get to try out the new Orchid Gray option, they will miss out on the often popular gold option as well as Blue Coral. Samsung has not detailed its reasoning for this decision. However, the manufacturer has had an interesting history in releasing certain color options for its flagships in certain markets."

I don't have every country in the world listed (apologies), but I thought it might help those looking for a quick overview for countries with major cities. Because, despite what superhero movies tell us... The world is bigger than New York City!

	Midnight Black	Orchid Grey	Arctic Silver	Coral Blue	Maple Gold
Australia	✓	✓			✓
Belgium	✓	✓	✓
Brazil	✓	✓	✓
Dubai	✓	✓			✓
Estonia	✓	✓
France	✓	✓	✓
Germany	✓	✓	✓
Hong Kong*	✓	✓			✓

*Hong Kong gets Midnight Black, Orchid Grey, and Coral Blue for the S8+

	Midnight Black	Orchid Grey	Arctic Silver	Coral Blue	Maple Gold
India	✓			✓	✓
Indonesia	✓	✓			✓
Ireland	✓	✓
Italy	✓	✓	✓	✓
Japan	✓	✓	✓	✓
Malaysia	✓	✓			✓
Mexico	✓	✓	✓
Netherlands	✓	✓	✓
Philippines	✓	✓			✓
Romania	✓	✓
Russia	✓	✓			✓

	Midnight Black	Orchid Grey	Arctic Silver	Coral Blue	Maple Gold
Singapore	✓	✓			✓
South Africa	✓	✓			✓
South Korea	✓	✓	✓	✓
Taiwan	✓	✓		✓	✓
Thailand	✓	✓			✓
United Kingdom (UK)	✓	✓
United States (US)	✓	✓	✓
Vietnam	✓			✓	✓

All information was taken directly from Samsung's company website (according to country) and based on the current time of this post (29 June, 2017). Hope you found this helpful and feel free to check out my other post on the 2 nano SIM card slots that come with the phone.

The full range of colours the phone was released in, internationally:
Midnight Black, Orchid Grey, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold

For anyone curious, I wasn't able to find out the colour options for China because my 普通话 sucks. If anyone knows, leave a comment and I'll check it out / update the post with credit.

Personal take:
I'm super bummed / fucking salty that Coral Blue wasn't available in my current country of residence... that's a big reason why I went on a search to find out where I could get it, and the scant information I saw was pathetic, leading to this post. It seems like Blue's only available in countries where a significant amount of people lead colourful lives / belong to a colourful culture Q.Q Stereotypes and shit!

My mom agreed it was a pretty big oversight on Samsung to make a phone that costs so much (at least USD$700 in most markets) but not allow consumers to choose which colour they want. I mean, I'm not a supporter of Apple, but in this case, even Apple wins in allowing their customers to choose what colour they want, right?

Consumer market research and costs be damned for just a second; it feels UNFAIR. If Samsung had offered an alternative option, like paying a little more to get a color of choice generally unavailable in your country... I'm sure I wouldn't be the only customer paying for that.
Don't underestimate the power of colour (especially for a creative person)... I paid an extra $100 to get my Seagate drive in Rose Gold... Oops lol.