Some Galaxy S8 displays in Korea suffer from bizarre red discoloration

While some users complain that the red hue is worse around the top and bottom, Samsung has responded that it’s just a matter of settings.

Some carriers in North America may have started shipping pre-ordered Galaxy S8 units already, but the company’s home turf is one step ahead. Samsung officially ended pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus yesterday and began delivering all pre-ordered devices today here in South Korea. While unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S8 is now one of the most mentioned keywords on Korea’s Google Naver, it’s for all the wrong reasons.

According to multiple posts online, some Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus units have red tints around the screen. It seems this occurrence is completely random, regardless of the configuration or model. As you can see above, with brightness set to maximum, there is a clear difference between the three Galaxy S8 Plus units. Here is another:

Now, it is true that Samsung developed what the company calls “Deep Red” OLED displays for this year’s S series in order to achieve more accurate colors, but whether this is the real culprit is unclear at the moment. Samsung has stated that user preference on display warmth may vary and that depending on the angle or the environment, colors on the screen may appear distorted. It further added that this is not a defect but just a matter of settings, something that can be adjusted by the user. According to an anonymous Samsung official, it’s possible that the company did not have the time to properly set the color balance due to the extremely high demand.

Although you can dial *#15987# and set the color balance yourself, what’s troubling is that for some users, the red hue seems to be worse in certain areas, especially towards the top and bottom. Labeling it the Galaxy S8 Cherry Blossom Edition, some angry users claim on Korean blogposts that they were given replacement units at Samsung repair centers. It’s not clear whether this is in fact just a settings issue or an actual defect, but here’s hoping future batches are unaffected by it.

You can dial *#7353# and choose TSP Dot Mode to test and see if your device also suffers from red discoloration.

Have you received your Galaxy S8? Is yours affected by the issue? Let us know!