What can I still demand from the Galaxy S8?
It's the same phone that came back to life after six years sitting still — that story is in to the ones forgotten in the drawer.
A quick look from the top
First, it's worth keeping in mind that the Galaxy S8 is a phone from 2017.
In a historical frame where a year dissipates so quickly, it's almost impressive that a device launched 9 years ago is still capable of some interesting feats.
And this time it was a double feat, because besides managing, on the first try, to present a TV interface, it did so from a modified ROM — LineageOS.
Phone setup:
- Screen: 1440x2960, 480dpi
- System: LineageOS 21 / Android 14, unofficial build
- Physically tired, internally willing
There wasn't much to think about
Skeptical me, at this point in the game, thought that making this demand of it would sound like far more than I could ask, given its age.
Either way, charged it was — connected, transformed. It answered every command on the first try and stayed in TV mode. Not without caveats, but it took the post and held it.
It switched between the modes countless times without seeming to fail — just back and forth.
It worked, both in Full HD and in 4K.
Funny thing is that DeX mode isn't even here, meaning everything needed is genuinely working straight from the USB-C port.
It's not a miracle.
Even in 4K
Something I always found curious when researching TV boxes: the benchmarks are very low, something even a 2017 phone can handle without major disappointments.
And that's what happened — the interface ran the way the same S8 runs LineageOS: responsive, though not instant, while also getting a bit warm.
I connected my TV remote and was indeed able to use it on the monitor, through mirroring, which the system recognized right away.
Switching between the modes
Unlike what happened the first few times I tested this on the S21 FE, this time the process ran with less interference, especially around the bridge that switches between the modes.
It really was possible to use it as a system on the side — I practically had an Android TV running on my computer, without needing to emulate a system, just displaying it.
Where the S8 showed its age
We're almost at the end, and it's worth not forgetting when this device launched, so the expectation between the imagined and the real can be put in perspective.
I used it to keep the YouTube Music screen on display, watch a video here and there — I didn't even test emulation, at least not yet.
And the thing is: for a multimedia device that won't be asked for much, its hardware is more than enough, while as an interface it lands somewhere between a TV display and a tablet.
Verdict: what's still possible
I don't know how many active S8 users are still out there, but speaking to those who have one stored away, I would definitely use it as part of the setup, as a second screen.
My guess is that the lighter emulators run comfortably on it — I'm not even sure it's worth testing the heavier ones, since it would probably get too hot to keep going.
Displaying YouTube, Spotify and other media apps is the focus of this use, since they're visual and don't demand as much processing. Used within its limits, it proved to be quite a solid solution, polished even.
Once again, reusing what we already have proves to be a more than viable way out — a step back from planned obsolescence, thinking of alternative uses instead of simply discarding what could still serve a new purpose.